Review of Rocky III (1982) by Antwon B — 31 Jan 2015

My favorite of the series. It's been three years after Balboa's title fight with Apollo Creed, and Rocky Balboa is the new reigning champ. Mickey the trainer has moved in with Rocky and his family, becoming the surrogate father to Rocky. Life is good for the new champ because Mickey has been secretly hand picking duds for Rocky to fight.

Rockys age at this point in his career is 34 and he is considered a "has been" or a fighter past his prime. And he's enjoying all the trappings of fame and success. Rocky is his regular likable self and Stallone understands the character very well since he created him. I believe that he's written this character for this film to reflect his own personality.

But this Rocky is slightly different in this movie than the past films. He's more articulate and he fights more like Apollo. Gone are the days of the "I dunno." Even Stallone Change the appearance of the character making him more handsome with a chiseled face and all. A character mocks him about that later on in the movie.

Carl Weather's return as Apollo Creed in an interesting twist. Apollo is still very tough but likable.

Rocky III is Carl Weathers's favorite film in the Rocky saga because he thinks Apollo Creed is humanized so well in it.

Enter Clubber Lang played by Mr T in his film debut. Lang is a mean vicious young 26 year old fighter searching for the title. Mickey knows this and he's tried everything to keep Balboa and this young kid from fighting, because secretly Mickey knows that Balboa won't stand a chance against this guy.

Mr T does an excellent job in the role, he's the Mike Tyson before Mike Tyson. There's a scene where Mr T tries to provoke Rocky by insulting Adrian, Rockys wife . Mr T said that when his mom seen him do that, she said to him at the premier that she didn't raise him that way, and she left the theater.

When I watched this movie as a kid, I was afraid for Rocky. I believe that if Mr T shows up, he was bringing some whup ass with him. This movie was the reason I became a Stallone fan. An interesting note: This film marks the end of all of the fights that Rocky has. I won't spoil it for you, just see the rest. And in the summer of 1982 it became my first summer event film.

An excellent sequel! And the most amazing aspect about the whole project is how Sly made Rocky an underdog once.

again.