Ranking the Rocky Series: From Best to Worst

Being born in 1983, I grew up around the period where Rocky Balboa was a household name, and the movies were wildly popular. “Rocky” and the sequels are childhood favorites, and I very fondly remember watching the worn VHS copies on our VCR, and catching their airings on my local television station WPIX. With Stallone re-releasing “Rocky IV” this year with a brand new Director’s Cut, I thought it’d be fun to re-visit the original series and rank the entire franchise from best to worst.

Feel free to post your ranking in the comments.

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Rocky IV: Rocky vs. Drago – The Ultimate Director’s Cut (2021) (Digital)

We’re in an age of modern filmmaking where audiences and even directors are demanding that studios allow them to re-cut their past works. In all of the director’s cuts and recuts I’ve seen, “Rocky vs. Drago” is exactly how the Director’s Cut should be done. I say that with immense surprise as I fully expected to dislike “The Ultimate Director’s Cut.” For fans that viewed “Rocky IV” religiously since 1985, when we get down to it, the film is recut to click better with “Creed II.” That’s either great or disappointing, depending on how you value the original 1985 film.

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Middle Earth 31-Disc Ultimate Collector’s Edition: Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit [4K UHD/Blu-Ray/Digital]

If you missed the last edition of the “Lord of the Rings” movies, or the Edition before that, or the Edition before that, well then, Warner has you covered. This year, Warner has unleashed the “Middle Earth” 31 Disc Ultimate Collector’s Edition which brings together the epic “Lord of the Rings” trilogy in both Theatrical and Extended editions. And there’s also those “Hobbit” movies with the same deal, but you can just read the book and call it a day, if we’re going to be honest.

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You Have to See This! Space Mutiny (1988)

Streaming On: Tubi, Amazon Prime Video

I’m surprised that “Space Mutiny” came out so late in the eighties, as it feels like it could have easily been dropped in 1985 when “Star Wars” was a juggernaut. In the decade, so many studios were eager to jump on the “Star Wars” band wagon and they did it whether they had the resources or not. “Space Mutiny” is that epic product of the decade that takes everything bad about the “Star Wars” craze and plops it on to one messy, festering pile of nonsense.

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Neon Genesis Evangelion: The Complete Series [Blu-Ray]

Hideaki Anno’s “Neon Genesis Evangelion” is one of the most iconic and influential anime series ever created. While it hasn’t endured a long shelf life like, say, “One Piece,” its elements can be found in much of pop culture. Particularly, it can be found in Western pop culture from children’s animated series to right up to cinema. While I’ve never been big on this kind of anime before, sitting through “Neon Genesis Evangelion” was a unique and entertaining experience.

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Batman Year One (2011): Ten Year Commemorative Edition [4K UHD/Blu-Ray/Digital]

It makes perfect sense for Warner to commemorate “Batman Year One” from 2011. While it’s not a particularly great movie, we are on the cusp of the release of yet another Batman movie that explores Batman in his early years as the Dark Knight. The re-release of “Batman Year One” is good business especially since it’s about ten years since it was released in 2011 to mixed fanfare. Ten years later, it’s still not a great movie, but it should help psych audiences up for “The Batman.”

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