10 Best Movies You Can Watch For Free (Legally) On YouTube Right Now

2. Rocky

Rocky Sylvester Stallone
MGM

YouTube's free movie service actually includes the first five Rocky movies, ranging from the poor (Rocky V) to the fantastic (Rocky II). Overall, the series is a mixed bag, but the original is still the best, a brilliant and emotional rags-to-riches story that still resonates some 40 years after its initial release.

Screenwriter Sly Stallone also stars as Rocky Balboa, a working-class aspiring professional boxer, chasing the American dream with an admirable amount of determination, perseverance and hard work. Rocky is still some of the actor's finest work both onscreen and on the page, with his nuanced, affecting script able to overcome some admittedly workmanlike direction by John G. Avildsen, cementing the titular boxer as a cinematic icon to this very day.

The sense of optimism and hope that permeates every frame is truly a joy to behold, especially when it feels like a lot of today's movies and TV shows are becoming increasingly politicised and cynical. If this one doesn't make you punch the air in triumph, nothing will, and with Creed 2 hitting cinemas this month, there's never been a better time to revisit one of the most influential movies ever made.

Contributor
Contributor

Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.