Rocky II was the 1979 sequel to Rocky, a motion picture in which an unknown boxer is given a chance to go the distance with the World Heavyweight Champion. Sylvester Stallone, Carl Weathers, Burgess Meredith, Burt Young and Talia Shire reprised their original roles.

In what would later become a trademark of the Rocky franchise, Rocky II starts where the previous movie left off. After their championship bout, both boxers are taken by ambulance to a hospital, where they meet once again in the emergency room. Apollo Creed, the champion, is angry at Rocky, the first man to go the distance with him, and starts clamoring for another chance to knock Rocky out. Rocky declines and tells Apollo that he is quitting boxing.

Having made more money than he had ever dreamed he could make, Rocky's decision to retire is strengthened when doctors tell him he needs surgery for a detached retina. Rocky successfully undergoes the surgery.

He gets a job with Mickey, his original trainer, as a boxing trainer at Mickey's gym and later proposes to his girlfriend, Adrian. They get married at a simple wedding ceremony attended only by Mickey, and Rocky buys a two-story house in a far better neighborhood than the one in which they first met. Meanwhile, Creed had gone to the press giving his opinion that he thought Rocky was a coward for not wanting to fight a second time. The pressure Apollo put on Rocky, which came as a consequence of all the hate mail Apollo was getting at his mansion, started affecting Rocky who had second thoughts about fighting Apollo. He discussed the matter with his new wife, but she didn't want him to box again because of the possibility of Rocky permanently losing his sight. Rocky later buys his first car, a new, black Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, and Adrian gets pregnant.

Rocky decides to accept the challenge and begins training, such as chasing a chicken to gain speed. However, Adrian's opposition saps his resolve and his training suffers. When Paulie confronts Adrian about her opinion, her angry outburst creates a serious medical condition that breaks her water prematurely.

During the birth of their son, Adrian falls into a coma and Rocky spent every waking moment at her side, taking care of his new son and even declining to name him until Adrian awoke. When Adrian recovers from the coma, she tells Rocky to "win" and he restarts training in earnest with Mickey for the rematch with Apollo. His condition improves dramatically with increased strength and speed that finally allows him to catch that chicken to Mickey's satisfaction. The training climaxes with another run through the city to the song, "Gonna Fly Now." However, instead of solitary exercise, he is now thronged by hundreds of fans, especially children, who run with him all the way to the same destination at the steps as before.

Rocky and Apollo once again fight an intense, fifteen-round battle in front of a standing-room-only crowd. Rocky seems to be hopelessly behind on points at the start of the final round. In a scene many film critics have called "one of the greatest scenes in film history," both boxers simultaneously hit each other with knockout punches, and both go to the canvas. The referee starts the final ten-count as the fighters struggle to their feet. As a beaten and exhausted Apollo slumps to a corner, Rocky grabs the rope with his last ounce of strength, picks himself up and is declared the new World Heavyweight Champion.

External link

• Rocky II http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079817/ at the Internet Movie Database