Rockython: A Review of "Rocky III"

"Hey, yo! Does the T stand for Toddler?"
"NO IT AIN'T STAND FOR TODDLER, SUCKA, NOW LEMME NIBBLE ON THEM FINGERS!"

In the review of Rocky II, I joked about how usually if you're the third movie in a franchise, odds of you being just as beloved and rewatchable as the previous films are slim. Notable exceptions; Return of the Jedi, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Back to the Future Part III, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and in my opinion, Batman Forever, Star Trek III and Toy Story 3. Tons of third installments that can be considered just as loved as their predecessors, and what we're here to talk about today is no exception. This is Rocky III, and what does Rocky III teach us? That two drama movies was enough and it's time to turn this sports drama franchise into an action hero franchise!

"Hey, Rocky! Where'd you get those sweet threads?"

"Kohl's cash, yo!"

Rocky II saw Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) win the heavyweight championship from Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers). No longer just an unknown fighter begging for recognition, Rocky III opens with the debut of the legendary pop-rock sports song "Eye of the Tiger" as we see that in the ensuing three years, Rocky Balboa has had a string of ten successful title defenses. His 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). Now aged 34, Rocky is on top of the professional boxing world. Rocky's manager, Mickey Goldmill (Burgess Meredith), worriedly eyes a young and powerful contender rapidly rising through the ranks named James "Clubber" Lang (the debuting Mr. T). 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. Fun fact: according to an interview given by Mr. T, he attended the movie's premiere with his mother. During the scene where he yells lurid remarks at Adrian to goad Rocky into a title shot, his mother turned to him and said, "I did not raise you to talk to a lady like that" and stormed out of the theater. Now if that's not a mother dedicated to her craft, I don't know what is.

"Buddy, you call me Richard Pryor one more time, I'm
going to have to lay you out."

Mickey initially wants no part of it of the fight, telling Rocky he'll fight Clubber without him. 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, knowing full well anymore beatings like that would blind or seriously hurt Rocky for the rest of his life. 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" and "soft". 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, and is clearly not taking his training seriously. In contrast, Lang trains with ruthless determination and vigor.

"Yo ain't I seen you on a rerun of American Choppers?"

The night of the fight comes. Lang and Rocky meet at Philadelphia's Spectrum for what Rocky claims to the press will be his final fight. In a brawl backstage, Mickey is violently shoved by Lang, causing Mickey to suffer a heart attack. Distraught, Rocky wants to call the match off, but Mickey urges him to fight while he stays in the dressing room. By the time of the match, Rocky is both enraged and severely distracted by his mentor's condition. The match begins with Rocky pounding Lang with several huge blows looking for an early knockout, but he cannot put Lang down due to his own lack of conditioning. The bigger, stronger, and better-prepared Lang quickly recovers and takes charge, dominating Rocky and knocking him out with a haymaker left hook in the second round, winning the world heavyweight championship. After the match, a battered Rocky tells a dying Mickey that the match ended in a second round knockout without saying who the victor was. Mickey falsely believes Rocky won and then dies. Rocky, lapsing into severe depression, mourns over Mickey's death. There you have it, Mickey has died and Rocky is no longer the champion. At 34, his chances of a comeback are slim... is he finished? Who can help him?

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. Apollo then takes Rocky to the gym where he once trained, Tough Gym in Los Angeles. Creed, along with his former trainer Tony "Duke" Evers (Tony Burton), infuses Rocky's brawling style with more of Apollo's trademark footwork, skill and speed to become a more complete fighter and to help him regain his edge (Apollo's coined term “eye of the tiger”, something that was literally all over this movie). At first, Rocky is too distracted and demoralized to put forth his best efforts, infuriating Apollo, but he regains his momentum after Adrian (Talia Shire) helps Rocky come to terms with Mickey's death.

"Yo Adrian, didn't you spend all of Rocky II telling me not to
fight and now Rocky III telling me to fight?"
"Rocky, if you point out every inconsistency, we're going to
be here 'til Ramadan."

After months of training during yet another rendition of "Gonna Fly Now", the rematch takes place at Madison Square Garden in New York. Apollo lends Rocky the American flag trunks that he wore during their first match... thankfully dry cleaned and without Rocky's blood on them still. At the outset of the match, Rocky sprints from his corner, battering Lang 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. Boxing fans know this as the "rope-a-dope" tactic, famously employed by Muhammad Ali to topple the younger and stronger George Foreman and regain the heavyweight championship in 1974. 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 win the title, becoming a two-time Heavyweight Champion of the World. Afterwards, Rocky fulfills Apollo's favor: a closed door rematch with him. The film concludes with both fighters throwing their first punch simultaneously as "Eye of the Tiger" kicks back in over the end credits.

"All these movies to star in, I must say I am
quite beside myself, y'know?"

Rocky III used to be my favorite of the bunch. However, as I've stated, its the first of the saga that wasn't built on being a character driven drama. It has the most fights of the movies, at three... if you count Rocky's showdown with Thunderlips, that is. It's also the first Rocky film to show the entirety of the final fight, not going to montage mode and skipping rounds but showing every single round. It was nice to see Apollo Creed be humanized so well, and I'm not the only one that things that because this also happens to be Carl Weathers' favorite of the Rocky films that he's starred in for that very same reason. Apollo goes from being just some run-of-the-mill arrogant jock to someone who is looking out for Rocky's best interests, looking to help train him back up, get his mojo back and take back the Heavyweight Championship of the World. Ultimately, he and Rock grow to become close friends because of this. Now you want to talk about the Rocky statue? This was where it made its first appearance. In the movie, the city of Philadelphia gifts Rocky a nine-foot, 1,500 pound bronze statue and places it at the plaza in front of the Philadelphia Art Museum, at the top of what is known famously as the "Rocky steps" due to the familiarity of Rocky running up them for his training. In real life, the statue was donated to the Art Museum after filming completed, but they said they didn't want it as it was "just a movie prop". This sparked a huge debate over what constitutes "art" and what doesn't, and as of now, the Rocky statue is still a real landmark in Philadelphia, nestled among some shrubbery adjacent to the Art Museum's steps as opposed to in front of the museum itself. Rocky III is also often credited with helping bring Hulk Hogan into the limelight, being his film debut and all, and thus assisting in bringing attention to the then-WWF (World Wrestling Federation) and in giving birth to Hulkamania. Some nutty crumpets of thought for your Wednesday.

Rocky III maintains some of the sports drama-ness that the series was founded on, but by now, Stallone was becoming such a big action star elsewhere that it feels more like an action movie than a drama. Rocky III came out in May '82, and Stallone's other breakout film role as Vietnam veteran John Rambo would kick off with First Blood that October. Since the series had to up the ante, there are also three fights now, as mentioned. The exhibition wrestling-boxing match with Thunderlips, Rocky losing the title to Clubber Lang and then later on winning it back in a rematch with Lang, making this the only movie where Rocky loses to and then wins against the same villain in the same movie. Apollo Creed became a good guy and a close friend to Rocky, which I love; I love when enemies become friends in a twist in movies. It brought "Eye of the Tiger" to ears everywhere, a sports anthem that has yet to die out. It introduced Mr. T as well as his famous catchphrase "I pity the foo". It's weird to see him play a bad guy when all throughout his career he's been a monumental, charity-donating foo human being his entire life... but he plays it so well that it makes perfect sense and its the perfect casting. Its a great entry in the series, very uplifting and inspirational...

...nothing like the absolute sci-fi montage-laiden madness and chaos that would follow next...