Rocky II (1979)
As Sylvester Stallone approached closer to completing production on Rocky, he conceived that he would like to make it a trilogy, if it proved successful. It was too difficult to relate the full story of a man in two hours. It was a tragedy to Stallone that a universally appealing character like Rocky might only have two hours of life, and then disappear forever.
Stallone recalled being 15 years old and reading James T. Farrell’s Studs Lonigan trilogy, by James T. Farrell and later John Dos Passos’ “U.S.A.” trilogy. These trilogies greatly affected his outlook on life and his writing because the stories endured by looking at stories in three parts. Since Stallone was 30 when he made Rocky, he thought it would be cool to check in with Rocky’s life at age 40 cinematically, then again at 50. In his Rocky script, Stallone wrote a scene where real-life Philadelphia Mayor Frank Rizzo invites Rocky to City Hall for a photo-op. Rizzo chastises Rocky for his troublemaking history as a youth and that he’ll now be a role model to all the street punks. Rizzo asks Rocky about his plans for his $150,000 prize. Rocky glibly replies, “Run for mayor.”
Stallone had discussions with director John Avildsen about Rocky’s life immediately after his title bout. Companies ask Rocky to promote their brands, and the money that Rocky makes as a pitchman provides additional seed money to run for mayor so he can help the next generation of Rockys. He runs on the reform ticket, promising to clean up the parks so kids could have a safe place to play. Meanwhile, Rocky attends night school to elevate his education, he marries Adrian, and they have a son. The climax of the second film is the mayoral election and Rocky wins.
Stallone imagined the third film would be Rocky’s difficulties effecting changes as the mayor. Paulie, Rocky’s brother-in-law, gets caught stealing from the city treasury. Rocky gets blamed and run out of office. The film ends with Rocky back in the boxing ring at the club that opens the first Rocky, older but happier, as the ring announcer would announce, “And now the former mayor of Philadelphia…”
After Rocky became a massive critical and commercial success, Stallone had hundreds of scripts come his way. Unfortunately, his next films were stagnant comparatively, the organized labor drama loosely based on the life of Jimmy Hoffa, F.I.S.T., and another based on Stallone’s original screenplay that also marked his debut as a director, Paradise Alley. As speculation circulated around Hollywood that Stallone was a one-hit wonder, his self-esteem shattered. Stallone, needing a sure-fire hit to keep the dream alive, decided to make Rocky‘s sequel his next picture.
Stallone’s own overnight fame experience dramatically changed his naive perspective on what Rocky’s life would be like after the title fight. He observed that once you’ve tasted success, losing everything you’d dreamt of achieving and becoming a nobody again was no happy ending. If Stallone’s happiness depended on him remaining on top as an actor, Rocky’s happiness meant becoming the champion. Stallone was in his early thirties and felt that he’d be too old by the third film to play a champion boxer and wanted to film second and third entries simultaneously. He claimed at the time that there would never be a Rocky IV because it would be embarrassing playing the character into old age; he didn’t want to be like the Bowery Boys. His hope was to begin shooting by October of 1977.
Stallone contacted Rocky‘s director John Avildsen about returning. Avildsen was busy with pre-production on Saturday Night Fever and couldn’t commit. In hearing what Stallone had in mind, he said objected to the intention of Rocky fightingvApollo Creed again. This felt like a cheap rehash that undermined the characters they’d built up, especially Apollo. Audiences wouldn’t root for Rocky to win against classy and dignified good guy. Avildsen suggested Rocky returning to poverty, trying to overcome fading fame with drugs and trying to hustle pool to pay his debts. Stallone argued that Rocky wouldn’t self-destruct – he was a survivor. He was a simple, good, and naive guy with a big heart who’d never give up on his dreams. Avildsen told Stallone firmly that if Rocky was going to fight Apollo again, he should find a new director.
Stallone wrote his first draft in March of 1977, entitling it “Rocky Returns”, where Apollo retires and a new champion emerges, a white heavyweight goliath named Clubber Lang, a dreadful bully providing the worst example for children. Rocky begs Apollo to un-retire to knock Clubber’s block off, but Apollo is doing too well with his African business ventures, retorting that the American people have clamored for a white boxing champion for decades and if Rocky doesn’t like him, he should challenge him himself. Rocky goads Clubber, getting him to accept a fight in Philadelphia. When Mickey suffers a stroke, Apollo agrees to become Rocky’s new manager. A grueling brawl takes place in the ring in the climax, with Rocky becoming the new champion.
Despite there not being a rematch with Apollo, and having been taken off of Saturday Night Fever, Avildsen declined returning. Avildsen was disappointed with where Stallone was going, but he understood that the phenomenal international success of Rocky made breaking from the boxing formula impossible. Unbeknownst to Stallone, Avildsen had a personal reason not to do it. He’d begun a romance with screenwriter Barra Grant and wanted to direct her script as his next movie, Slow Dancing in the Big City. Years later, Avildsen would regret his decision because the relationship with Grant was short-lived, his film didn’t perform well, and it could have been postponed until after Rocky II, which would have put him in a better financial situation for the remainder of his career.
With Avildsen out, Stallone began reconsidering his story. The larger-than-life Clubber Lang was best left for the final film and that Apollo Creed should indeed challenge Rocky to a rematch. The new angle carried the title of Rocky Part II: Retribution. The action begins a heartbeat after the events of the original, with Apollo Creed immediately challenging Rocky to a rematch because he feels emasculated. Though Creed technically won, it was a split decision, with some spectators thinking Balboa should have won. Creed becomes obsessed with coercing Rocky to fight him again to prove to all he’s the worthy champion by destroy Balboa within the first couple of rounds. Rocky doesn’t want any part of it, especially with his intentions to marry Adrian and start a family, but he quickly burns through his earnings and finds himself unable to find another job to support them, forcing him to accept Apollo’s challenge.
Early versions of this new story angle had the final bout set in the Roman Coliseum. Rocky and Adrian stop in Paris for romantic scenes before moving to Rome for Rocky’s training. Rocky trains around the streets of Rome, emulating the run up the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum by running up the Spanish Steps. Stallone would get an audience with the Pope, who blesses his chances wholly before barely besting Apollo in the ring to become the new champ. Stallone’s aspirations deflated when he learned that using the Roman Coliseum as his movie location was a no-go. There were other structures similar enough to stand in, like the Arena of Nimes and the Greek Theatre of Taormina, but United Artists balked because this was a pricey premise and they weren’t going to gamble with a relatively inexperienced director and actor whose last two movies fizzled.
Stallone also began reconsidering. By going for glamour, he was removing too many elements that make Rocky who he is. He wouldn’t have the old Philly guys to talk to around the neighborhood, or the street corner singers, or anything else that makes Rocky Rocky. Rather than intercontinental jetsetting and hitting the big time, Stallone’s next revision, shortening the title to Rocky II: Retribution, has Rocky and Adrian trying to live a modest but better life. The Coliseum would be better off for the Clubber Lang fight in Rocky III. Apollo would wanted to fight in Philadelphia so Rocky’s hometown crowd could see him demolish the Italian Stallion firsthand. He shortened the title to Rocky II: Retribution.
Stallone caught the directing bug after helming Paradise Alley, though he found that having to direct, star, and write on the same film was exhausting. He felt like it might age him before his time. With the approval of producer Irwin Kirshner, Stallone decided to co-direct Rocky II with Thomas J. Wright. Stallone would handle the drama, while Wright took on the action/boxing sequences because the choreography was too precise to be behind and in front of the camera simultaneously. United Artists weren’t pleased given the lackluster results of Paradise Alley, but they wanted the film made and Stallone kept a happy camper. Stallone decided not to get too stylish, opting to emulate the straight-forward style of John Avildsen so Rocky II would feel like a natural continuation straight after Rocky. The Directors Guild of America later denied the co-director credit, bestowing it only on Stallone, leaving Wright to settle for a technical consultant credit.
Casting took some time, as all of the principals expected nuanced roles and more money. Talia Shire played hard to get, making some character demands. She wanted, Rocky and Adrian to get married early in the film because her mother, a devout Catholic, was upset when her favorite Catholic newspaper called out Rocky for depicting Rocky and Adrian living in sin, unmarried. The production would also have to wait two months so she could finish her current project, Prophecy, which shot until September 1978. During the production, Shire stopped doing press interviews because she’d grown upset at the salacious coverage of her separation and soon-to-be divorce from music composer husband David. Rumors circulated that Talia had been dating Prophecy director John Frankenheimer, though she maintained they were just good friends.
Burt Young wouldn’t commit until he saw the completed script. Once he did, he approved and signed on. Although the film begins seconds after the first film ends, Paulie is noticeably slimmer. One speculation is that Young was trying to look his best because he was smitten by Shire during the production of Rocky. Young also cast Shire as his wife in the 1978 TV movie he wrote, Daddy, I Don’t Like It Like This. Much of Paulie’s role involving criminal acts performed for loan shark Tony Gazzo were trimmed out of the final script.
Burgess Meredith initially didn’t want to return, feeling that the Rocky story had already been told and there was no more to say. Plus, the shoot conflicted with his scheduled promotional obligations for the film, Magic. Meredith had a change of heart when Stallone later showed him the script.
Carl Weathers was skeptical when he found out Stallone was directing, but signed on because of increased complexity in Creed’s character, showing the seriousness behind the showman, including a look at his family life. It tooktime to trust that Stallone knew what was best, especially when Stallone wanted to actually hit each other during the boxing match to add realism. The realism increased because some of the frustration between Stallone and Weathers is visible on the screen. Despite some occasional personal friction, Weathers called Stallone the best director he’d ever worked for, who generously gave him space do some real acting and breathe further life into the role.
Realism also led to issues; one of Stallone’s sparring partners was former lightweight champion Roberto Duran. Stallone was bigger than Duran and felt he could cut loose and give him a few shots. Stallone soon realized he could never be a real boxer when Duran retaliated with powerful and blazing-fast punches. Stallone would regularly walk to the interpreter to tell Duran not too hit so hard. Duran found Stallone’s protestations amusing because he was barely hitting him. Stallone took to wearing headgear, just in case Duran forgot.
Boxer Chuck Wepner, the inspiration for Rocky, was slotted for a role as Rocky’s sparring partner , Chink Weber. The part was more than a cameo – about 32 lines. Wepner read for the part but wasn’t a good actor and he’d been heavily drinking besides so he bombed the audition. Stallone told him to practice and return again when he was sober. Wepner did and still stunk. About three weeks prior to the shoot, Wepner received a call from the producers that the part was cut. A character named Chink still appears with a couple of lines, mostly to antagonize Rocky around Mick’s gym. (Trivia: Stallone used the name “Chink Weber” a decade later for the Sonny Landham role in the 1989 film, Lock-Up.)
The budget for Rocky II was set as $7.6 million, over seven times the budget for the first film, partially because everyone’s asking price had gone up and partially because they were going to film in Philadelphia legitimately with permits and union workers. Stallone, who received scale for his acting in the first film, had optioned his acting salary for any follow-ups in his original contract. He wanted a million dollars and 5% of the gross to write and direct, but United Artists felt this was too much. Negotiations went on a long time and finally United Artists found themselves with new management after many of the top brass left to form Orion Pictures, who gave Stallone what he wanted.
Stallone got together with Dr. Franco Columbu, “the Sardinian Strongman”, a former Mr. Europe, Mr. World, Mr. Olympia, and Mr. Universe, to get into great shape with 90-minute weightlifting sessions, adding two inches to his biceps. Veteran boxing trainer Al Silvani was hired to develop Stallone and Weathers physically . Weathers had come back from Yugoslavia after making Force 10 from Navarone out of shape and heavier than he’d like after indulging in rich food and drink. After working with Silvani, he felt he had no more fat to work off after dropping 15 lbs. Silvani praised Weathers by stating he had the talent and determination to be a very good fighter if he had chosen that route.
An injury that nearly derailed the production occured when Stallone suffered a major tear of his pectoralis major (the muscle under the front of the shoulder that anchors the ribs to hold the arm in place). Dr. Columbu had challenged him to a bench press competition and Stallone attempted to lift more than his body could take and it popped loudly. Stallone immediately felt intense pain, while the veins in his arm doubled in size and nearly turned black. It took 160 stitches and a nylon attachment cable through his shoulder bone to keep it in place for two months. With no lateral movement in his arm, he could only jab and uppercut.
Stallone, faced with postponing and possibly canceling the movie meant to salvage his career at the insurance company’s insistence, came up with a solution on how to restage the fight scene to compensate for his inability to throw a proper punch – Rocky would need to fight righthanded. Stallone concocted an eye injury suffered from taking too many hits from Apollo that might render Rocky blind if he took more blows. Mickey came up with a game plan to protect Rocky’s eye while throwing Creed off balance by training Rocky to fight right-handed, then switch back to southpaw in later rounds. As his arm mended, Stallone jabbed into a heavy bag repeatedly until he was able to switch from southpaw to standard style.
The climactic fight at the Philadelphia Spectrum (the Los Angeles Sports Arena substituted) was the first scene they filmed so Stallone and his editors could have plenty of time to work on it. The 15th round of the film fight was patterned after the 15th round of the fight between Larry Holmes and Ken Norton, which took place in June 1978 as Stallone was working on choreography for the film. Stallone felt that was one of the most exciting final rounds in boxing history with both fighters looking dead on their feet but neither refusing to fall, willing to give everything they had left to win.
Stallone wanted the final fight’s punches to fly twice as fast and land twice as hard as the first film’s so audiences would know how brutal boxing can be and sense pain with every hit. Sometimes their punches would escalate into retaliation. One day, Stallone got frustrated and clobbered Weathers below the belt. They had to take a break and then reconvene to talk things out before continuing. Production was halted for a spell when Stallone collapsed from exhaustion. Medics administered oxygen and shots of Vitamin B-12. Stallone continued because they’d paid for 1800 extras, but he was too weak to dodge taking 70 direct hits from Weathers throughout rest of the day. Stallone’s body was in trauma after Weathers pound him physically. He suffered broken ribs, an ailing shoulder, a bruised kidney, and enlarged intestines.
While editing the final fight in January 1979, Stallone grew deeply dissatisfied with the final moments, so he ordered additional shooting that included an alternate ending. 3,000 extras were brought back into the Sports Arena, as well as all the principal actors. Adrian and Paulie were originally scripted as watching the title bout on TV to look after Rocky Jr., and Adrian was recuperating after her hospitalization from exhaustion and slipping into a coma. In the new shoot, Paulie and Adrian attend the fight in person. Paulie is rooting on Rocky from his corner, while Adrian watches from afar. When Rocky wins, Adrian runs up to the ring to celebrate his victory. Rocky receives the championship belt, then Adrian holds it up as he lifts her in the air, upon which fans storm the ring and lift both of them up on their shoulders. In the end, Stallone stuck with his originally scripted ending. He’s maintained in recent years that the ending went with still brings him to tears.
During this time, Sly’s marriage with his wife Sasha was on the mend after he had an affair with his Paradise Alley co-star Joyce Ingalls. Sasha told Sly to do what he had to do but not to come back until he was ready to be her husband again. After the Ingalls affair was over in March 1978, he reconciled with Sasha. Sasha found out she was pregnant with his second child during the production. Despite the reconciliation, shortly after the film’s release, Stallone walked out on Sasha and his two very young sons to be with the also-married Susan Anton, who he’d met in January 1979 while they appeared together on an episode of “The Muppet Show”.
The kids running alongside Rocky was something Stallone wanted for the first film but they weren’t able to do it because it would draw too much attention to their guerrilla-style non-union Philadelphia shoot. They placed ads for kids to come run with Rocky, but they were inundated mostly with teens, some from track clubs like the Philadelphia Striders who were too fast and ran ahead of him, beating him up the steps. Stallone’s next ad capped the age to nine and under to keep them from overtaking him.
A scene of Rocky visiting and receiving an honorary diploma from Lincoln High School was cut. Rocky reveals he dropped out of school in ninth grade to become a boxer.
It took three weeks to shoot the final fight and Stallone spent eight months editing it, tweaking it with slow-motion and sound effects to increase the impact of every blow. Stallone, who surmised that a failure with the franchise that made him a star might be a TKO to his career, knew this was where all of the emotions would finally be released and he wanted to give audiences something that bested the original beyond Rocky winning the title.
Stallone was still working on the film a month prior to its June 15, 1979 release date. Stallone’s son, Seargeoh, was born on May 17 and appears in the film as Rocky Jr.. Talia Shire left the last two weeks of production for her movie Corky (Windows) (claiming German measles) to film some of Adrian’s hospital scenes involving Adrian.Producer Irwin Winkler sent representatives to tell Stallone it was time to let it go.
To promote the film, Stallone created a 30-minute TV promotional special for CBS called “Rocky’s People” (changed from its original title, “Rocky’s Friends”) which featured the original cast discussing their roles. Stallone wrote the novelization for Rocky II. The novel is mostly in first person as Rocky’s using his trademank mangled English. Scenes not involving Rocky are in third-person using standard English.
Rocky II is the overlooked entry in Rocky series, neither as good as the first, nor as flashy as later entries. It adheres well to the first film’s formula of character development, developing Rocky’s underdog status, scenes of intense training, and a thrilling boxing finale. Where Rocky II falls short is in not exploring much more than the formula. The replay of the first film’s ending has more excitement than anything new but it delivers plenty to satisfy Rocky saga fans. Although there were no Oscar nominations this time, Rocky II was a major hit, earning over $80 million in the US alone and $200 million worldwide. It rescuscitated Stallone’s career when it was on life support.
As a director, Stallone doesn’t match up to Avildsen’s natural eye for scenery and tight editing. He knows his characters and the formula sufficiently enough to make it compelling. The characters are allowed some maturation, with Adrian growing more inner strength in the relationship, Mickey more demanding, and Apollo Creed consumed by the same egotism that propelled him to champion status. We still root for Rocky, but victory is less sweet due to his goals not being as noble as the first time, put his health and relationship on the line for a payday to get himself out of the financial hole he got himself into.
Rocky II is satisfying, though it leans on heavy melodrama and redundant emotional beats. It plays for humor and drama, but doesn’t step outside the shadow of its predecessor. It’s not the knockout, but packs enough punch to win by decision.
Qwipster’s rating: A-
MPAA Rated: PG for some violence and language
Running Time: 119 min.
Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burgess Meredith, Burt Young, Carl Weathers
Director: Sylvester Stallone
Screenplay: Sylvester Stallone