Rocky III
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 "There is no tomorrow!" - Apollo Creed
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Rocky III is a 1982 action, adventure, drama, comedy, sports, live action movie. It was written and directed by Sylvester Stallone, musically composed by Bill Conti, filmed by Bill Butler, edited by Mark Warner and Don Zimmerman, distributed by MGM/UA Entertainment Company, produced by Robert Chartoff, Irwin Winkler, and United Artists, and it starred Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, Burgess Meredith and Mr. T. It's a sequel to Rocky II from 1979, and was later followed by Rocky IV in 1985.
The film's main theme, Eye Of The Tiger, was written by the group Survivor and became a smash hit single, topping the U.S. Billboard charts and receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song.
Plot
Having become the world heavyweight champion, former working-class boxer Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) is rich and famous beyond his wildest dreams, which has made him lazy and overconfident. In a double whammy, he loses his trainer and father figure Mickey (Burgess Meredith) and then has his title stolen by the arrogant, menacing challenger Clubber Lang (Mr. T). Turning to his former adversary, Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), for help, Rocky struggles to get his old fire back.
Why It's the Eye of the Tiger
- The classic song Eye of the Tiger by Survivor is introduced in this movie, which is probably the most well-known song in the Rocky franchise.
- Amazing acting.
- The pure entertainment value in this movie is arguably greater than any of the other Rocky movies.
- Excellent cinematography.
- Rocky fights Hulk Hogan! It doesn't serve much purpose, but is entertaining as hell.
- Great soundtrack.
- Clubber Lang (played by Mr. T) is one of the best villains in the entire series. He's a huge, hungry, one-man wrecking machine, and he actually DEFEATS Rocky in their first fight. He's the type of villain that you will love to hate.
- Rocky makes amends with his old enemy, Apollo Creed, with Apollo helping Rocky prepare for his rematch with Clubber Lang.
- This movie has one of the saddest and most heart-wrenching scenes in the entire Rocky franchise: Mickey's death.
- Surprisingly good comedy.
- The final fight between Rocky and Clubber Lang is amazing. It's interesting to see that the entire thing is in real time, whereas most of Rocky's fights have montages.
- Just like the previous film, the opening is still epic, as it also reminds you what happened in the previous film.
The Only Bad Quality
- This film has some inconsistencies with the previous two. Not only have Rocky's humble origins been thrown out the window, but there's also no mention of his eye injury from Rocky II. Nor is there an adequate explanation for the absence of Tony Gazzo, the loan shark from the first 2 movies (it is perhaps implied that since Rocky is rich and famous, Gazzo would no longer be relevant).
Reception
Rocky III has a 63% critic rating and a 73% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a 3.2/5 on Letterboxd, and a 6.8/10 on the International Movie Database (IMDB).
Trivia
- Sylvester Stallone was actually able to pick up Hulk Hogan in real life!
- Originally the main theme was supposed to be, You're The Best.
Videos
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External links
Rocky III at the Internet Movie Database
Rocky III on Rotten Tomatoes
Rocky III on Metacritic
Rocky III on Letterboxd