ROCKY was indeed a great movie, but better than other great movies back in 1976 like TAXI DRIVER or NETWORK or ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN? Nope, but it deserves to be mentioned with them for that pretty damn good movie year.

As for ROCKY II, its pretty good if slightly only as a "Follow-Up" sequel like that of Frakenheimer's THE FRENCH CONNECTION II.

However, ROCKY III and the other sequels were pure blockbuster fluff silly sequels that didn't contain the drama of the central characters from the first two movies that Stallone penned.