Rocky II (1979)

This film opens with the fight that was at the end of Rocky (1976).  Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) and his opponent, champ Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) are whisked off to the hospital afterwards to heal their injuries.  Rocky took the worst of the beating.  Once out of the hospital, Rocky marries Adrian (Talia Shire), and he promises her he will not box anymore.

However, life outside of the ring proves to be a major challenge.  Rocky is signed to do a commercial, but the project is scrapped when it is discovered that the boxer can't read the cue cards -- Rocky is illiterate.  A job comes up at a meat packing plant, but due to budget cuts, Rocky is laid off.  Without a high school diploma, opportunities for the former boxer are few.  There are bills due, and Adrian is pregnant.

Meanwhile, Apollo, embarrassed by how Rocky stood up to him during their fight, wants a rematch ASAP. Apollo, with the help of his coach (Tony Burton) and PR team, launch a campaign to lure Rocky back to the ring.  Mickey (Burgess Meredith) is willing to train Rocky again.  Pauly (Burt Young), Rocky's brother-in-law, is willing to support him.  But Adrian isn't happy about the idea, and it causes friction between her and her husband.  Also, Rocky has his doubts -- can he handle Apollo again, or was it just luck?

I love these characters, and the whole film has a realness about how these people interact with each other and live.  This is one of those rare movie sequels that lives up to the original film.  One of my favorite aspects of this movie as in the previous film is Burgess Meredith, who barks orders as Rocky's old school boxing coach.  I remember Meredith mostly from playing the Penguin on the old "Batman" TV series (1966-1968).  In other roles, Meredith was either playing mild-mannered guys, like the bank employee caught up in a nuclear war on a famous episode of "The Twilight Zone" (1959-1964) or sophisticated men.  Meredith does a great job playing a guy whose seen a lot in the boxing world.

The fight at the end is truly brutal.  Even though I knew the ending before I ever saw the movie, I still clapped and yelled as if I was watching a real match.

Rocky Balboa (2006)

"The Italian Stallion" is now a middle-aged man, settled into a quiet life away from the lights of the ringside. He runs a restaurant, named after his beloved wife Adrian, who is now deceased. The film opens with Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) and Adrian's surly brother Paulie (Burt Young) marking the day of Adrian's passing. Paulie accompanies Rocky around to the old haunts where Rocky used to hang out with Adrian. It's been a few years, but Rocky is still grieving, while Paulie is trying not to think about it. After a visit to the demolished ice rink where Rocky and Adrian had a date in the first film in this series, Paulie tells his brother-in-law, "I can't do this no more."

There is tension between the fighter and his son Rocky Jr. (Milo Ventimilglia). The younger man feels like he's always been obscured by his famous dad's shadow. This is apparent when Rocky Jr. is chewed out by his boss for being late to work. "I don't care who your dad is," the boss snaps. Moments later when Rocky appears to talk with his son, the boss, like everyone else, wants to meet the champ and have a picture taken with him.

Rocky meets a barmaid (Geraldine Hughes) who has a troubled bi-racial son named Steps (James Francis Kelly III). Turns out the barmaid is Marie, a young girl to whom Rocky gave some advice to about staying out of trouble in the first film. Rocky helps her out with a new job at his restaurant, and acts as somewhat of a father figure to her son.

ESPN airs a computer fight between Rocky and the current champ, an arrogant sort named Mason "The Line" Dixon (Antonio Tarver). The computer shows Rocky winning. Dixon's manager, L.C. (A.J. Benza) and a promoter, Lou DiBella (playing himself) convince the champ that it would be good business to fight Rocky. Rocky is bitten by the fight bug as well, and he applies for a boxing license. Rocky's desire to put on the gloves again is met with derision by the media, but as he tells Paulie, he has some "stuff in the basement" that he needs to get out of his system.

I liked how this movie tied in with the first, showing flashbacks involving Adrian (Talia Shire), Rocky's late trainer Mickey (Burgess Meredith) and his late friend and rival Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers). I also liked Rocky as an older man. He's basicially the same guy from the earlier films, wiser, a bit sadder, but still carrying around the belief that he can make it. Those who are boxing fans--like myself--will recognize familiar faces including the aforementioned Lou DiBella; boxing historian Burt Randolph Sugar; sports reporters Brian Kenny, Larry Merchant, Jim Lampley and Max Kellerman; referee Joe Cortez, and announcer Michael "Let's get ready to rumble!" Buffer. Even former champ Mike Tyson makes an appearance. Antonio Tarver is a professional boxer, and talks as much trash here in his role as he does in real life before matches. Milo Ventimilglia is one of the people with special powers on the NBC sci-fi series, "Heroes".