Burt Young

Thirty years after the ring of the first bell, Rocky Balboa comes out of retirement and dons his gloves for his final fight; against the reigning heavyweight champ Mason 'The Line' Dixon.

Petty criminal Dean struggles to raise his autistic son alone, and his life appears to be going off-track until psychologist Stevie arrives to help them both. Backstreet Dreams is the story of a man, who has a disturbed child. He and his wife take their son to a clinic, where he is diagnosed by a talented psychologist (Stevie), as being autistic. After catching his unfaithful wife with another man, Dean tells Lucy to leave, and is faced with the task of raising Shane on his own. Stevie believes that she can improve Shane's condition, going back to Dean's apartment and later convincing him that he can provide a better world for his son. Angelo, who lives in the same apartment building and is like a father to Dean, urges on the relationship, sensing that Stevie is luring Dean away from backstreet dealings, and giving him courage to face life in a positive way. Together, they build a foundation for a better life outside of the violence and danger of the backstreets where they live.

Reluctantly retired from fighting, Rocky takes charge of Mickey's gym and agrees to train a young protégé who's hungry for success. Rocky Balboa is forced to retire after having permanent damage inflicted on him in the ring by the Russian boxer Ivan Drago. Returning home after the Drago bout, Balboa discovers that the fortune that he had acquired as heavyweight champ has been stolen and lost on the stockmarket by his accountant. His boxing days over, Rocky begins to coach an up-and-coming fighter named Tommy Gunn. Rocky cannot compete, however, with the high salaraies and glittering prizes being offered to Gunn by other managers in town. —Murray Chapman <muzzle@cs.uq.oz.au> Having just defeated Moscow super-boxer, Ivan Drago, Rocky returns home. Rocky and Adrian discover that Paulie left power of attorney to Rocky's accountant who invested all of his money that went belly-up and lost it all. To make matters worse, they discover they have years worth of unpaid property taxes. With Rocky's status, he would just need to win a couple of more fights to help with the money. Unfortunately, they discover that Rocky has suffered irreversible brain damage that could be fatal if Rocky were to continue fighting. They sue the accountant and move back to Philly's ghetto. Rocky starts training talented young fighter, Tommy Gunn, who is a huge fan of Rocky's. As Tommy becomes more successful, Rocky distances himself from his family and a huge resentment grows toward him from his son. When Tommy is brainwashed by promoter, who has been at Rocky's throat throughout the whole movie, Tommy betrays Rocky and Rocky realizes he may not have a choice but to fight. —powermandan After gaining permanent brain damage, Rocky Balboa (Stallone) is finally force to retire from the sport of boxing. But it doesn't stop him from coaching an up-and-coming boxer named Tommy Gunn (Morrison), but when Tommy decides that Rocky isn't moving him up quickly, he soon leaves Rocky and begins his new training from Duke. Tommy wins the title he wants, but still does not gain the respect he want. He wants to take out his anger in a fight with Rocky, but as Rocky is now retired from the ring, a street fight would have to do for Tommy. A street fight which could risk Rocky's life. —Film_Fan

A struggling young comedian takes a menial job on a cruise ship hoping for his big chance to make it in the world of cruise-ship comedy. Schecky Moskowitz, a deservedly-struggling young comedian, lands a menial job on the cruise ship that's holding the Miss Universe pageant. The Big Man On Deck for this voyage is Dickie Diamond, the ship's comedian and all-around ladies' man. As an assorted array of thugs, Panamanian mercenaries, and terrorists try to storm the ship, Schecky hopes for one big chance to prove himself and enter the exciting world of cruise-ship comedy. —Jean-Marc Rocher <rocher@fiberbit.net>

Thorton Melon (Rodney Dangerfield) is a successful and wealthy businessman who owns a nationwide chain of clothing stores for overweight people. Melon himself came from humble beginnings where his father pushed him to succeed in school; however Melon himself, despite his sharp business skills, never attended college. At a meeting of his top staff, he accepts a few new investment ventures and suggests modifying a few more when his son, Jason (Keith Gordon), calls him. Jason is a student at a prestigious school, Grand Lakes University. His father asks him how he's doing with his studies, if he's enjoying being in a fraternity and if he's doing well as part of the diving team. Jason tells him all is fine, but is actually lying to his father; he isn't in a frat, and he's only the towel boy for the diving team. Melon's snooty, mean, spendthrift 2nd wife, Vanessa (Adrienne Barbeau), holds a dinner party for her rich friends at their luxurious house. Thorton mentions that nearly all the people who attend are only there for free food and drink and want to schmooze her for donations. While he raids the fridge for a beer, he catches Vanessa in a tryst with another man, Giorgio (Robert Picardo). Thorton has known about the affair for some time, and when Vanessa demands a divorce, he presents her with papers and shows her several Polaroids of her having sex with Giorgio. After the party, while he practices diving in his pool, Thorton talks to his personal aide and bodyguard, Lou (Burt Young), about how he's let Vanessa weaken his relationship with Jason. He decides he's going to make a surprise visit to Grand Lakes to see his son. When they arrive, Thorton goes to the wrong Greek house - it's a sorority house - and finds out that Jason isn't in a frat or on the diving team. Jason tells him that he's unhappy at the university because he hasn't made very many friends and the frats & diving team don't want him as a member. Thorton tells him that he needs to stay in college so he can be successful in life. He also tells Jason that he'll join him for a semester at the university, enrolling as a freshman. Thorton has no record of his academic achievement to qualify as a student, so he persuades the school's academic dean, Dean Martin (Ned Beatty), by donating money to construct a new building that will house the Thorton Melon School of Business. The school's dean of the business department, Philip Barbay (Paxton Whitehead), is appalled that Thorton is able to bribe his way into Grand Lakes. Thorton counters by saying that he has real-world business experience that trumps Barbay's academic credentials. Thorton and Jason register for classes and both take Barbay's business course. In the first class, Thorton counters nearly every point Barbay makes about his lesson plan for the semester where they will learn about theory by building a fictional company that will make and sell a product. Later, Thorton and Jason attend a literature class taught by Diane Turner (Sally Kellerman), whom Thorton embarrassingly falls for immediately. Though she's seeing Barbay, she seems to enjoy Thorton's freewheeling personality and dates him as well. When Thorton forgets that he's supposed to meet Jason for a study session, Jason instead meets with a young woman who he's smitten with, Valerie (Terry Farrell), and they bond, despite Valerie's attachment to a snobby student, Chas (William Zabka). Meanwhile, Thorton, while partying at a local bar, comes to the aid of Jason's roommate, Derek (Robert Downey Jr.), a politically radical troublemaker who'd earlier disrupted a pep rally for the football team. The team's captain threatens to beat Derek when Thorton has Lou intervene, prompting a huge brawl. Thorton later comments that the football team isn't nearly as tough as his high school team was. Thorton also connects with the school's diving coach (M. Emmet Walsh); the man knew Thorton when he was an entertainment diver on a pier in Atlantic City. The coach tells him that Jason tried out for the team but didn't do well. Thorton has Jason execute a difficult dive for the coach on the spot. Thorton soon finds that he likes the fun aspects of college; hanging out in bars, throwing parties, schmoozing with female coeds, but he doesn't like the academic work involved. He brings in his senior staff and hires people from scientific corporations to do his classwork for him. Jason is angered when his father presents him with an astronomy paper that Jason wants to do himself. Jason becomes further disillusioned with his father when, after he makes the diving team, that his father might have persuaded the coach to let him join. One night during a wild party thrown by Thorton in the dorm room he had luxuriously renovated, Thorton is caught in the hot tub by Diane with several young women. His relationship with her is further hurt when she reads the paper he'd turned in on Kurt Vonnegut, saying that he couldn't possibly have written it himself and that the person who wrote it for him didn't know anything about Vonnegut. (Thorton had called in Vonnegut (Kurt Vonnegut Jr.) himself (who appears in a cameo) for assistance.) Barbay soon goes to Dean Martin with charges leveled against Thorton of academic fraud. Thorton lies and insists the work he did was his own, but Barbay trumps his claim by suggesting that Thorton's final exams be given to him in oral format so he can't cheat. Thorton begins to pack, wanting to leave. Jason convinces him to stay and that he and his roommate, Derek, and Lou will all help him cram for his finals. When Thorton's big day arrives, he's exhausted. Barbay starts the proceedings, giving Thorton a grueling single question composed of 27 sections. Thorton persists and answers all the parts correctly. When he wants to give up, Diane asks him to recite Dylan Thomas' "Do not go gentle into that good night". Thorton gets a boost and finishes his exams. The Grand Lakes diving team has a match the same day. Jason does very well, earning high points while Thorton watches and waits for his exam results. When the team begins to fall behind their rivals, the diving coach calls Thorton poolside to execute his famous Triple Lindy dive from his Atlantic City days. Thorton is reluctant, but Lou talks him into it. Thorton executes the dive, involving bouncing on several diving boards on 3 different levels of the platform, and the team wins the match. Diane finds him after, telling him he earned all D's in his classes and one A from her. Thorton is allowed to give a humorous address to the graduating class. He tells them to stay in college and become successful, drawing laughter from the crowd.

Rocky has been living a happy married life with Adrian. They have been together 9 yrs. Rocky Jr. (Rocky Krakoff) is a toddler now. In 1985, Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren), the Soviets' prize Champion boxer "The Siberian Express" and a Soviet Army infantry captain, arrives in the United States with his wife, Ludmilla (Brigitte Nielsen), a Soviet swimmer and a team of trainers from the Soviet Union and Cuba. His manager, Nicolai Koloff (Michael Pataki), takes every opportunity to promote Drago's athleticism as a hallmark of Soviet superiority. Avg boxer punches at 700 psi, while Ivan has a right punch landing at 1850 psi on opponents. Motivated by patriotism and an innate desire to prove himself, Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) (221 Pounds) challenges Drago (261 pounds) to an exhibition bout. Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) has reservations, but agrees to train Apollo, despite his misgivings about the match. During a press conference regarding the match, hostility sparks between Apollo's and Drago's respective camps. The boxing exhibition takes place at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas. Apollo enters the ring in an over-the-top patriotic entrance with James Brown performing "Living in America" complete with showgirls. The bout starts tamely with Apollo landing several punches that are ineffective against Drago, but Drago suddenly retaliates with devastating effects. By the end of the first round, Rocky and Apollo's trainer, Tony "Duke" Evers (Tony Burton), plead with him to stop the match, but Apollo refuses to do so and tells Rocky to not stop the match "no matter what." Drago continues to pummel him in the second round and Duke begs Rocky to throw in the towel. Rocky honors Apollo's wishes, which allows Drago to land one final punch on Apollo, killing him. In the aftermath, Drago displays no sense of contrition, commenting to the assembled media: "Tonight I have beaten a great champion. If he dies, he dies." Frustrated by the Soviets' cold indifference, Rocky decides to challenge Drago himself, but has to surrender his championship to do so. Drago's camp agrees to an unsanctioned 15-round fight in the Soviet Union on Christmas Day, an arrangement meant to protect Drago from the threats of violence he has been receiving in the United States. Rocky travels to the Soviet Union without his wife Adrian (Talia Shire) due to her disapproval of the match. He sets up his training base in a remote cabin in Krasnogourbinsk with only Duke and Paulie (Burt Young) to accompany him. Duke opens up to Rocky, stating that he actually raised Apollo and that his death felt like a father losing his son, and expresses his faith in Rocky that he will emerge victorious. To prepare for the match, Drago uses high-tech equipment, a team of trainers and doctors monitoring his every movement, and regular doses of Anabolic steroids. Rocky, on the other hand, does roadwork in deep snow over mountainous terrain and workouts utilizing antiquated farm equipment. Adrian arrives unexpectedly to give Rocky her support, which gives Rocky a new vigor. Before the match begins, Balboa is the first to enter to a hostile crowd. As he waits nervously in the ring, the lights in the arena suddenly go out, and Drago is introduced with an elaborate patriotic ceremony, with the Soviet general secretary and the Politburo in attendance. The home crowd is squarely on Drago's side and hostile to Rocky. In contrast to his match with Apollo, Drago immediately goes on the offensive. Rocky takes a fierce pounding in the first round, but goes on the offensive toward the end of the second round after landing a brutal right hook that cuts Drago's left eye, stunning both Drago and the crowd. Duke encourages Rocky by reminding him that he just proved Drago is a man, and not a machine as he's been made out to be. In contrast, Drago comments to his trainers that Rocky "is not human, he is like a piece of iron," after his trainers reprimand him for his performance against the "weak" American. The two boxers spend the next dozen rounds trading blows, with Rocky managing to continually hold his ground despite Drago's best efforts. As the 12th round begins, the previously hostile Soviet crowd, suddenly start chanting and cheering for Balboa. After being berated by Koloff, Drago rebels, throwing him from the ring and directly addressing Gorbachev (David Lloyd Austin), stating he fights only for himself. In the final round, with both fighters exhausted, Rocky initially takes more punishment, but manages to stay on his feet. Both fighters trade blows, before Balboa seizes an opening, unleashing a series of vicious blows, eventually knocking him out. Rocky gives a victory speech, acknowledging that the local crowd's disdain of him had turned to mutual respect during the fight. Rocky finally declares, "If I can change and you can change, everybody can change!" The Soviet premier stands up and reluctantly applauds Rocky, and his aides follow suit. Rocky ends his speech by wishing his son watching the match on TV a Merry Christmas, and raises his arms into the air in victory as the crowd applauds.

In 1980, four years after winning the world heavyweight championship against Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) has had a string of ten successful title defenses. Mickey is in Rocky's corner for all the fights, while Paulie watches from the stands and takes to drinking. James Lang follows Rocky's career. Lang is a fighter himself who continues to train himself hard, waiting for the right opportunity. Lang competes in the lower circuits and has a perfect Knock-Out record. As Lang improves his ranking, Rocky is busy with his numerous celebrity endorsements. Rocky's manager, Mickey (Burgess Meredith), worriedly eyes a young and powerful James "Clubber" Lang (Mr. T) rapidly rising through the ranks. Lang tells Mickey that he wants Rocky. Lang challenges Rocky for a shot at the title during a TV interview. Rocky's fame, wealth, endorsements, and celebrity profile have increased, leading him to participate in an exhibition charity event against the world wrestling champion, Thunderlips (Hulk Hogan). Thunderlips is 7 feet tall and weighs 390 pounds. Meanwhile, Rocky weighs in at a measly 202 pounds. Rocky takes it easy for the charity event, but Thunderlips takes it very seriously and proceeds to beat Rocky in the ring. Rocky is shocked and barely manages to draw with him, by removing his gloves and choking Thunderlips with a neck brace. Paulie Pennino (Burt Young), Rocky's friend and brother-in-law, is jealous of Rocky's success and confronts him that while Rocky took care of Mickey, but he never offered Paulie a job. Paulie complains that when Rocky bought a new house, he invited Mickey to move in with him, but not Paulie. Rocky calls him a lazy bum but does offer him a job as his crew and has Paulie living with him in his house. Orphaned at an early age, Lang spent most of his childhood on the streets of Chicago's South Side as well as spending time in orphanages and juvenile facilities. As an adult, Clubber was sent to prison for five years for one count of a felony and/or assault charge. While serving his sentence, he discovered his talent as a boxer. Boxing was a way for him to let out his frustration. Lang is another Southpaw. While unveiling a statue of himself at the stairway by the Philadelphia Museum of Art just prior to announcing his retirement, Rocky is publicly challenged by Lang, now the number one contender. Lang accuses Rocky of intentionally accepting challenges from lesser opponents, and goads Rocky into accepting his challenge for a championship fight. Mickey initially wants no part of it. Pressed by Rocky, Mickey confesses that he handpicked the opponents for Rocky's title defenses in order to spare him from another beating of the kind that Creed gave him in their rematch. He explains that Lang is young and powerful, and most of all he's "hungry", and that Rocky won't last three rounds because he hasn't been hungry ever since he won the title and became "civilized". Rocky, now knowing that he never really defended his title against the best opponents, convinces Mickey to work with him for one last fight. Despite his promise to Mickey to 'live in the gym', Rocky trains in a Las Vegas-style environment that is filled with distractions such as merchandise sales, women kissing him during the session, photo opportunities and the works. This time it is Rocky who does not take his training seriously. In contrast, Lang trains with ruthless determination and vigor. Lang and Rocky meet at Philadelphia's Spectrum on August 15, 1981. Mickey tells Rocky that Lang has never been 15 rounds with anyone yet and advises not to go toe-to-toe with him. Pandemonium erupts backstage, as Mickey is violently shoved by Lang, causing Mickey to suffer a heart attack due to an underlying heart condition, evidenced during Rocky's charity fight with pro wrestler Thunderlips. Distraught, Rocky wants to call the match off, but Mickey urges him on while he receives medical care in the dressing room. Rocky's lack of preparation is worsened by his concern for Mickey, preventing him from fully concentrating on the fight. The match begins with Rocky (201 pounds) pounding Lang (230 pounds) with several huge blows looking for an early knockout, but he cannot put Lang down due to his own lack of conditioning. Lang quickly recovers and takes charge, dominating Rocky and knocking him out with a hay-maker left hook in the second round, winning the world heavyweight championship. After the match, Rocky tells a dying Mickey that the match ended in a second-round knockout without saying who the victor was. Mickey expires right after he says, "I love you, kid". Rocky, lapsing into severe depression, mourns over Mickey's death. Stopping by Mickey's closed gym, the forlorn Rocky encounters his former rival, Apollo Creed, who witnessed the match as a guest analyst. Creed offers to help train Rocky for a rematch against Lang in exchange for a future favor which Rocky accepts. Creed says there is fight left in the old horses and they are not ready to retire just yet. Plus, he can make a ton of money by promoting the fight. Apollo then takes Rocky to the gym where he once trained, Tough Gym (A gym for African American boxers) in Los Angeles. Paulie is very skeptical as the place has no class, plus he is afraid that he will be shot down by some African American street thug. Apollo is infuriated with Rocky's lack of effort, which comes from being demoralized by a combination of Mickey's loss and nightmares of Clubber's knockout. However, Rocky regains his focus after Adrian (Talia Shire) helps him come to terms with Mickey's death. Rocky admits that he is scared for the first time in his life, and Adrian says that's OK. Apollo and his manager, Tony "Duke" Evers (Tony Burton) infuse Rocky's undisciplined brawling style with more of Apollo's trademark footwork, skill and speed rebuilding him into a more complete fighter. During the training process, Apollo and Rocky become close friends. After months of training, the rematch takes place at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Apollo lends Rocky (191 pounds) the American flag trunks that he wore during their first match. At the outset of the match, Rocky sprints from his corner, battering Lang (237 pounds) with a level of skill and spirit that no one ever expected. Rocky completely dominates the first round, leaving Lang enraged and bewildered after the bell. Lang gains the upper hand in the second round, and Rocky adopts an entirely different strategy that bewilders Apollo by intentionally taking a beating from Lang, even getting knocked down twice, all the while taunting Lang that he cannot knock him out. By the third round, Lang, who is used to winning matches swiftly with knockouts in the early rounds, becomes increasingly furious over Rocky's taunts. He quickly exhausts his energy trying to finish Rocky off with repeated knockout blows, which Rocky blocks or dodges. With Lang rattled and vulnerable, Rocky out-boxes Lang with a flurry of punches, culminating in a brutal knockout to reclaim the heavyweight championship. Afterwards, Rocky fulfills Apollo's favor - a second rematch with him, but this time in the spirit of friendly competition, taking place at Mighty Mick's Gym with no audience. The film concludes without showing the result but freezes into an oil painting of two boxers simultaneously throwing the first punch, showing two equally skilled athletes.

On New Year's Day in 1976, world heavyweight boxing champion Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) has successfully defended his title in a split decision against challenger Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone). He and Rocky are taken to the same hospital. Because of the close outcome of the fight the general public believes that Apollo did not necessarily win. Despite their mutual agreement not to seek a rematch, Apollo challenges Rocky again, but Rocky declines and retires from professional boxing. His girlfriend, Adrian (Talia Shire), supports his choice, as do his doctors, who reveal that he will require surgery for a detached retina, a condition that could lead to permanent blindness. In a private moment, Rocky goes to see a recuperating Apollo, and wants a truthful response to his question of whether Apollo gave his all in the fight; Creed confirms that he did. After Rocky is released from the hospital, he enjoys the benefits of his life's changes: Rocky's new fame attracts an agent who sees Rocky as a potential endorsement and sponsorship goldmine, and his sudden wealth encourages him to propose to Adrian. She happily accepts, and they marry in a small ceremony. Soon after, Adrian reveals that she is pregnant. Meanwhile, fueled by hate mail claiming he fixed the fight in order to protect his reign as champ, Apollo becomes obsessed with the idea that a rematch is the only way to prove that Rocky's performance was simply a fluke. Determined to rectify his boxing career's only blemish, Apollo ignores all pleas by his friends and family to forget about the fight, and instead demands his team do whatever necessary to goad Rocky out of retirement. Rocky, at first, seems unaffected by Apollo's smear campaign, but his inexperience with money causes him to run into financial problems. Tony Gazzo (Joe Spinell), a loan shark and Rocky's former employer gets him to invest his fight money of $37K and endorsements into condominiums. He buys a new apartment, a Thunderbird, expensive coats and fancy dresses & watches for Adrian as he starts doing ads and so on. The ads don't go too well as Rocky cant read his lines properly. After several unsuccessful attempts to find employment (he cant get an office job as he is not educated. He only gets offers for manual labor and starts hauling beef for one of Paulie's (Adrian's brother) friends.. Buy even that doesn't last long as the factory has cut backs). Rocky sells his watch and car to Paulie. Rocky visits Mickey Goldmill (Burgess Meredith), his trainer and manager (a former bantamweight fighter from the 1920s and the owner of the local boxing gym), at his gym to talk about the possibility of fighting again. Mickey declines out of concern for Rocky's health (he cant see any jab coming at his face from the right side), but he soon accepts after Apollo publicly insults Rocky. Adrian confronts Rocky about the danger of returning to boxing and reminds him of the risk to his eyesight. Rocky argues that he knows nothing else, so this is the only way he can provide for them. Adrian, furious at Rocky for breaking his promise, refuses to support him. Rocky and Mickey begin training, but Rocky is unfocused due to Adrian's disapproval. Mickey tells Rocky to start training right handed as that would protect his eye and would throw Apollo off-balance in his game. Mickey has Rocky catching chickens to gain some speed and agility into his legs. he ties his left hand to force Rocky to train with his right one. Adrian's brother, Paulie (Burt Young), confronts his sister about not supporting her husband, but she faints during the confrontation and is rushed to the hospital, where she goes into labor. Despite being premature, the baby is healthy, but Adrian falls into a coma. Rocky blames himself for what happened, refusing to leave Adrian's bedside until she wakes up, and will not go to see his new baby until the baby can be together with his mother. When Adrian comes out of her coma, she finds Rocky by her bedside, and the couple are shown their new baby, a boy, which they name Robert "Rocky Jr." (Seargeoh Stallone) Adrian gives her blessing to the rematch, and Rocky quickly gets into shape for the fight. Rocky trains with the whole of Philedelphia. he works outs in the docks, parks, catches the chicken, the railway tracks, markets.. the whole crowd runs behind him.. as he climbs the stairs to the Philly square.. On Thanksgiving, the night of the match, Apollo makes a public goal of beating Rocky in no more than two rounds to prove the first match going the distance was a fluke. Rocky (202 pounds), fighting right-handed to protect his eye instead of his natural southpaw, is knocked down twice by Creed (220 pounds) in the first 2 rounds (but he manages to get back up and stays in the fight) and outclassed for much of the fight. Going into the fifteenth and final round, Creed is well ahead on points and only needs to stay away from Balboa to win the fight by decision. However, Creed, not wanting the fight to end like it did the first time, ignores his trainer's (Tony "Duke" Evers (Tony Burton)) pleas to stay back and attempts to beat Rocky by knockout. In the final round, Rocky switches back to his natural stance, and in dramatic fashion, unleashes a series of counter punches on Creed, turning the tide. Both men, exhausted, trade punches until they knock each other down. As both men struggle to regain their feet, Rocky is able to will himself up at the count of 9 while Apollo collapses from exhaustion, giving Rocky the win by knockout, making him the new heavyweight champion. Rocky then gives an impassioned speech to the crowd and holds the belt over his head with a message for his wife, who is watching the fight on TV: "Yo, Adrian, I did it!"

Real action with Kristofferson, MacGraw and Borgnine in a play full of police chasing. Truckers unite during the conflict to fight for their rights. Great action!

Mike Locken, who works for a private security firm affiliated with the C.I.A., is betrayed by his partner and left apparently crippled for life. Mike Locken is one of the principal members of a group of freelance spies. A significant portion of their work is for the C.I.A., and while he's on a case for them, one of his friends turns on him and shoots him in the elbow and knee. His assignment, to protect someone, goes down in flames. He is nearly crippled, but with braces is able to become mobile again. For revenge as much as anything else, Mike goes after his ex-friend.

Literature professor Axel Freed is a gambling addict. When he has lost his money, he borrows from his girlfriend Billie, then his mother Naomi, and finally some criminals that chase him. Despite all of this, he cannot stop gambling. Successful college professor Axel Freed is addicted to gambling; he wins big but loses it all just as quickly. He borrows from his girlfriend then from his wealthy mother, and finally from a loan shark. It just gets worse and worse for him because he just cannot stop. But when his girlfriend decides to leave him, his mom decides to disown him, and the mob wants to kill him, he decides to make a big score to win big and pay off everyone so he can stay alive, keep his dignity, and come out ahead. —Wesley Benton Axel Freed is an English professor at New York College. He is also a gambling addict. Although he likes to win, it is only secondary to the excitement he feels in the possibility of losing. Within this mentality, he ends up $44,000.00 in the hole in one fell swoop. He does not have it, and those to whom he owes would not take kindly at all to delayed payment without some sort of retribution. He gets an up-close-and-personal view of the nasty things that can be done as a consequence as he tries to come up with the money through legitimate and not so legitimate sources. The former includes from his wealthy businessman grandfather, A.R. Lowenthal, who has had his fair share of dealings with the wrong side of the law himself, and from his physician mother, Naomi Freed; both could still be affected by his actions whether they can or can't, or will or won't, help him. Even if he can get the money, the feeling of his addiction may not allow him just to pay back the money as that, in his mind, is not winning, regardless of the consequence of being potentially deeper in with those he owes. The other person involved is his girlfriend Billie, who loves him but didn't sign up for this kind of excitement. —Huggo Axel Freed is a college professor who is constantly in debt and must rely on his former friends and associates to bail him out. As his habit becomes an incurable disease, Axel finds that the only people who will have anything to do with him are those to whom he owes money--particularly the polite but deadly loan-shark Carmine.