Rocky II

Sylvester Stallone wrote and directed the 1979 film, which opens after the decision goes against Rocky. Doctors find a detached retina; Rocky marries Adrian, spends the purse fast and cannot hold a job, barely able to read. The ring reopens only after Adrian falls into a coma following an early birth. A real injury wrote the stance change. Bench pressing with Franco Columbu before the shoot, Stallone tore his right pectoral off the bone, and his account is blunt: “I can’t use this arm, so I’ll change it in Rocky; he’ll fight right-handed.” Mickey trains Rocky right handed to protect the eye; in the last round he returns to southpaw. The museum steps montage was shot at Eakins Oval in late 1978. Children who turned up to watch were put into the shot, split by birth month into two groups running around opposite sides, and the top of the steps was reshot later with smaller children and a Steadicam. Talia Shire was on another film during the fight shoot, so Adrian watches from home, her scenes shot months later. A good fit if you want the money running out and the reading trouble staged openly, not a repeat of the first. Not for anyone waiting for the ring: training starts only when Adrian comes out of the coma.