Now we have come to “Rocky III,” released in 1982. This one isn’t as bad as everyone says it is. Sure, it changes direction from the first two movies, like Rocky’s humble character and bad eye are gone, and he’s a millionaire celebrity. However, this movie still has a lot of heart, and it’s similar to the comic book movies where they show a new opponent that comes around who is stronger and hungrier and momentarily defeats the hero, like “Superman II,” “Spiderman II,” “The Dark Knight Rises,” and “The Wolverine.”
The movie starts off with a montage of Rocky’s matches, but one of the most ridiculous scenes in the movie that has nothing to do with the rest of the movie, but is still entertaining, is when Rocky has a boxer vs. wrestler charity exhibition match. His opponent is Thunderlips, played by Hulk Hogan making a small cameo. There’s no restraint here. Thunderlips just pummels Rocky. Paulie jumps in to help, but that just makes matter worse with a riot starting, innocent people getting hurt, police officers get beat up, it’s pandemonium. However, like Rocky does every time, he fights back and it’s just fun.
At the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where the movie actually starts, Rocky has a statue dedicated to him, which is another popular Philadelphia tourist attraction. Just like how people run up the Art Museum stairs, everyday people line up and take photos with the statue. I actually took a photo of that statue with my iPhone after I ran up the steps, as you can see with the photo to your right.
Here, the band plays Gonna Fly Now, which I find strange as how does the band in the movie know the Rocky theme? Rocky announces that he is going to retire, but from the crowd, a loud-mouthed, vicious, hungry, cocky wrecking machine named James “Clubber” Lang, played by B.A. Baracus from “The A-Team,” Lawrence Tureaud aka the great Mr. T, challenges Rocky to a fight. He even tries to put the moves on Adrian. To Mickey’s disapproval, Rocky agrees to fight him. However, the man is such a beast that he doesn’t even wait until they get into the ring, he starts to attack Rocky in the locker room. In a pre-match riot, Mickey gets hurt and his heart is failing. Rocky can’t concentrate on the fight, loses the match and the title, Mickey dies, and it looks like everything is over.
If you think the movie is going to end right here, think again. In comes Apollo, who agrees to train Rocky for his rematch against Clubber Lang. Don’t you just love it when enemies become friends? You have to admit, it’s one of the greatest twists ever.
Overall, this movie takes the more action route compared to the first two films. Clubber Lang is one of the greatest villains ever. The first time you see him, you just hate the man and you want Rocky to win. This is just a huge buildup to the final match. For the first time, you will see the entire match with no time lapse montage.
James Rolfe mentioned that this film “broke the delicate fabric that made the first two movies so great.” However, you have to know that this film is a very important chapter in the Rocky series. This movie introduced the famous Survivor song Eye of the Tiger, which I’m listening to right now. I just love the songs in the Rocky series. This song is a recurring theme in the movie, and my second cousin mentioned that this song was solely made for this movie. Also, this movie is responsible for introducing Mr. T and his signature catchphrase, “I Pity the Fool,” which he said so many times in “The A-Team.” The entire movie is just an adrenaline-rushing blast of entertainment. Ian Fried is playing Rocky’s son in this movie.
I can understand that people don’t really seem to get into this movie because it changed directions and wasn’t like the first two, but every franchise has changed its direction when it got more sequels. This one is no exception. I highly recommend you see this one, I think it’s better than the second movie, but that’s just my opinion. Also, Eye of the Tiger is one of songs I listen to a lot. My brother thinks that this song was in the first movie, but I keep reminding him that it was Bill Conti’s Gonna Fly Now, and that Eye of the Tiger was in the third movie.
With that said, check in tomorrow for more action-packed adventures in “Rocky Week,” where we’ll get into a hungrier and intense entry in the series, which will be exciting, I promise you that.
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