Rocky III (1982)

Rocky has been holding the title as the heavyweight champion until he is defeated by a brutal challenger, and now must regain his fighting spirit through a big rematch, trained by an unlikely ally: his old nemesis Apollo Creed.

Director:

Sylvester Stallone

Writer:

Sylvester Stallone

Stars:

Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sylvester Stallone	...	Rocky Balboa
Talia Shire	...	Adrian
Burt Young	...	Paulie
Carl Weathers	...	Apollo Creed
Burgess Meredith	...	Mickey Goldmill
Tony Burton	...	Duke
Mr. T	...	Clubber Lang
Hulk Hogan	...	Thunderlips
Ian Fried	...	Rocky Jr.
Al Silvani	...	Al
Wally Taylor	...	Clubber's Manager
Jim Hill	...	Sportscaster
Don Sherman	...	Andy
Dennis James	...	Wrestling Commentator
Jim Healy	...	Wrestling Commentator

Storyline

Boxer Rocky Balboa enjoys the wealth he has as world-champion. He only fights against opponents "hand-picked" by his manager Mickey Goldmill. Then he is challenged by the arrogant Clubber Lang. Rocky accepts the challenge to prove once more that there is only one world-champion. But Lang wins and becomes the new champion. Nobody believes in Rocky anymore, except for one man: former world-champion Apollo Creed. As Creed tries to stimulate his fighting spirit and get Rocky back in top-form, it is now up to Rocky to get his edge back. Will he win ?

---

Plot Keywords:

fight | champion | rematch | beating | fighting | 

---

Taglines:

His life is happy, his fights have seemed easy. Now a young upstart is going to make him prove just how far he can still go...

---

Genres:

Drama | Sport

---

Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

Rocky Anthology Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 May 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

Rocky III

Filming Locations:

Biltmore Hotel - 506 S. Grand Avenue, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$17,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$16,015,408 (USA) (4 June 1982)

Gross:

$122,823,200 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

United Artists

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby 70 mm 6-Track

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A song titled "You're the Best" performed by Joe Esposito was recorded for the film. But Stallone rejected it in favor of Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger". "You're the Best" was later used in The Karate Kid (1984).

---

Goofs

At Micky's funeral, there are only 4 people present (Rocky, Adrien, Paulie and Al the Cutman. In order for a Jewish service/prayer to take place, there must be a minimum of 10 men (Minyan). If there is not a Minyan then the prayers have no validity and therefore strangers are often invited to the prayers ensuring there are 10 or more men.

---

Quotes

[During Rocky's training with Apollo, he's in an another world, haunted by the first Balboa-Lang fight; Apollo lands some practice hooks]
Apollo Creed: He's hooking. He's hooking. He's hooking! Damn, Rock, Come on! What's the matter with you?
Rocky Balboa: Tomorrow. Let's do it tomorrow.
Apollo Creed: [Screaming] There is no tomorrow! THERE IS NO TOMORROW! THERE IS NO TOMORROW!

---

Crazy Credits

"Rocky" is actually displayed on screen three separate times at the start of the film (first scrolling onto the screen from right to left (along with the number III), then spelled out with fireworks, and finally in simple text at the bottom right of the screen (again with III), several minutes later).

---

Connections

Referenced in The Nostalgia Critic: 90's Sports Montage (2008)

---

Soundtracks

Eye of the Tiger
Composed and Produced by Jim Peterik and Frankie Sullivan
Performed by Survivor
Survivor appears by courtesy of Scotti Brothers Records

User Reviews

Oddly enough, my favorite Rocky movie.

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.