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.

Ring of Fire: The Emile Griffith Story (2005)

On March 24, 1962, professional boxers Emile Griffith and Benny "The Kid" Paret met each other in the ring.  The bout was shown on NBC on national television.  It was the third time the two had faced each other in a fight.  The first time, Griffith won the welterweight title from Paret in 1961 via knockout.  Six months later, Paret won the title back from Griffith.  The third time would change Griffith's life forever.

Griffith backed Paret into a corner during the sixth round, and punched him repeatedly.  Several of the people interviewed for this documentary differed as to how many punches Paret took.  Some said 17, others said 25, and still others came up with different numbers.  Paret was knocked out cold while still on his feet, then he slumped into the corner.  Griffith was declared the victor, and said during an interview immediately afterwards that he hoped Paret was okay.  Unfortunately, Paret would never be okay again.  The Cuban slipped into a coma, and died ten days later.  I box as an amateur, I've been hurt in the ring.  I've seen others get hurt in both amateur and professional fights on TV and in person.  But the footage of Griffith and Paret's fight had me flinching.  The fight was very brutal.  Some think that Griffith may have been getting payback on Paret for using a gay slur against him during a weigh-in. 

The documentary follows Griffith's life with all its ups and downs after that fateful night, as well as the effect of that tragic bout on boxing.  I learned that the fight brought up calls from politicians to ban the sport (although nothing came of the protests). That fight was also the reason why boxing disappeared from network TV in the 1960s, not to return until the 1970s.  Griffith himself is somewhat of a mystery, especially concerning his sexuality, and how the impact of Paret's death really affected him mentally and emotionally.