Review of Rocky III (1982) by Danny C — 07 Sep 2010

This has been my favorite of the series for a long time now and it's for very good reason. In the third film we see Rocky gain world fame and recognition. He becomes richer than his wildest dreams. Landing endorsement deals, television deals and holding charity functions. Rocky defends his world title ten times and we witness his success go to his head as he slowly loses "the eye of the tiger".

When brute Clubber Lang (Mr. T) becomes the number one contender Micky attempts to quit on Rocky claiming Rock is too old and not hungry enough to beat Lang, along with a lingering heart problem that's been bothering Mick. After the Stallion suffers a brutal TKO loss to Lang, Micky dies in Rock's arms in the dressing room. Rocky retires once more until old foe Apollo trains him and Rocky makes the epic comeback against Clubber Lang for the title.

This one is so good because we see the growth of these characters more in this film than any others. Paulie's alcoholism is progressively getting worse and it lands him in jail. The love and bond between Rocky and Adrian gets stronger and we see little Robert, jr grow into a tyke. The scene of Mick dying in Rocky's arms still gets me choked up no matter how many times I see it.

Sly does a great job making his audience actually care for these particular characters. We as the viewer care whether Mick lived or died and if Rocky won or lost. Carl Weathers again does a wonderful job as Apollo and we see an enduring friendship grow between him and the Stallion.

In closing Rocky III is absolutely the best in the franchise for its heart and emotion, action and drama. There will never be another boxing or sports drama that will topple this. Rocky III sets the bar for any film and it has yet to be topped.