Every Rocky Movie Ranked Worst To Best

In the end, though (and I can feel plenty of you seething as you read this), it's Creed who reigns supreme as the best movie in the Rocky franchise. On paper, it never should have worked; on the screen, though, it never misses a beat, crafting its own story whilst remaining true to Balboa's.

Bringing in Michael B. Jordan as the son of Carl Weathers' Apollo Creed, the spin-off/sequel puts Stallone in a supporting role, as Adonis takes centre stage and works to create his own legacy away from both his late father and beloved mentor.

What's amazing about the film, above all else, is how director Ryan Coogler uses both men to equal effect, as Rocky is struck down by cancer and must fight a different kind of war alongside his protégé. This painfully human twist puts Rocky at his most vulnerable, whilst Creed works to save him and make his own name.

And all of that's without getting into its gripping montage, or the gorgeous romance between Jordan and Thompson, their chemistry palpable from the off.

Creed is a stylish, deeply felt drama that grapples with legacy without fault, broadening the franchise's mythology and giving it a fresh angle from which to keep telling its stories. Rocky may have started it, but Creed perfected it.