Sooo now onto part 3 of the Rocky posts and this one is of course all about Rocky III, which saw Sylvester Stallone take the directorial helm once again (as well as writing the screenplay) and it also introduced Mr T to our screens in a memorable role as Rocky's main opponent. So let's gear up the gloves, ring the bell and get a move on with the review.....
OK so starting with the usual plot summary, the film is set five years later after the events of Rocky II where Rocky is now still the heavyweight champion of the boxing world, and he has had a string of successful title defence matches. Rocky is also now very famous and wealthy as a result of his world champion status, so much so, it causes Paulie (Burt Young) to become increasingly jealous of him, and one night in a drunken rage he smashes a pinball machine in an arcade, which has Rocky's visage on it. Rocky bails Paulie out of jail and Paulie ends up expression his anger and jealousy, but he eventually relents when he asks for Rocky for a job, who says "All you had to do was ask!". Some time later, a statue of Rocky is unveiled at the steps of the Philadelphia museum of art, where Rocky announces his retiral, however he is then interrupted by Clubber Lang (Mr T) an aggressive up and coming fighter, who demands a shot at the title and accuses Rocky of taking on easy opponents. Rocky is riled by Clubber's taunts and he says to Mickey he wants to fight Clubber, but Mickey initially refuses as he admits that the fights that Rocky took to maintain his title defence were all handpicked, but Clubber on the other hand could do some serious damage to Rocky. Rocky however soon persuades Mickey to train him one last time for the fight before they both will be set to retire.
On the night of the fight prior to the match, Clubber riles Rocky again and he shoves Mickey out of the way as he tries to get at Rocky, which leads to Mickey suffering a heart attack. Rocky now wants to call off the fight, but Mickey insists that he get out there and beat Clubber and win the match. As the fight begins, Rocky comes out strong and aggressive in the first round, determined to knock out Clubber early, however Clubber soon shakes off Rocky's fight and starts to take control of the fight as Rocky flounders and ends up all bloody and bruised by the end of the round. In the 2nd round, Rocky is now too distracted with concern for Mickey as Clubber proceeds to knock Rocky for six and he knocks him out to win the title. Rocky later goes back to the locker room where he tells a dying Mickey that he won the fight, however Mickey soon dies in Rocky's arms.
After this Rocky goes into a deep depression as he is racked with guilt over Mickey's death and one night he stops by Mickey's gym, where he is met by Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) who tells Rocky that he lost the fight for all the wrong the reasons, as he had lost his edge and he wants to help Rocky get it back. After this Apollo takes Rocky to Los Angeles, along with his wife Adrian (Talia Shire) and Paulie, and Apollo shows Rocky where he made his humble beginnings, and they begin to train in Apollo's former old gym along with Apollo's trainer, Duke (Tony Burton). However the training doesn't go well as Rocky is too distraught from Mickey's death as well as learning about the truth of his title defence, which frustrates Apollo. Adrian eventually manages to help Rocky out of his funk by letting him talk it out and she convinces to get back on track. After this Rocky starts to adapt really well to Apollo's methods of training, as Apollo teaches Rocky how to gain speed, instead of his power hitting, he trains as well as he can to get ready for the fight. And on the night of the fight, Apollo gives Rocky his American flag styled boxing shorts to wear for the fight, and he tells him that after its over that Rocky owes him a favour. After this the rematch takes place as the film culiminates in the figh scene where Rocky aims to win back his title and restore his self respect.
Rocky III is an entertaining albeit at times, very corny follow up to the second film as here, Rocky is now a wealthy celebrity, who enjoys cashing in on his fame and his name. However before you think the film might choke itself to death on its on shallowness, Stallone does a smart thing with Rocky here in III, as he makes Rocky re-evulate himself as a person after losing Mickey, he realises the wealth, his title and everything else is meaningless to him unless he can put his own personal demons to rest, as the remainder of the film deals with Rocky's slow journey to his emotional recovery. Stallone also provides a good shift in story's tone as Apollo becomes Rocky's friend and ally as he helps him to train and fight to get his edge back after losing to Clubber. Stallone himself for the part lost a fair amount of weight, as he dropped down to 155lb in an effort to get himself into the shape necessary to display Rocky's increased speed and movement as his daily diet consisted of ten egg whites a day and toast! And the film was also noted for the creation of the Rocky statue, which to this day is still located at the steps of the Philadelphia museum of art, even thought it had been relocated over the years, the statue still makes it appearance at the end of Rocky Balboa.
As for the film's performances, things are pretty good once again, with Stallone once again providing a fine performance as Rocky, who he plays as being a little bit more sophisticated than before, as Rocky has embraced his celebrity, he now wears expensive suits and looks the part of an almost sauve businessman at times rather than a fighter. Stallone however also does really well in conveying Rocky's anger and guilt over Mickey's death where Rocky becomes too demoralised to train to fight against Clubber again. Stallone also get's some good lines of dialogue, such as the one where he is about to do a charity fight with a professional wrestler (played by Hulk Hogan) and Mickey says "This is riduclous! No one else would do this much for charity!" and Rocky says "Bob Hope would!". Also in the scene where Rocky arrives in Los Angeles with Apollo, along with Adrian and Paulie in tow, Paulie expresses his disapproval of the black neighbourhoods and he says "I don't like these people" and Rocky says "Well maybe they don't like you either, Paulie" and Paulie looks surprised "What did I ever do to them?!" and Rocky quietly says to Adrian "And they call ME punchy!". Although for me Stallone's best scene in the film is where he finally confides in Adrian about how he is feeling during his training as he admits to how is afraid for the first time in his life and Adrian encourages him to get back on his feet.
Which brings me onto Talia Shire who does a great job here, and she has never looked better here than she has in any of the other Rocky films as well. Talia also makes great strides with Adrian here as well, as Adrian is no longer a painfully shy woman, she is now a strong and confident person who does her best in supporting Rocky. Talia's best scene is of course in the aforementioned one where Adrian helps Rocky talk out his problems with his own personal fears over Mickey's death and losing his title. And Adrian says to Rocky "You gotta want to do it for the right reasons. Not for the guilt over Mickey, not for the people, not for the title, not for the money, but for you. Just you. Just you alone! And if you lose, but at least you lose with no excuses and no fear. And I know you can live with that". Burt Young also does a fine job as Paulie again, and his opening scene is really good where he wanders around, drunk, he comes across the pinball machine of Rocky, and he loses his rag and throws his bottle of whisky at it, smashing the image of Rocky. Later on when Paulie goes to LA with Rocky and Adrian, his racist attitude while potentially offensive, is disarmed by his own stupidity, and I ike the scene where he tries to sleep in a old run down motel and looks out the window and shouts "Shut up ya lousy sterno bums! I'm trying to sleep!". And Burt has another hilarious moment when he arrives at Apollo's old gym in LA and as he walks in, he looks nervously around at the black neighbourhood and says "I don't even have a gun!". And when Apollo during Rocky's training asks him "Can he swim?" Paulie sarcastically says "With a name like Rock???".
Carl Weathers is also excellent once again in his role as Apollo Creed, and this time it makes a nice shift in the dynamics of the story that Apollo is no longer Rocky's rival, but now his friend, who wants to help him get back on his feet. Weathers has some really good moments in the film, such as in the scene where he first meets with Rocky after Mickey's death and he says to him "Look man, when you beat me, I hurt all over and I didn't want to know my wife or my kids, all fighters feel that hurt, man. But you lost that fight for all the wrong reasons, Rock, you lost it because you had lost your edge. And now you have got to get it back, the eye of the tiger!". Another good scene Weathers has is when he and Rocky watch the news about Rocky's defeat and Paulie says "Don't listen to it, Rocky" and Apollo says "No, do listen it, Rock. Because after all this is over, those people are going to owe you an engraved apology!". Weathers also has some good moments where Apollo expresses his anger and frustration at Rocky's lack of focus during their training for the Clubber rematch and he says to him during a sparring session "Damn it, man, what is wrong with you?! This guy will knock you on your ass! You think I was tough? This chump will kill you!". And in the scene just before the fight, Apolllo gives Rocky his boxing shorts to wear and he says "Just remember to wash em before you bring them back, alright?!" and just after he says "And once this is over you are gonna owe me a favour" (i.e. he wants a private rematch between him and Rocky).
And making his screen debut, Mr T also makes a strong impression as the hotheaded and aggressive Clubber Lang, who is determined to beat Rocky and eventually does and takes his title. Mr T also get's some of the film's best and most memorable lines, such as in his pre-match television interview, prior to his title defence against Rocky when he says "I don't hate him, but I pity the fool!". And in the same scene when the interviewer asks Clubber what his prediction for the fight is and Clubber relies coldly "Prediction? Pain!". Also in the scene where Clubber first confronts Rocky outside the Philly art museum and he taunts him by saying to Adrian "Hey woman, since your man hasn't got any heart, why don't you get your pretty little self over to my place and I'll show you a real man!". And one of my favourite lines of Clubber's is during a television interview when he hears that Rocky wants a re-match and will Clubber accept the challenge who says "I reject the challenge, because Balboa is no challenge! But I'd be more than happy to beat up on him some more!". I will also mention Tony Burton who also does well in his role as Duke, Apollo's former trainer and future trainer for Rocky, and when he meets Rocky again he smiles and says "I look forward to working with you, as its certainly been hard working against you!".
And lastly but not least Burgess Meredith provides a charming swansong performance in the series as Mickey, who by this time has nothing but respect for Rocky but as his manager has to do what he can to keep Rocky fit and safe in defending his title. Meredith also develops a charming father and son like relationship with Rocky and they have some amusing moments where Rocky trains in a hotel ballroom, where Rocky invites the press to watch him train and Mickey angrily tells one of them to get lost! Meredith's two best scenes in the film come though when he first off tells Rocky that he won't train him to fight against Clubber as "You can't win, Rock! This guy will kill you to death in three rounds!". And later in the scene prior to the fight, Mickey suffers a heart attack and Rocky is left lost at what to do and Mickey weakly grabs him and says "You don't know what to do?! You oughta be ashamed of yourself! Now go out there and do it! Do it!". Meredith also get's a great line in the scene where he talks to Rocky about the truth of his title defence and he says to him "Three years ago you were supernatural, and you had a cast iron jaw. But then the worst thing happened to you that could ever happen to a fighter, you got civilised".
Direction wise, Stallone once again does an excellent job here and as he wrote the story and the character to begin with, he has developed a perfect understanding on the progression of Rocky's character and he does his best here with dealing with Rocky's own personal drama. Stallone also keeps the pacing much tighter here than in the previous two films which also goes in the film's favour. Music wise the film has another good score from Bill Conti, however its most memorable track is of course "Eye of the Tiger" by the rock band Journey, which Stallone asked the band to write for the film, and as a result it became a big hit and it remains one of the most iconic songs of the 1980s.
As for the film's flaws.... well it has to be said that Rocky III certainly isn't perfect, particularly as roughly the first half of the film is quite cheesy, as Rocky enjoys his celebrity, and does ads for American express, a charity exhibition fight with a wrestler, and also the unveiling of his statue is all a bit corny. And after the first two Rocky films which strengths lied in their sense of grounded reality, Rocky III threatens to lose itself in its own cheesy fantasy, and its only in the second half after Mickey's death where the film starts to gain some more substance and drama. I also felt that Clubber Lang at times was portrayed more like a pantomine villain than an opponent for Rocky and Mr T's souped up, arrogant and hyper aggressive potrayal is at times just comical. And with Apollo you also get that Rocky had a true challenge in front of him, but with Clubber he's just a big strong guy with a real attitude problem, who in the end tires too easy. And I also felt the boxing match itself was a bit of a letdown as rather than go the distance, Rocky ends up finishing Clubber off in three short rounds. However that is mentioned by Apollo earlier on in the film when he says the key to beating Clubber is to put him away early or else Rocky would run out of steam tyring to beat Clubber in going the distance. But as a result the fight scene in itself is a letdown as rather than an even contest, in the end Rocky just employs a "rope-a-dope" tactic against Clubber to tire him out and he eventually pummels him into submission.
But putting all those niggles aside, Rocky III is still a very enjoyable and fairly credible sequel to the previous two films and its still fun to watch over 30 years later.
And with that I shall leave it there for now and cue up round 4, where Rocky takes on the big Russian dude, Ivan Drago.
Till the next one, bye for now!
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