Rocky III

An unnecessary but entertaining chapter to the Rocky saga. Stallone laces up the gloves again. A very cliche and somewhat-misdirected plot, dialogue and moral knocks it down, but the energetic action and boxing drama and glory brings it back up and continues to swing to the final bell.

At the age of 42 and as a self-professed life-long film buff and movie critic, I am a little embarrassed to admit that I only this week got around to watching the ROCKY films in order from the start. Unexpectedly, this one stood out to me as the most enjoyable, though I did appreciate the heart of the first movie and the catharsis of the second.

There's plenty to love in this film but I'll get a few of the problems out of the way first. For one, Stallone seems to have shed much of the character he'd so carefully crafted in the first two movies. Now that it was the 1980's, Stallone had a whole different look and persona to him, and Rocky here feels a lot less like the fictional character and more like Stallone himself. It's a bit off-putting but eventually the story overcomes this shortcoming.

The first third of the film drags in places, with Paulie and Adrian getting sidelined and simplified into caricatures. Paulie has started to morph into the unrefined comedy-relief sidekick kind of like John Santucci's character on "Crime Story". A few of his lines come off as so bizarre, idiotic, and off-character that they would briefly pull me out of the movie.

That said, the film really excites like no other boxing movie I have seen, and that includes RAGING BULL. Right out of the gate, the movie hits hard with some well-edited montages set to "Eye of the Tiger", an extremely catchy 80's jingle whose lyrics stand as the heart of this movie. Sure there's a couple annoying title-drops from Apollo later in the film and it's a bit-heavy handed, but this is a movie about boxing, right? The way Mr. T hungrily eyes Rocky's boxing success while the theme plays fits like a glove.

Stallone's charm (which is substantial) gets eclipsed by newcomer Mr. T as the villain Clubber Lang. I remember Mr. T being a big deal when I was a kid in the early 80's between "The A-Team" and his cartoon show where he goes around fighting crime with a van full of plucky kids. It's easy to see how this movie put him on the map as his rough, unfiltered, improvisational demeanor and ogre-like facial contortion make him hard to take your eyes off of.

Narratively, I love that things are not so straight-forward as the first two movies and I was made to feel sympathy both for Rocky and Clubber. Both trade places being underdogs and high on their own victorious ego at various places in the movie. It wouldn't work as well without the acting talent, the streamlined story structure, and Stallone's own direction which exemplifies a surprisingly perfect command of how to emotionally connect with the audience.

A triumph of boxing movies and sports-related films in general.

This Rocky movie is a rather quick flowing film compared to the first movies and features a bit more comedy while still having drama and inspirational scenes that were pivotal in the first two movies. The fights are different here too, as in this film we do not have the 15 round beat downs of the first films, but rather three rounds of pure hard hitting. In this one we start out with a strange charity match as Rocky the heavyweight champion of boxing goes against the heavyweight champion of wrestling, Thunderlipps (Hulk Hogan in his only decent appearance in a movie, then again it is not really a stretch). This match is rather entertaining and funny, but soon Rocky must face a new challenger to his belt, the very tough Clubber Lang played by a very tough Mr. T. Mickey does not want Rocky to fight this guy as Mickey has seen that Rocky has lost the fire in his eyes that got him the title and would most likely lose to this determined if a bit arrogant new fighter. Well they do end up fighting and Rocky loses and gets hit even worse by the passing of his mentor. Apollo having witnessed the fight and not liking Clubber Lang at all offers to help Rocky train and thus a new friendship is born. The training is nice to watch and I like how Rocky does different strategies against Clubber in the final fight. Sure this movie is a bit more over the top than the previous Rocky movies, it to me is still my favorite.

30 minutes shorter than its predecessors-- according to audience reactions I still disagree with, that's the same curse that held "Superman IV" in Hollywood Purgatory (or maybe lower).

Thank heavens "Rocky III" is still an enjoyable piece of work!

For Stallone's second shot in the director's chair, he pits his famous character against Clubber Lang, a testosterone-oozing Mr. T. The trouble is, has Rocky grown complacent in light of his massive celebrity?

While it does stick to something of a formula, R3 still comes out swinging, with more humor and better drama than the first two, but doesn't reach the cheer-inspiring fever pitch of the second.

A worthwhile entry.

Another film worthy of a Frank Stallone sound track, Rocky 3 has been one of the biggest box office turn outs in history. Not only did every Italian American run out to see this film when it was in the theaters but it made the song "Eye of the Tiger" a national hit. Rocky 3 was also a debut film for MR. T. An excellent performance as one of the best villains in movie history. This one is not only written by Sly....it is also directed by him as well. Check it out.