Rocky III

Rocky III

Starring Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Carl Weathers, Mr. T

Directed by Sylvester Stallone

The Story:
Three years after winning the heavyweight championship after besting Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), former underdog Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) is living the high life - he's got a beautiful wife Adrian (Talia Shire), a young son, a huge mansion, and countless television appearances.  He's defended the title thanks to his trainer Mickey (Burgess Meredith), and life couldn't be better for him.

Meanwhile, young upstart Clubber Lang (Mr. T) has been itching to take on the heavyweight champ, and finally manages to convince Rocky to fight him for the title.  As he faces devastating losses, Rocky finds himself in another slump and is picked up by the most unlikely person - Apollo himself.

The Synopsis:
The "Rocky" franchise has, up until this point, been a huge success.  With the third film, Sylvester Stallone manages to up the ante and once again delivers another knockout performance that focuses on a different side of Rocky that we've seen before, resulting in a deeper performance than just a surface-level boxing match.

This time around, Rocky finds himself on a completely different road than we've seen him previously - enjoying the fruits of success, living the high life, and not having a care in the world.  He's got a series of lucrative sponsorship deals, television appearances, and dedications to his honor.  Basically, he's living the life Apollo Creed lived in the original "Rocky," and we see a unique spin here as he is faced to fight Clubber Lang, a relatively unknown boxer who challenges his dominance.

We see Rocky lose almost everything, and how he has to pick up the pieces of his shattered life thanks to help from his wife, his friend Paulie, and a very unlikely source - Apollo Creed, who takes on managing the Italian Stallion in order to defeat Clubber Lang.  The story comes full circle here, and everyone gives tremendous performances, especially Talia Shire.  She spends most of the film just staring at things and responding with a few words, but there's a very strong moment between Rocky and Adrian that really showcases Talia Shire's ability and is easily her best performance in the "Rocky" franchise to date.

Equally, Carl Weathers gives his strongest performance so far as Apollo Creed, who's given much more to work with this time around as he's not in direct competition with Rocky Balboa, but rather sets out to help him win the fight.  We see these two former titans come together in unique ways that showcases a strong friendship that only develops with time.

Stallone again gives his blood, sweat, and tears into the project, and ironically this film includes several of the now-trademark moments everyone remembers.  It's the first time "Eye of the Tiger" is played, and the first time we see the now-famous Rocky statue that still resides at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Stallone incorporates all his talent into the project, as does everyone else.  Mr. T shines as Clubber Lang, who's basically a big bully who fights anyone and has a definite chip on his shoulder, and this is actually Mr. T's first acting role and first time we hear his famous catch phrase "I pity the fool."

The fights are as intense as ever, especially the two matches between Rocky and Clubber that take things to a new level.  There's also a unique fight that Rocky engages in for charity against wrestler Thunderlips - beautifully played by wrestler Hulk Hogan - that's easily the strangest you'll see, but highly entertaining as well.

The Summary:
Once again returning to the ring of "Rocky," Sylvester Stallone proves that an old dog still has new tricks, and provides an entertaining boxing film that's more dramatic and intense than before.

The Score: A