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Rocky II

1979 film directed by Sylvester Stallone

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 17, 2026
Entity authorityQ478366
Source-derived summary

Rocky II is a 1979 American sports drama film written, directed by, and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the direct sequel to Rocky (1976) and the second installment in the Rocky franchise. It also stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, and Burgess Meredith. Set immediately after the events of the original film, Rocky Balboa (Stallone), struggling to adjust to his newfound fame and family life, finds himself in a rematch fiercely demanded by Apollo Creed (Weathers).

Development of Rocky II began in 1977, after Stallone completed the screenplay. United Artists was reluctant to allow Stallone to direct after John G. Avildsen, the director of the first film, was unable to return. Stallone was eventually hired after refusing to allow the film to be made without him as director, and the returns of the rest of the cast were secured soon thereafter. Principal photography commenced in 1978, with filming held primarily on location in Philadelphia, during which Stallone sustained several injuries. The film is dedicated to the late Jane Oliver who was Stallone's first agent.

Rocky II was theatrically released in the United States by United Artists on June 15, 1979.

Editorial summary

“Rocky II” enters the record as 1979 film directed by Sylvester Stallone. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Rocky, film and directed can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewBest approached as a cultural-object dossier: authorship and date matter, but circulation and reception often explain the wider significance. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1979, 1976, 1977, 1978—that can be checked directly. The authority record carries competing date values—1979-06-15, 1979-12-21, 1980-02-29—which should remain separate until their references and qualifiers are resolved. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Rocky, film and directed.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Rocky II” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Rocky, film and directed provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q478366. VIAF identifies the subject as 187264016. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 3 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1979, 1976, 1977 and 1978.

Critical limits

Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Rocky II”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Rocky II primary sources, Rocky II archive and Rocky research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Rocky II”?
  2. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
  3. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Rocky II” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.