Legacy
The Directors Guild of America awarded Rocky its annual award for best film of the year in 1976. Additionally, the Directors Guild voted Rocky as the 65th best-directed film of all time in 2016, and in 2006, Sylvester Stallone's original screenplay for the film was selected by the Writers Guild of America as the 78th best screenplay of all time. In a 2012 survey of members of the Motion Picture Editors Guild, Rocky was voted as one of the 75 best-edited films in all of cinema.
In 2006, the Library of Congress selected Rocky for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant".
In 1998, the American Film Institute (AFI) ranked Rocky as the 78th best film in American cinema. The film's ranking rose to No. 57 on AFI's 10th anniversary edition of the list in 2007. Additionally, in June 2008, AFI revealed its 10 Top 10—the best ten films in ten "classic" American film genres—after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community. Rocky was acknowledged as the second-best film in the sports genre, after Raging Bull.
Film scholar Steven J. Schneider included Rocky in his book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, writing that the film is "often overlooked as schmaltz".
Filmsite.org, a subsidiary of American Movie Classics, included the film on their list of the 300 greatest films of all time. Additionally, Films101.com ranked the film as the 228th best of all time.
In 2006, British film magazine Total Film ranked Rocky at No. 71 on their list of the 100 greatest films of all time. Based on their 2020 readers' poll, the film ranked No. 60 on Rolling Stone Australia's "100 Greatest Movies of All Time". Additionally, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Rocky at No. 2 on their list of the 30 greatest sports films.
In 2022, Esquire included the film on their list of "The 100 Best Movies of All Time". Esquire also included both Rocky and its spinoff sequel Creed on their list of "The 30 Best Sports Movies of All Time". In 2023, Slashfilm included Rocky on their list of the "Top 100 Movies of All Time", as voted by a selection of their writers and editors. In 2024, entertainment news site Comic Book Resources ranked the film No. 23 on their list of the "55 Best Movies of All Time", while Parade magazine ranked the film No. 45 on their list of the "100 Best Movies of All Time".
In 2014, Rocky was ranked No. 95 by British film magazine Empire on their list of "The 301 Greatest Movies of All Time", It was ranked No. 370 on their previous list of the 500 greatest films in 2008. Conversely, in a 2005 poll by Empire, Rocky was No. 9 on their list of "The Top 10 Worst Pictures to Win Best Picture Oscar".
In June 2014, The Hollywood Reporter compiled a list of the 100 best movies ever made, polling film industry insiders on their favorite films of all time. Rocky ranked No. 91. The following year The Hollywood Reporter polled hundreds of Academy members, asking them to re-vote on past controversial decisions. Academy members indicated that, given a second chance, they would award the 1977 Oscar for Best Picture to All the President's Men instead.
Time Out ranked Rocky No. 1 on their list of the "50 Best Sports Movies of All Time". On their list of "The 50 Greatest Sports Movies of All Time", entertainment news website Vulture ranked Rocky at No. 3. In 2015, Thrillist compiled a list of "The 1001 Best Movies of All Time" by weighing ratings from IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic and Letterboxd. Rocky ranked No. 589.
In 2021, the film ranked 2nd on ESPN's "Top 20 Sports Movies of All-Time". In 2024, Forbes magazine ranked Rocky No. 1 on their list of "The 42 Greatest Sports Movies of All Time".
British film site CinemaBlend ranked Rocky and Creed No. 1 and No. 17 respectively on their list of "The 25 Best Sports Movies". On their list of "100 Best Movies of All Time", entertainment news website Collider ranked Rocky No. 94, and on their list of "The 30 Greatest Sports Movies of All Time", Collider ranked the film No. 2. On their list of the "Top 25 Sports Movies of All Time", entertainment news website MovieWeb ranked Rocky No. 4. MovieWeb also ranked the film No. 3 on their list of the "20 Movies That Represent American Culture".
On their list of "The 150 Best Sports Movies of All Time", Rotten Tomatoes ranked Rocky No. 17 and Creed No. 2. Men's Health included Rocky on their list of the "50 of the Absolute Best Sports Movies Ever Made". British GQ ranked the film No. 1 on their list of "The 22 Best Sports Movies".
