Rocky II (1979)

Rocky struggles in family life after his bout with Apollo Creed, while the embarrassed champ insistently goads him to accept a challenge for a rematch.

Director:

Sylvester Stallone

Writer:

Sylvester Stallone

Stars:

Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young

2 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sylvester Stallone	...	Rocky Balboa
Talia Shire	...	Adrian
Burt Young	...	Paulie
Carl Weathers	...	Apollo Creed
Burgess Meredith	...	Mickey
Tony Burton	...	Apollo's Trainer
Joe Spinell	...	Gazzo
Leonard Gaines	...	Agent
Sylvia Meals	...	Mary Anne Creed
Frank McRae	...	Meat Foreman
Al Silvani	...	Cutman
John Pleshette	...	Director
Stu Nahan	...	Announcer
Bill Baldwin	...	Commentator
Jerry Ziesmer	...	Salesman

Storyline

Rocky Balboa is enjoying life. He has a lovely wife, Adrian, had a successful fight with Apollo Creed and is able to enjoy the money he earned from the fight and a new endorsement deal. Unfortunately, Rocky becomes embarrassed when failing to complete an advert and ends up working in a meat packing company. He believes that he will no longer have a career as a boxer. Apollo wants to rematch with Rocky to prove all his critics wrong that he can beat Rocky. Can Rocky once again have a successful fight?

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Plot Keywords:

fist | left handedness | simple man | eye injury | hit in the face | 

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Taglines:

Rocky shows he's a champ...and wins!

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Genres:

Drama | Sport

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

Before the fight begins, one of the announcers states that Apollo wants to draw "First Blood", which is the name of Sylvester Stallone's original Rambo movie in 1982.

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Goofs

When the first Rocky fight ends, they are in the Spectrum in South Philadelphia. At the beginning of Rocky II the ambulance is coming down off the Girard Point Bridge and heads up S. Broad Street and goes by the Spectrum, again. They would have had to go over the bridge and turn around to go pass the Spectrum on their way to Jefferson Hospital.

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Quotes

Apollo: This fight will be held in the Philadelphia Spectrum, 'cause I want this man's hometown to see this. I want all of Philadelphia, I want all of America, I want the whole world to see me destroy this man after two short rounds. Because after this fight, he's gonna have to donate what's gonna be left of his body to science. But there won't be much. That I can guarantee you.

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Crazy Credits

The end credits featured a caricature of Rocky hugging Mickey from the last scene of the movie.

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Alternate Versions

Approx. 2 minutes of dialogue were removed from the German theatrical version. Only in 2009 the film was released uncut (with the missing scenes in English with German subtitles).

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Connections

Spoofed in Roky-0 No 2 (1987)

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Soundtracks

Two Kinds of Love
Words and Music by Frank Stallone

User Reviews

A pretty good sequel

Sure, Apollo was pointlessly painted as the bad guy early in the film, but this a sequel. While it is not as good as the first film, it still embodies many of the themes and hopes which made the first film so powerful. This time, the audience got what it wanted, a win for a guy who had been kicked down for so long. With more money, the film felt more lucid and better put together, which made it a whole new experience in itself. I especially enjoyed the scene where the kids are chasing Rocky, certainly one of the most complicated and time consuming shots of all time, considering all of the extras the various sequences needed. Better than an average sequel, it still pales a shade below the original film.

Details

Official Sites:

Instagram MGM

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

15 June 1979 (USA)

Also Known As:

Rocky II

Filming Locations:

Pennsylvania, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$7,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,390,537, 17 June 1979

Gross USA:

$85,182,160

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$85,187,855

Company Credits

Production Co:

Chartoff-Winkler Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min 142 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1