10 Movie Franchises With No Bad Sequels

8. Rocky

Rocky 3 Training Montage
MGM/UA Entertainment Company

Yes, all of the Rocky movies are good - even Adrien's Revenge.

When Rocky V exists, saying that none of the Rocky movies are bad is going to be a tough sell. However, that movie also sees Sylvester Stallone street-fight one of the most easily hateable villains in the entire franchise on the street, and I will defy anyone not to revert to their primordial "KILL KILL KILL" form when Sly gets back up and says "I didn't hear no bell." It is a deeply, deeply flawed film, but the Italian Stallion is impossible not to root for.

The first two Rocky movies are amazing showcases for Sly's talents - a thoughtful examination of the American dream from a uniquely working class perspective. They're emblematic of a filmic era that was vibrant, gritty, and unsure. In other words, they're '70s all over.

Rocky III and Rocky IV, however, are completely the opposite. They're '80s to a T, presenting montage-laden heroic struggles between good and evil where Rocky is the best and all of his problems can be solved with boxing. Rocky V attempts to rein this back in somewhat, somehow yielding even more ridiculous results in the process, but they're all still a fun time. That's partially down to how great Rocky is as a character - even in his worst stories, he'll always be great to watch.

Thankfully, the Rocky series got a second lease on life thanks to the reflective 2007 entry, Rocky Balboa, and by far the best legacy sequel we've gotten in Creed, which has also yet to make a misstep with any of its follow-ups either.

Advertisement
Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.