Rocky/ Rocky II

ROCKY, 1976, MGM Repertory, 119 min. Sylvester Stallone wrote and starred in the title role of this inspirational underdog story, the classic tale of a struggling working stiff from Philadelphia who gets a shot at the world heavyweight title. More than just a boxing story, in the hands of Stallone and director John Avildsen this becomes a moving romance (with Talia Shire as Rocky Balboa’s girlfriend) and a sociological document of working class Philadelphia in the 1970s.

ROCKY II, 1979, MGM Repertory, 119 min. Sylvester Stallone moves into the director’s chair for the second and most character-driven of the ROCKY films. The story follows Rocky as he takes another shot at the title, but the sports drama is only a starting point for what really interests writer-director Stallone: digressions regarding Rocky’s personal life, including his marriage to sweetheart Adrian (Talia Shire). A rare sequel that deepens and develops its series’ themes instead of simply repeating them.