Rocky II (1979)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Sylvester Stallone

Writer:

Sylvester Stallone (written by)

Release Date:

15 June 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Sport

Tagline:

He was one punch away from the heavyweight championship of the world. Now he's one heartbeat away from losing the woman he loves.

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Fight | Rematch | Boxer | Coma | Commercial

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Sylvester Stallone	...	Rocky Balboa
Talia Shire	...	Adrian
Burt Young	...	Paulie
Carl Weathers	...	Apollo Creed
Burgess Meredith	...	Mickey Goldmill
Tony Burton	...	Duke (Apollo's Trainer)
Joe Spinell	...	Tony Gazzo
Leonard Gaines	...	Agent
Sylvia Meals	...	Mary Anne Creed
Frank McRae	...	Meat Foreman
Al Silvani	...	Cutter
John Pleshette	...	Director
Stu Nahan	...	Announcer
Bill Baldwin	...	Commentator
Jerry Ziesmer	...	Salesman
Paul Micale	...	Father Carmine (as Paul J. Micale)
Earl Montgomery	...	Employment Manager
Herb Nanas	...	Employment Manager
Stuart K. Robinson	...	Johnny (as Stuart Robinson)
Frank Stallone	...	Singer
Charles 'Honi' Coles	...	Singer (as Charles Coles)
Doug Flor	...	Singer
Robert Kondyra	...	Singer
James Zazzarino	...	Singer
Eddie 'El Annimal' Lopez	...	Fighter (as Eddie Lopez)
Taurean Blacque	...	Lawyer
James J. Casino	...	Chink's Manager (as James Casino)
Shaka Cumbuka	...	Cornerman
Samuel Davis	...	Apollo's Bodyguard
Roberto Durán	...	Fighter (as Roberto Duran)
Lou Fillipo	...	Referee (as Lou Filippo)
Ruth Ann Flynn	...	Jewelry Sales Lady
Linda Grey	...	Agent
Grainger Hines	...	Emergency Room Aide
Garrie Kelly	...	White Hunter
Ava Lazar	...	White Hunter
Joseph Letizia	...	Car Salesman
René Le Vant	...	Young Lugger (as Rene Le Vant)
Tawny Little	...	Reporter
Paul McCrane	...	Young Patient
Sonny Melendrez	...	Reporter
Tony Munafo	...	Boxer
Brent Musburger	...	Reporter
Ed Ness	...	Timekeeper
Fred Pinkard	...	Lawyer
Jane Marla Robbins	...	Gloria
Hank Rolike	...	Cornerman
David L. Ross	...	Reporter (as David Ross)
Fran Ryan	...	Adrian's Nurse
Whitney Rydbeck	...	Sound Man
Shepherd Sanders	...	Employment Manager (as Sheperd Sanders)
Jeff Temkin	...	Ring Announcer
Allan Warnick	...	Makeup Man
Charles Winkler	...	Camera Assistant
James Zaza	...	Emergency Room Reporter
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Brenda King	...	Ring girl #2 (uncredited)
Taaffe O'Connell	...	Ring Girl (uncredited)
Velvet Rhodes	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Butkus Stallone	...	Dog (uncredited)
Seargeoh Stallone	...	Robert 'Rocky' Balboa Jr. (uncredited)

Directed by
Sylvester Stallone

Writing credits
Sylvester Stallone		(written by)

Produced by
Robert Chartoff	....	producer
Arthur Chobanian	....	associate producer
Irwin Winkler	....	producer

Original Music by
Bill Conti

Cinematography by
Bill Butler

Film Editing by
Stanford C. Allen
Janice Hampton

Casting by
Michael McLean

Art Direction by
Richard Berger

Set Decoration by
Ed Baer

Costume Design by
Sandy Berke Jordan		(costumes: women) (as Sandra Berke)
Tom Bronson		(costumes: men) (as Thomas Bronson)

Makeup Department
Philip Goldblat	....	makeup artist (as Phil Goldblatt)
Jean Burt Reilly	....	hair stylist
Michael Westmore	....	makeup designer

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Elie Cohn	....	second assistant director
Ira H. Gallen	....	second assistant director (as Ira Gallen)
Robert Odom	....	dga trainee
Jerry Ziesmer	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Kevin Chambers	....	swing gang
Bill Dietz	....	property master
Floyd Farrington	....	assistant property master
Bill Gay	....	lead man (as William Gay)
Claude F. Powell	....	construction coordinator (as Claude Powell)
Lambert Powell	....	construction foreman
Peter R. Romero	....	assistant art director (as Peter Romero)
Vernon Yeager	....	stand-by painter
Fred Lucky	....	storyboard illustrator (uncredited)

Sound Department
John S. Coffey	....	cable person (as John Coffey)
Gordon Davidson	....	sound effects editorial staff
Rebecca Einfeld	....	sound effects editorial staff
Gary S. Gerlich	....	sound effects editorial staff (as Gary Gerlich)
Rick Kline	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Richard Kline)
Bobbe Kurtz	....	loop editor
Jimmy Ling	....	sound effects editorial staff (as James B. Ling)
Victoria Martin	....	sound effects editorial staff
Bob Minkler	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Robert Minkler)
Donald O. Mitchell	....	sound re-recording mixer
Robert A. Reich	....	sound effects editorial staff (as Robert Arnold Reich)
William A. Sawyer	....	sound effects editorial staff (as William Sawyer)
Kenneth Schwarz	....	boom operator (as Ken Schwarz)
Frank E. Warner	....	supervising sound effects editor (as Frank Warner)
Charles M. Wilborn	....	sound mixer (as Chuck Wilborn)

Stunts
Jimmy Nickerson	....	stunt coordinator
Freddie Hice	....	stunts (uncredited)
Bennie Moore	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Martin G. Beazell	....	second assistant camera (as G. Martin Beazell)
Garrett Brown	....	Steadicam operator
Jim Brown	....	camera operator
Colin J. Campbell	....	gaffer (as Colin Campbell)
Earl L. Clark	....	first assistant camera (as Earl Lynn Clark)
William Coleman	....	first assistant camera (as Bill Coleman)
James R. Connell	....	camera operator (as Jim Connell)
Bob Greene	....	still photographer
Randy Hart	....	best boy
George Hill	....	key grip
Christine M. Loss	....	still photographer (as Christine Loss)
Barry Oiffer	....	second assistant camera
James M. Sheppherd	....	dolly grip (as Jim Shepherd)
George Staubs	....	second grip
Orlando Suero	....	still photographer
Mike Chevalier	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Casting Department
Joy Todd	....	casting: Philadelphia
Cash Oshman	....	crowd casting (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Ross Albert	....	assistant editor
Donah Bassett	....	negative cutter
James D. Brubaker	....	post-production coordinator (as James Brubaker)
Gregory M. Gerlich	....	assistant editor (as Greg Gerlich)
Danford B. Greene	....	supervising editor
Jerelyn J. Harding	....	assistant editor (as Jerelyn Golding)
Christopher Holmes	....	editor: fight scenes (as Christopher V. Holmes)
James Mitchell	....	editor: fight scenes (as James D. Mitchell)
Janice Parker	....	assistant editor
Nancy Sales	....	assistant editor
James R. Symons	....	editor: fight and training montages
Jan Wesley	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Allison Caine	....	vocal effects advisor
Dennis S. Sands	....	scoring mixer (as Dennis Sands)
Joe Tuley	....	music editor
Dan Wallin	....	music scoring mixer (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Russell McEntyre	....	transportation coordinator
Dan Riportella	....	transportation co-captain (as Daniel Riportella)

Other crew
Dale Benson	....	location manager
Stanley Brossette	....	publicist
Louis Chirco	....	craft service
Janet Crosby	....	assistant to producers
Pen Densham	....	supervisor: fight and training montages
Chip Fowler	....	production office coordinator
Michael S. Glick	....	production executive
Vince Heileson	....	paymaster
Bruce Hoffman	....	additional photographic credit
Linda Horner	....	assistant: Mr. Stallone
Lori Imbler	....	assistant to producers
Patrice J. Klinger	....	production assistant (as Patrice Klinger)
Larry Kramer	....	production assistant
Joseph Letizia	....	company representative (as Joe Letizia)
Chris Raphael	....	promotional appearances
Marge Rowland	....	production accountant
Ellen Shire	....	location coordinator
Al Silvani	....	technical advisor
Marie Sorell	....	nurse
Sylvester Stallone	....	boxing choreographer
John Watson	....	supervisor: fight and training montages
Marshall J. Wolins	....	script supervisor (as Marshall Wolins)
Tom Wright	....	technical advisor
Raechel Donahue	....	voice talent (uncredited)
Donna Smith	....	production coordinator (uncredited)
Michael E. Uslan	....	production attorney (uncredited)

Thanks
Jane Oliver	....	dedicatee

Production Companies

• Chartoff-Winkler Productions

Distributors

• United Artists (1979) (USA) (theatrical)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1982) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical) (35mm print)

Other Companies

• Mclean/Ebbins/Mansour Casting Co.  casting
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)  titles
• Pacific Title  opticals

Runtime:

119 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Canada:PG (Alberta) (re-rating) (1999) | Iceland:12 | Canada:14A (Ontario - 2006) | Mexico:A | South Korea:12 | Brazil:12 | Peru:14 | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Chile:14 | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:PG | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

1818 East Tusculum Street, Kensington, North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Company:

Chartoff-Winkler Productions

Trivia:

As he had done with the original, Sylvester Stallone incorporated biographical elements from his own life into Rocky's story for this film. In particular, Stallone used as a central plot point the concept that yesterday's heroes are quickly forgotten. In the film, this manifests itself in terms of people quickly forgetting about Rocky's exploits in the title fight. In reality, Stallone experienced a similar sense of being quickly forgotten after his two post-Rocky (1976) movies, Paradise Alley (1978) (Stallone's directorial debut) and F.I.S.T (1978), both underperformed at the box office.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Rocky is in the hospital at the beginning of the movie, he is signing an autograph for the son of the nurse - his first autograph. He signs it with his right hand, not his left, despite being left handed.

Quotes:

Adrian: We really don't need a car.
Rocky Balboa: Oh, come on, Adrian. I'm gonna be doing commercials. Now, I can afford this, you know? No problem.
Adrian: Do you know how to drive?
Rocky Balboa: Do I know how to drive?
Adrian: Do you know how to drive?
Rocky Balboa: I'm one of the greats. Are you kidding? C'mon, I'll drive you. Let me put you inside the car. This will just be like Cinderella and the pumpkin, you know?
Adrian: Do you know how to drive?
Rocky Balboa: Do I know how to drive? I drive airplanes and bulldozers. I'll drive you crazy if you give me a chance. You know waht I mean?
[...]

Movie Connections:

Features Rocky (1976)

Soundtrack:

TWO KINDS OF LOVE

A good sequel that repeats the successful formula

Immediately after Rocky's close contest with Apollo Creed, he is drawn into fame only to find it is a temporary thing. As the money fades he finds personal crisis is never far away and is tempted into a big money rematch against Creed. Meanwhile Creed, who should fight other fighters, is plagued by suggestions that the first fight was staged to go the distance. Things build to the rematch.

Stallone proves that he has got a money making brain in his head by basically remaking Rocky. The story covers similar themes – it's a soap opera with a fight at the end. Here the soapy mush is mostly about his loss of money and decline back into the gutter, while we have children and comas thrown in for good measure. This is all well and good, and Stallone doesn't let it get too mushy. The script has some good scenes and mixes in comedy – my favourtie line being where Rocky is advised to invest his money in condominiums, to which Rocky replies `condominiums? But I don't use them.'

This comedy helps endear Rocky to us despite being a bit `punchy'. The fight however – that's where the money is. As in the first Rocky movie, the fight is a huge thing, full of emotion and welling music. The fighting is, of course, nonsense – even sillier than the first film, but with the raw emotion and use of music you can't help but get involved – even if you don't want to! At times it goes a bit far and may look a bit like ego-massaging by Stallone, eg the scene where he is out on his training run and is followed by hundreds of supportive children!

Stallone is good in all his roles, the playing of Rocky as a working class bum made good is bang on. Shire doesn't have much to do but she's good beside Stallone. Young is good and Meredith easily repeats his tour-de-force as the grizzled trainer. Carl Weathers is good as Apollo Creed and this is one of his best roles.

Overall this isn't a classic but by repeating the basic formula of the first movie and taking Rocky back to the gutter, this remains an entertaining soap that is driven by mushy, if formulaic, emotion.