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.
Rocky Balboa proudly holds the world heavyweight boxing championship, but a new challenger has stepped forward: Drago, a six-foot-four, 261-pound fighter who has the backing of the Soviet Union.
Director:
Sylvester Stallone
Stars:
Sylvester Stallone,
Talia Shire,
Burt Young
A small-time boxer gets a supremely rare chance to fight a heavy-weight champion in a bout in which he strives to go the distance for his self-respect.
Director:
John G. Avildsen
Stars:
Sylvester Stallone,
Talia Shire,
Burt Young
Thirty years after the ring of the first bell, Rocky Balboa comes out of retirement and dons his gloves for his final fight; against the reigning heavyweight champ Mason 'The Line' Dixon.
Director:
Sylvester Stallone
Stars:
Sylvester Stallone,
Antonio Tarver,
Milo Ventimiglia
Reluctantly retired from boxing, and back from riches to rags, Rocky takes on a new protege who betrays him, as the champ's son must adjust to his family's new life after bankruptcy.
Director:
John G. Avildsen
Stars:
Sylvester Stallone,
Talia Shire,
Burt Young
The former World Heavyweight Champion Rocky Balboa serves as a trainer and mentor to Adonis Johnson, the son of his late friend and former rival Apollo Creed.
Director:
Ryan Coogler
Stars:
Michael B. Jordan,
Sylvester Stallone,
Tessa Thompson
A veteran Green Beret is forced by a cruel Sheriff and his deputies to flee into the mountains and wage an escalating one-man war against his pursuers.
Director:
Ted Kotcheff
Stars:
Sylvester Stallone,
Brian Dennehy,
Richard Crenna
John Rambo is released from prison by the government for a top-secret covert mission to the last place on Earth he'd want to return - the jungles of Vietnam.
Director:
George P. Cosmatos
Stars:
Sylvester Stallone,
Richard Crenna,
Charles Napier
In Thailand, John Rambo joins a group of mercenaries to venture into war-torn Burma, and rescue a group of Christian aid workers who were kidnapped by the ruthless local infantry unit.
Director:
Sylvester Stallone
Stars:
Sylvester Stallone,
Julie Benz,
Matthew Marsden
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?Written by
Film_Fan
Chuck Wepner, the real-life inspiration for Rocky (1976), was offered the part of a trainer named "Chink Weber". According to Wepner, he read for Sylvester Stallone but did very poorly. The character was deleted from the script. The name "Chink Weber" ended up being used for Sonny Landham's character in Stallone's movie Lock Up (1989). See more »
Goofs
When Mickey comes to visit Rocky, Rocky opens the door for him to enter. Mickey never moves past the threshold but the door that opens inwards is now closed behind him. See more »
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). See more »
I'm old enough to remember the thrill of seeing each of the "Rocky" films during their original, theatrical runs. The magical component that Stallone achieved was to tell nearly the exact same story, twice in a row, with the same characters... and yet, he gives us a one-two punch that hits just solidly as the first.
It's truly a remarkable feat. Differences? We've already met all the characters. Gone is the sense of discovery, the sense of learning who these people are. We already know, don't we? Yet, Stallone's characters are sufficiently interesting enough for us to want to spend more time with them, seeing them in a world most of us don't know, living a life few of us would really want. While the sense of discovery about these characters is gone, our joy of being a voyeur into their world is not.
It's a toss up which movie, "Rocky" or "Rocky II," asks us to suspend disbelief more. In "Rocky," we have to accept that a nobody, unrated, club fighter could a) get the chance to fight the world champion. B) He could possibly defy all odds and go the distance. That's a huge stretch only possible in Hollywood movies, classifying the first movie as a fairy tale along the lines of Cinderella.
Soap opera-esquire is not a bad way to characterize "Rocky II" because of the emotional ride, but I don't find it as trite as a soap opera. Rocky's actions are very believable, from his earnings feeling like a fortune to him (when they were obviously not), to his illiteracy and his unsophisticated, "punch drunk" boxer. The ramifications of his past are believable. He fritters away the money and is unable to capitalize on his 15 minutes of fame. Hey, it happens all the time. Very believable.
With a pregnant wife, no job, and no way to pay his bills, he's backed into a corner. What's a fighter to do? (And in this case, I mean "a fighter" in its most literal sense.) He's willing to risk his health and even his marriage to do what any man should do: provide for his family.
Adrian's bit of drama is the single "problem" with the movie, but it's also the heart of the movie. It's not a movie about losing it all and coming back again, it's much more than that. It's about a simple man who's trying to do the best he can with the only tools he has. And when Adrian is first to go down for the count, it puts it all in jeopardy.
It's not until his wife is ready to accept him as he is, for what he is, that he can continue his quest, one more fight, for his family, for himself.
The story arc feels so similar to the first movie that this one is often tossed to the side, yet it truly is amazing how Stallone managed to re-imagine all the magic of the first movie and, better still, give us a second helping of it that's just as sweet. Enjoy!
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I'm old enough to remember the thrill of seeing each of the "Rocky" films during their original, theatrical runs. The magical component that Stallone achieved was to tell nearly the exact same story, twice in a row, with the same characters... and yet, he gives us a one-two punch that hits just solidly as the first.
It's truly a remarkable feat. Differences? We've already met all the characters. Gone is the sense of discovery, the sense of learning who these people are. We already know, don't we? Yet, Stallone's characters are sufficiently interesting enough for us to want to spend more time with them, seeing them in a world most of us don't know, living a life few of us would really want. While the sense of discovery about these characters is gone, our joy of being a voyeur into their world is not.
It's a toss up which movie, "Rocky" or "Rocky II," asks us to suspend disbelief more. In "Rocky," we have to accept that a nobody, unrated, club fighter could a) get the chance to fight the world champion. B) He could possibly defy all odds and go the distance. That's a huge stretch only possible in Hollywood movies, classifying the first movie as a fairy tale along the lines of Cinderella.
Soap opera-esquire is not a bad way to characterize "Rocky II" because of the emotional ride, but I don't find it as trite as a soap opera. Rocky's actions are very believable, from his earnings feeling like a fortune to him (when they were obviously not), to his illiteracy and his unsophisticated, "punch drunk" boxer. The ramifications of his past are believable. He fritters away the money and is unable to capitalize on his 15 minutes of fame. Hey, it happens all the time. Very believable.
With a pregnant wife, no job, and no way to pay his bills, he's backed into a corner. What's a fighter to do? (And in this case, I mean "a fighter" in its most literal sense.) He's willing to risk his health and even his marriage to do what any man should do: provide for his family.
Adrian's bit of drama is the single "problem" with the movie, but it's also the heart of the movie. It's not a movie about losing it all and coming back again, it's much more than that. It's about a simple man who's trying to do the best he can with the only tools he has. And when Adrian is first to go down for the count, it puts it all in jeopardy.
It's not until his wife is ready to accept him as he is, for what he is, that he can continue his quest, one more fight, for his family, for himself.
The story arc feels so similar to the first movie that this one is often tossed to the side, yet it truly is amazing how Stallone managed to re-imagine all the magic of the first movie and, better still, give us a second helping of it that's just as sweet. Enjoy!