Aged best: subtle Rocky homages, including chicken chasing and Kellerman contrasting Balboa’s body shots with Creed’s head shots.
Aged best: Rocky’s reluctant acceptance of training Donnie, especially the restaurant-food unloading and eventual gym arrival. — Chris Ryan
A provocative aged-best nomination praises emotional manipulation: Donnie reveals Rocky’s illness to get Bianca to open her door. The exchange is joking rather than an endorsement of real-world conduct. — Van Lathan
Aged best: realistic YouTube and 24/7 media touches, the large Mickey gym poster, and Coogler’s intimate camerawork in the upside-down kiss and cheesesteak booths. — Bill Simmons
Andre Ward’s career peak is debated against his earlier run and Kovalev fights; this period is only probably when he was most prominent, not a firm film-Apex award.
Aged best: Wood Harris as Duke’s son, with the irony of The Wire’s Avon refusing to train the actor who played Wallace; more Harris is a reason for sequels. — Bill Simmons
Aged best: Stallone was reportedly 69 at release, the same age as Burgess Meredith in Rocky. Donnie calling Rocky Unc is also introduced. — Bill Simmons
Burgess Meredith’s aged appearance prompts jokes about earlier roles and smoking.
Aged best: Conlan’s trainer and his demand that Adonis use Creed’s name; the Kobe-number 24 jacket is admired. Donnie’s fictional Los Angeles upbringing is offered as the reason he would idolize Kobe, whose Philadelphia connection is also noted. — Bill Simmons
Jordan reportedly told Bill he took a real punch for the eleventh-round knockdown at Stallone’s insistence, continuing a franchise tradition; the Leo fight is reiterated as aged best. — Bill Simmons
Aged best: producers taking a chance on young Coogler, and Bianca having an independent, written character rather than the obstructive sports-movie-girlfriend role. Rocky IV’s Adrian prompts a long mocking contrast.
Most Rewatchable Scene begins with young Adonis’s opening encounter with Mary Anne, praising a scene that works better than expected. — Bill Simmons
The opening adoption scene is essential to explaining Adonis’s feelings; the unclenched fist and title reveal are praised.
The Andre Ward car-key-bet fight is nominated, though watching Donnie beaten makes one host sad; Van compares it to humbling real boxing encounters. — Van Lathan
Donnie meeting Rocky at Adrian’s is praised for Stallone gradually recognizing Apollo’s son and the time-is-undefeated line. Rocky diminishing his own victories to honor Apollo reframes the franchise mythology.
Rocky says Apollo won their private third fight. Bill doubts whether he is sparing the son’s feelings; Van thinks Apollo probably won. The uncertainty remains unresolved. — Bill Simmons
Donnie moving into Paulie’s room leads to a scene using Stallone’s real son’s photograph; the hosts praise his visible emotion and report Coogler persuaded him to include it. Paulie’s absence and missing robot prompt jokes. — Bill Simmons
The uninterrupted Leo–Donnie fight is nominated; the panel names its cinematographer and reports thirteen takes with the eleventh used. — Bill Simmons
The two-round fight is praised as a culmination of boxing cinema, immersive proof of Jordan’s credibility and Coogler’s action ability. Its tie-ups and counterpunches feel more realistic than the Rocky-style finale; the camera’s move from Rocky’s instruction to the knockout is admired.
The Baby Creed confrontation with Tone Trump is a scene nominee, called a characteristically Philadelphia escalation between two easily offended men. Van had invited the rapper to attend. — Van Lathan
Van interprets Tone Trump and Bianca as former sexual partners; another host offers past flirtation without consummation as an alternative. Familiarity is agreed but sexual history remains speculation; a joint music track is imagined. — Van Lathan
A provocative joke links Bianca’s hearing loss to gunfire; the panel asks whether Baby Creed is insulting and suggests Adonis was primed to take offense.
The jailhouse reconciliation and its absent-father monologue are nominated, linked to the mirror-training advice. — Bill Simmons
The bikes-and-ATVs training montage is a thrilling modern counterpart to Rocky’s runs. Its Meek Mill music is framed against the 2015 Drake feud and explicitly wins the needle-drop category.
The press conference, Conlan’s false-Creed taunt, the trunks from his mother, Rocky’s pre-fight speech, Tupac’s Hail Mary and Conlan’s entrance are praised. — Bill Simmons
Adonis shadowboxing while watching his father’s footage is nominated as an image of wanting to become Apollo. — Van Lathan
The final fight is nominated, especially round two and the late corner exchange about not being a mistake. Rocky’s love and renewed will to fight his illness lead into the deliberately withheld Rocky theme; the implausibly timed finish is enjoyed with objections deferred. — Bill Simmons
The final museum-steps exchange about seeing one’s life is nominated.
Chris chooses the Meek Mill training montage and adds the cheesesteak first date as a particularly Philadelphia scene; the date also wins the food award.
Van favors the father-film shadowboxing and training montage; the recreated 24/7 fight promotion also impresses. Another final choice is the montage. Liev Schreiber’s narration and his Hard Knocks appearance prompt a tangent.
Nominees are Tessa Thompson, Wood Harris and Andre Ward, with the PTI hosts named winners for an in-universe Apollo Creed legacy segment ('Oh, I don't know, Tony').
Another suggestion is the actor playing Leo's father, heard as Richie Costa, also of True Detective season two, who looked related to Leo, played by real fighter Gabriel Rosado; 'That'd be my vote.'
Asked next, a panelist picks Rashad: sports-movie cutaways to people watching are a flaw in nearly every sports movie, with Secretariat's race montage the best exception, but her fired-up reaction during the fight makes it worth it. — Wesley Morris
Another panelist did not vote for Rashad because Apollo's wife from Rocky IV was not brought back, hoping that actress at least auditioned. — Bill Simmons
The Andre Ward cameo, when Adonis climbs in the ring to take on the whole gym and Ward knocks him out, is offered first. — Bill Simmons
Three great scenes are named: the two-round fight with Leo filmed in one shot, the seven-minute cancer-revival training sequence ending with the ATVs outside Rocky's house, and the 11th and 12th rounds of the final fight. — Bill Simmons
The one-shot fight is called an all-time how-did-they-do-this scene, with the camera cutting to Jordan and Stallone and whirling back around. — Bill Simmons
The cinematographer Alberti, who also shot The Wrestler, is praised, and Creed is called a much better-shot movie than The Wrestler. — Wesley Morris
The ATV training sequence is a genuine stand-up-in-your-seat moment, an urban 2015 version of the Rocky run 40 years later. — Bill Simmons
The final fight's 11th and 12th rounds, with the towel nearly thrown and the line about proving he is not a mistake, are called a great, stressful five minutes. — Bill Simmons
The two-round one-shot match is called the best boxing scene ever seen and gets a vote. — Bill Simmons
A second vote for the one-shot fight: beyond technical mastery it tells a story, as the trainer's tip in the ring leads to the knockout a minute later, building their bond, followed by the 'you didn't tell me you had hands like that' moment. — Sean Fennessey
Bianca's hands line prompts a joke about what it implies about sleeping with him.
Asked about the ATV scene, a panelist loves it and adds the warm-up before the last fight, rocking back and forth while being talked into it, and receiving the gloves and trunks.
Bianca's Philly slang 'John' (jawn) would have worked better with the accent; one panelist saw the movie in Philadelphia with a sleepy crowd. — Wesley Morris
Another answer agrees on the one-shot fight and adds the scene where the vomiting in the ring reveals Rocky's illness, a painterly, Renaissance-lit presentation, later tied to Adonis saying he will fight if Rocky fights. — Wesley Morris
Many things are needlessly beautiful: the first kiss shot upside down and the booth framing on their first date.
Rashad's performance in the first scene, with its spacing and sense of history, gave complete confidence in the movie.
The juvenile detention tracking shot, the long deep-focus shot with the supervisor watching in the background, and Leo's dad eyeing Rocky at the gym are cited as touches of a good filmmaker. — Wesley Morris
Another pick is the two-round match while also riding with the ATV scene, which gains context from the Eagles' Super Bowl and the Meek Mill song; kids who find Rocky slow like Creed. — Bill Simmons
The ATV scene honors Bill Conti's score, going slow motion and quiet mid-song, and the theme hits as the final round begins. — Bill Simmons
A late addition: the jail scene where an angry Adonis tells Rocky off and Stallone slow-plays it is called really good acting. — Bill Simmons
