Rocky II (1979) movie reviews - Sneak Previews with Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel

[@japeth3213]

"We critics are sick of seeing remakes and sequels." Well... it's 40 years later and it's only gotten worse.

[@christophmatthews4313]

Japeth321 as if you don’t watch them...

[@japeth3213]

@@christophmatthews4313 Did you go see Terminator Dark Fate? I certainly didn't.

[@caza728]

Japeth321 Woke Fate

[@creekandseminole]

You gotta re-think the sequel. Creed is a great example

[@jothishprabu8]

@@creekandseminole Lol that movie was a copy paste of the original

[@Will-vj5bc]

"Well I guess Rocky III is going to be the last one"... oh you sweet summer child.

[@daverindone655]

They repeated that at the end of III, too. I actually lost count after a while.

[@pigmeatmarkham898]

They may as well ask a Hollywood producer, “Well, do you have enough money yet? “

[@citygirl5705]

I think Ebert said that because Stallone said that. I think Stallone has said that after almost every Rocky movie.

[@peterkrug4124]

I love how this starts out with Gene sounding like he hated this movie, then he reveals that he actually loved it.

[@FranzSanchez-ky9up]

People forget how well respected Stallone was around this point ; Nice to see Siskel actually praise his writing.

[@citygirl5705]

Actually people were dumping on Stallone at this time because his two films after Rocky (Paradise Alley and FIST) were flops. He desperately needed Rocky 2 to be successful.

[@whitleybayman123]

I love watching Rocky and Rocky 2 back to back.

[@angelthman1659]

"Well, I guess Rocky III is going to be the last one." Ebert was always a dreamer 😂

[@slyjokerg]

1. I love Rocky II. One of the best sequels ever. The sequence with Rocky struggling while training because Adrian doesn't want him to fight, and then Adrian in a coma in the hospital after giving birth prematurely, with Rocky staying at the hospital day and night, getting virtually no rest, and then Mickey joining him in the hospital chapel, and then Adrian waking up with Rocky, then seeing the baby for the first time, together, because Rocky didn't want to see him without her... has this exchange which is one of my favorite "moments" in movies... (might be slightly paraphrased): Adrian: You look so tired. Rocky: I'm ok. Listen... I was thinkin'... if you don't want me to tangle with Creed no more, we can make out some other kinda way. Adrian: There's one thing I want you to do for me. (She motions for Rocky to come closer) Adrian: Come here. ...... (Rocky quizzically leans in) Adrian: Win. (Music kicks in... DUN Dun-DUN Dun-DUN Dun-DUN ...) Adrian (with a big smile): WIN. (Rocky's face lights up) Mickey: WHAT ARE WE WAITIN' FOR?! It still gives me chills to see that, with Mickey's fire, but mostly because of the ability that Adrian had to make him feel better and to inspire him. That was like the throwing of a switch for him. It was powerful stuff. 2. I never knew that Rocky III was originally going to include a fight at the Coliseum, which actually would have made it better. That's a cool idea. Apparently, Italy wasn't big on it, and the production company either didn't want to pay for a suitable fill in, or didn't think they could sufficiently pull of the perception that they were actually fighting at the Coliseum. 3. It is kind of cute that even someone like Roger Ebert could be so easily duped into thinking that #3 would be the last one. LMAO

[@newwavepop]

i forget how much Carl Weathers legitimately looked like he would have been a boxing champion.

[@Dohsoda]

Rocky I and Rocky II are great dramas. I personally, enjoy the 2nd film more because it increases the humor, fighting, romance, and drama. It's a great sequel.

[@itsRabbitSeasonYo]

Funny how they though back in 79 there was a lot of sequels and remakes...nothing compared to today

[@itsRabbitSeasonYo]

@Tim Hands I know. However siskel and ebert thought there were alot of sequels back then...and compared to now it was nothing. It seems if any movie is a success it gets a sequel.

[@libertubey2199]

Even in the 1970's, sequels weren't new. The Thin Man series, the Charlie Chan series, the Blondie series and any of the classic Universal horror creatures from the 1930s - 1950s come to mind.

[@steveconn]

I liked the Mad Magazine parody where the surgeons discuss if he can pay for the post-fight operation: "Bob his nose, chin, and change his hair-color. He'll be Robert Redford, and he can afford it!"

[@kdohertygizbur]

The ending of Rocky 2 makes me cry every time he says "Yo Adrian, I did it " and they pan to Talia Shire crying and applauding from home, Rocky 1976 was the better of the 2 , but Rocky 2 had more heart

[@slyjokerg]

It is hard to separate the two. The hospital scene when Adrian wakes up and tells him she wants him to "win"... my favorite moment in the whole franchise.

[@cineMADvocate]

Rocky was about going the distance. Rocky II was about finishing the fight.

[@jothishprabu8]

Rocky 2 is better

[@edreid7872]

Loving these clips...Thank you Stan....

[@CR41489]

A fine sequel that feels like a good extension of the original. This will always be Sylvester Stallone’s signature character. He’s so great as Rocky Balboa.

[@slyjokerg]

I agree. It does have the feel of being the 2nd half of one big movie. It was really good.

[@4Legacy]

Maybe this was pointed out more often when Rocky II first came out, but I never hear it mentioned: the wonderful irony of Rocky proposing to Adrian at the zoo. Such beautiful writing, and a callback you wouldn't see done so subtly nowadays.

[@diezeldiamond1041]

I love ROCKY 1,2,3,4 AWESOME MOVIES I NEVER TIRE OF WATCHING!!!

[@rashadgreviews1868]

Shit, Roger Ebert just predicted 3 to the T... Except for final fight taking place at collesium 😂😂

[@kmcleod31721]

First show of theirs I ever saw. Major memories.

[@earlygail]

Love the R2 soundtrack. Found it on pristine vinyl 7 years back; sounds fantastic.

[@BuckyNugget]

I love that Roger’s predictions are both dead-on and totally wrong!

[@TheWuCepticon1981]

Lol It's pretty amazing how he nailed the first part of it.

[@gutz1981]

After he got the first part right, I honestly thought he would say Rocky fights in Russia. If he said that, my mind would have been blown.

[@FranzSanchez-ky9up]

Only slightly wrong ;-)

[@ChallHatt]

Rocky movies are a legend a true work of art. It feels so real that you start shipping for him you start feeling his struggles yourself... Its truely magical !

[@Conquerkingfitness]

They would've LOVED CREED

[@derrickgibson3240]

I'm pleasantly surprised to hear Gene loving this movie since he wasn't over the moon about the original.

[@thirdimpacted]

"Rocky III will be the last film in the series." Weeeell...

[@williamshaw9047]

"And now here's Bongo's review of Rocky Five...Thousand!" - "Spaceballs"

[@Vaporvice84]

Siskel: "Like a lot of fairy tales, this story can go on for a long time too". Oh, if he only knew back then, lol.

[@johnbalk6091]

5:52 Oh Roger, how wrong you were! You are both dearly missed! RIP TO YOU BOTH!

[@michaelperkowski641]

A great sequel to a fantastic movie. I think Rocky and it's sequel are terrific.

[@J4sse]

The first 14 seconds is the realist shit which is still relevant today.

[@kylecook7187]

Michael Bisping somehow pulled off the blind in one eye thing in real life.

[@3.2Carrera]

The difference with these sequels is that Stallone wanted to explore the lifecycle of Balboa. the fight may bave been a rematch, but the film covered new ground.

[@SCL8294]

Even in 1979, they were complaining about sequels and remakes (wasn't that kind of stuff relatively new at the time?)

[@LongfellowLP]

I'm not a scholar of film but I feel like sequels and (especially) remakes had been going on since the birth of cinema (for example, quite a lot of silent movies were remade as talkies), but maybe had kicked up in the 60s and 70s with stuff like the James Bond pictures. Would be curious to know when sequelitis first started getting critical attention

[@Vaporvice84]

Plenty of horror movie sequels throughout the 40s and 50s.

[@johncaparulo4800]

Rocky II will always be my favorite. It's an extension of the first movie that gives it a happier and more gratifying end. Rocky III was a great action movie, and Rocky IV was a pretty good action movie. Rocky V was the only bad chapter of the series, but Rocky Balboa gave us all a much better conclusion. Creed was great. Creed II was decent. Any boxer who would hire Rocky as a trainer should have his license revoked. Rocky's fighting methods famously led to brain damage and bankruptcy. So why exactly would Adonis Creed seek to emulate that path??

[@davidmeichner8346]

Is that a tiger across the waist-high fence?

[@EvaSlayAllDay334]

"Rocky II" is my favorite film in the series, TBH.

[@qrste81]

Is it just me, or is the tiger cage fence way too low.

[@williamshaw9047]

Tiger's probably drugged anyway.

[@qrste81]

No way dude. This was the 70’s . That animal probably had a couple kills on his record. That tiger has those knowing death eyes like he served in Nam and got all fucked up on drugs and killing innocent villagers. Seriously though, back in the day Zoo animals were like bad ass prisoners. They all were suffering for PTSD, and they would fuck you up. I wouldn’t be surprised if that tiger was part of the Aryan Brotherhood, or got raped by a lion and was looking to take it out on some monosyllabic human.

[@joegrimesofcourse]

@@qrste81 do you know what a zoo is? there's probably a thirty foot gap between the tiger and the fence, making it impossible for him to even reach the fence. are you a moron or just a child?

[@teejaye6226]

Balboa character has outlived both of them.....amazing!

[@kevinbirge2130]

Great film. We don’t get these anymore.

[@ScootyPuffSr7]

It's funny that Gene gave thumbs down to the original but thumbs up to this one.

[@JoeMama-tl4tr]

I loved that they thought the franchise would end at Rocky 3

[@ragingbull2271]

Rocky II is my favorite of the series. Fabulous continuation of the great original, Burgess Meredith's best performance as Mickey and has the best fight of the series. It's odd that Ebert spoils the plot of part III here though.

[@natalieps2387]

I love rocky 2. I'm sure w/ the success of rocky they got a lot more money to make part 2 but it doesnt look like they did ( which is a great thing keeping the authenticity)

[@TruthnautBegins]

They talked so fondly of Rocky II and what they had heard of Rocky III. But both gave thumbs down to Rocky III. Rocky III was a descent flick but it lacked the quality of the first 2. And Stallone played Rocky like he was much smarter like a businessman. We never really saw the Rocky from the first 2 movies again.

[@LongfellowLP]

Gene's hair tho

[@musicman76enator]

Whaddaya expect? It was the 70s.

[@perlamunoz2707]

Yo Adrian,Siskel and Ebert like my movie.

[@jothishprabu8]

Yo adrian! They trashed Rocky 3!

[@JardoniJovonovich]

🔥

[@michaelperkowski641]

Looking forward to seeing Rocky 3. Siskel and ebert gave thumbs down on there review to Rocky 3. And roger Rocky 3 was not last Rocky movie.

[@citygirl5705]

Their review of Rocky 3 was the dumbest review they've both ever given. Not just because "Rocky 3" was a great film, but their reviews made no sense.

[@slyjokerg]

@Trzn I don't hate #3, but it is clearly not in the league of the first two, and not even as good as #4, in my view. You are right... the person "Rocky" changes in #3, and if you hyper analyze it, it doesn't even make sense. He isn't the dumb, charming, lovable galoot anymore. How could that possibly change like that? What did he do, go to Yale between movies? Get a brain transplant? It really doesn't fly, if you want to really dig into it.

[@michaelperkowski641]

@Trzn It's so funny you mention cocaine in your reply. I saw Rocky 3 at the drive in with my parents I was 12 years old the couple in the car next us wear snoring cocaine and start to argue so they left the drive in stoned I guess.

[@dmacmillion]

Most of the Rocky films are great, but I'm glad the Colosseum fight didn't happen in Rocky III.

[@atarileaf]

4 bucks?

[@gargantuaism]

Considering Gene didn't much like "ROCKY" it's kind of funny he thinks ROCKY 2 is such a good sequel. t

[@hevyonez97]

Gene liked the original, not just on a grand scale like Roger did...

[@gargantuaism]

@@hevyonez97 He didn't like it and gave it thumbs down and called the acting "Embarrassing".

[@hevyonez97]

@gargantuaism Gene gave it a 3 star rating on his original newspaper review, that's more than enough for me to know he liked it as much as he did even with any quibbles...Gene is my all time favourite film critic, so I'm not up in here posting BS...Gene's receipts are all online...do more research on the man, if you can...

[@J4sse]

I agree with Ebert, the fight was definitely better than Rocky I.

[@tompalmer5986]

It seems like Stallone is willing to sacrifice a tiny bit of verisimilitude to enhance the drama in this movie. Because of this I liked Cinderella Man better than Rocky. I found the main character in Cinderella more engaging than Stallone in Rocky. I felt the Cinderella man was more honest and well thought out.

[@mariogamefreak1]

Even in the 80s Hollywood was producing sequels.

[@MattHawes]

Hollywood has been producing sequels almost as long as there has been a Hollywood. Its just gets worsened over time, though.

[@caza728]

70s

[@JamesPerrone-qq1ph]

Yes Rocky 3 will be the last one.

[@seraphinaaizen6278]

"I guess Rocky III is gonna be the last one". Well....

[@keithshayler1972]

If you don’t like sequels wait till the 80s come along,apart from the godfather what sequels were there in the 70s,I can’t think of any

[@vdd]

$4 for a movie ticket? I could weep

[@cineMADvocate]

Google Search Results Featured snippet from the web Adjusted for inflation, $4.00 in 1979 is equal to $15.18 in 2020. Annual inflation over this period was 3.31%.

[@rodolfoleyva5157]

Another 4 bucks!? 😲

[@DocNintendo]

Sylvester Stallone is an excellent writer :DDD

[@hamupinhere]

There was a time. Long before the days when he donned the Judge Dredd helmet. Then took it off.

[@rubenreyna2198]

LoL. Ebert claimed Rocky 3 is going to be the last one....Bahahahaha!!

[@nicoletrudell2065]

"I guess Rocky III's gonna be the last one" Umm...

[@YD-uq5fi]

"Rocky 3 will be the end". And yet, there is going to be Creed 3 in 2022.

[@knownpleasures]

Same movie, just different ending than the original. It was boring

[@freddyfurrah3789]

For awhile anyway, Rocky 2 was my favorite. I thought Rocky, although inspirational, was slow moving. Rocky 3 was directed at a fast pace, and didn't DRAG at all. But, these two LUNKHEADS didn't like Rocky 3. 😁 😁 😁

[@eargasm1072]

A solid sequel to the classic original....he could have just stopped here, but then there was Rocky 3, then 4 etc. Those are flashier with the whole MTV video influence but have their entertaining moments

[@eargasm1072]

It's a good solid sequel...it embellishes the characters more and they become more like "family" to us, and the one up over the classic original is the superior fight at the end, better staged and filmed than in "Rocky"