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
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
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
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
Former Green Beret John Rambo is pursued into the mountains surrounding a small town by a tyrannical sheriff and his deputies, forcing him to survive using his combat skills.
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
Framed by their ruthless arch-nemesis, a mismatched LAPD crime-fighting duo has to put its differences aside to even the score with the evil kingpin who put them behind bars once and for all.
Directors:
Andrey Konchalovskiy,
Albert Magnoli
Stars:
Sylvester Stallone,
Kurt Russell,
Teri Hatcher
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
Originally, Adrian was supposed to be at the big fight. However, because Talia Shire was working on another movie at the time, the storyline was changed to having her stay home and watch the fight on television. The scenes of her watching the boxing match on television were shot, and then edited into the movie several months after filming once the fight scenes had finished. See more »
Goofs
During the "Gonna Fly Now" training scene. Rocky is running through the city. He makes a left turn down a very crowded street. As he turns there is a golden coloured Gremlin parked on the opposite side of the road. In a subsequent front-on shot he is shown running much further down the road but he passes the same Gremlin once again. See more »
Quotes
Mickey:
Hey Rock. It's three in the morning. I went up to your house there and they told me you was here. It's 3am, kid. You know that Adrian, she's a good girl. Me, you know I'm sorry for both of ya. There's nothing I can do about it. Except, uh, I wanna tell you this once and then, uh, I ain't gonna say it again. But Rock, you got another shot. This is the second shot. At, uh, I don't know the biggest title in the world, and you're gonna be swappin' punches with, with the most dangerous fighter in ...
See more »
I have to hand it to Sylvester Stallone he did the impossible with 'Rocky II' and made a successful follow-up to 'Rocky,' winner of the 1976 Best Picture Academy Award.
Some argue that 'Taxi Driver' (also nominated) deserved the Oscar more. I'm not so sure. 'Rocky' came along at just the right time it was an uplifting story and people needed that back then. Now, 'Taxi Driver' is usually considered the superior of the two but they're entirely different and, in my opinion (and it's a rare one), 'Rocky' is just as good but in a different way. They're both great films, and I'm not saying that 'Taxi Driver' shouldn't have won but I'm not necessarily saying it should have, either. 'Rocky's' achievement is monumental and it is one of the greatest films ever made. To say it's 'not as good' merely because it is more optimistic is nonsense.
So what's so great about 'Rocky II' and why is it generally underrated? (Its average user score right now on the Internet Movie Database -- with over 8,000 votes -- is a measly 6.2/10, compared to the original's 7.7)
Because it maintains the focus of the first film, and continues the story rather well. A story that didn't really need to be continued, per se, but nevertheless formed the foundation of one of the greatest film franchises of all time. That's right many people hate the 'Rocky' sequels, but apart from 'Part V,' they're all surprisingly entertaining and, more importantly, well made. I like them; they entertain me, and I think they all serve their purpose.
What's particularly interesting about 'Rocky II' is that apart from repeating the central theme of fighting Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), Rocky (Stallone) goes through a character arc here that many sequels totally ignore we see the after-effects of his fight, and him struggling to adapt to the 'New Life.'
Rocky is not a smart person. But he is one of cinema's deepest characters. Stallone (who wrote all the scripts and directed three of the sequels) succeeds at evolving Rocky's self-confidence. After winning a small fortune from his famous fight with Creed, he goes out on an impulsive shopping spree, buying a cool car, a new leather jacket (with a tiger the beast with the 'eye' that Rocky re-captures in 'Part III' printed on the back), and a new luxurious apartment for him and his wife Adrienne (Talia Shire).
The problem is that Rocky soon runs out of money. His happy-go-lucky personality crashes when he is faced with the prospect of losing it all. He promised Adrienne never to fight again, and keeps his word by trying to get a 'real' job at the meat-processing factory (the same one he trained at in the original film). However due to staff cut backs he is fired and soon realizes that he was born for one reason: To fight.
Meanwhile, Apollo is eager to take on 'The Italian Stallion' again to prove he isn't the coward that criticizers are implying he is. He entices Rocky back into the ring for a final match and to say that the outcome is satisfactory is an understatement.
Most people seem to forget that Stallone is almost solely responsible for the entire success of 'Rocky' as a whole. He came up with the idea, wrote a script, fought to get it made, fought to become the leading star, and literally fought to get in shape. All of this fighting paid off and it continued to pay off as he kept on cranking out all the sequels.
Indeed, the 'Rocky' legacy is often poked fun at because it is the typical endless Hollywood moneymaking franchise. But 'Rocky II' and 'III' (more so than the other two sequels) have guts, power, determination and focus they've got the so-called 'Eye of the Tiger' and I can't really say that I agree with anyone who says these movies are worthless. They aren't masterpieces but they certainly aren't trash, either. I give 'Rocky II' a hearty recommendation it's a truly solid sequel that surprises us right when we expect to be disappointed.
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I have to hand it to Sylvester Stallone he did the impossible with 'Rocky II' and made a successful follow-up to 'Rocky,' winner of the 1976 Best Picture Academy Award.
Some argue that 'Taxi Driver' (also nominated) deserved the Oscar more. I'm not so sure. 'Rocky' came along at just the right time it was an uplifting story and people needed that back then. Now, 'Taxi Driver' is usually considered the superior of the two but they're entirely different and, in my opinion (and it's a rare one), 'Rocky' is just as good but in a different way. They're both great films, and I'm not saying that 'Taxi Driver' shouldn't have won but I'm not necessarily saying it should have, either. 'Rocky's' achievement is monumental and it is one of the greatest films ever made. To say it's 'not as good' merely because it is more optimistic is nonsense.
So what's so great about 'Rocky II' and why is it generally underrated? (Its average user score right now on the Internet Movie Database -- with over 8,000 votes -- is a measly 6.2/10, compared to the original's 7.7)
Because it maintains the focus of the first film, and continues the story rather well. A story that didn't really need to be continued, per se, but nevertheless formed the foundation of one of the greatest film franchises of all time. That's right many people hate the 'Rocky' sequels, but apart from 'Part V,' they're all surprisingly entertaining and, more importantly, well made. I like them; they entertain me, and I think they all serve their purpose.
What's particularly interesting about 'Rocky II' is that apart from repeating the central theme of fighting Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), Rocky (Stallone) goes through a character arc here that many sequels totally ignore we see the after-effects of his fight, and him struggling to adapt to the 'New Life.'
Rocky is not a smart person. But he is one of cinema's deepest characters. Stallone (who wrote all the scripts and directed three of the sequels) succeeds at evolving Rocky's self-confidence. After winning a small fortune from his famous fight with Creed, he goes out on an impulsive shopping spree, buying a cool car, a new leather jacket (with a tiger the beast with the 'eye' that Rocky re-captures in 'Part III' printed on the back), and a new luxurious apartment for him and his wife Adrienne (Talia Shire).
The problem is that Rocky soon runs out of money. His happy-go-lucky personality crashes when he is faced with the prospect of losing it all. He promised Adrienne never to fight again, and keeps his word by trying to get a 'real' job at the meat-processing factory (the same one he trained at in the original film). However due to staff cut backs he is fired and soon realizes that he was born for one reason: To fight.
Meanwhile, Apollo is eager to take on 'The Italian Stallion' again to prove he isn't the coward that criticizers are implying he is. He entices Rocky back into the ring for a final match and to say that the outcome is satisfactory is an understatement.
Most people seem to forget that Stallone is almost solely responsible for the entire success of 'Rocky' as a whole. He came up with the idea, wrote a script, fought to get it made, fought to become the leading star, and literally fought to get in shape. All of this fighting paid off and it continued to pay off as he kept on cranking out all the sequels.
Indeed, the 'Rocky' legacy is often poked fun at because it is the typical endless Hollywood moneymaking franchise. But 'Rocky II' and 'III' (more so than the other two sequels) have guts, power, determination and focus they've got the so-called 'Eye of the Tiger' and I can't really say that I agree with anyone who says these movies are worthless. They aren't masterpieces but they certainly aren't trash, either. I give 'Rocky II' a hearty recommendation it's a truly solid sequel that surprises us right when we expect to be disappointed.