Oscar-winning films may sometimes get sequels (The Godfather's even repeated the original's success by bagging Best Picture), but no Academy Award scooping movie has had quite the franchise longevity as Rocky. At first a small boxing drama written by then up-and-comer Sylvester Stallone, it ballooned into one of the most prolific action series of the eighties, carving out its own niche in pop culture with a slew of catchy songs and an ever-increasing number of training montages. The series has varied wildly in quality, with the critical and commercial success of the original leading to a slew of increasingly messy sequels (and, moving into the 21st Century, back again), but what's maintained through all the head-pummelling and birthday-wishing robots is the character of Rocky. The fighter with a heart of gold, but far less saccharine than that sounds, he developed across the movies, good and bad, to become one of cinema's greatest icons. With the Italian Stallion back in cinemas with Creed, which follows Adonis Creed, son of original Heavyweight champ Apollo, what better time than now to look back over the greatest boxing franchise ever (because there's so many?) and rank the movies from street-punching worst to step-running best.
