Rocky III (1982)

When Rocky is defeated by a brutal challenger, Apollo Creed offers to retrain him in order to regain his fighting spirit.

Director:

Sylvester Stallone

Writer:

Sylvester Stallone

Stars:

Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 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 ?

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Plot Keywords:

fight | champion | death | fighting | rematch | 

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Taglines:

The Excitement... The Power... The Man...

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Genres:

Drama | Sport

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

Rocky Anthology Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 May 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

Rocky, Part 3

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:

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

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

As he had done with the first two films, writer Sylvester Stallone incorporated biographical elements from his own life into Rocky's story. In particular, he chose to focus on the 'unreal' aspects of Rocky's life, and how out of touch he has become with 'normality'. When making this film, Stallone was at the height of his fame, and much of the over-the-top celebrity exposure experienced by Rocky was based on experiences Stallone had had himself.

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Goofs

The newspaper shown just after the "Rocky vs. Thunderlips" match shows a date of "Wednesday, May 15, 1982". May 15 fell on a Saturday in 1982.

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Quotes

Rocky Balboa: You ain't so bad, you ain't so bad, you ain't nothin'. C'mon, champ, hit me in the face! My mom hits harder than you!

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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).

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Connections

Referenced in Entourage: I Love You Too (2005)

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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

A Fighter. A Lover. A Legend. The Greatest Challenge.

Rocky III brings out a lot of raw emotion, in a heartfelt third sequel. This film also proves that some people have times where the motivation to want to do something is impossible to recapture, and that anyone who gets complacent about where he or she is in life will not achieve his or her full potential. However with some encouragement from family and friends, anything and everything is possible. Rocky seems to make me want to bring the best out in myself, when at times I feel like doing the exact opposite.

Having defeated heavyweight champion Apollo Creed, Rocky now holds the title and all of the comforts it brings. Gone is the self-doubting, small time boxer – the new Rocky even takes the time to compete in charity events most notably against the mountain of muscle, Hulk Hogan. His perfect world is rocked by a challenge from the obnoxious and taunting Chubber Lang. Rocky does not take the fight seriously – despite his boxing prowess, he lacks raw hunger of his opponent and is defeated. The loss is however is incomparable with the tragedy of the death of his longtime trainer, Mickey. Rocky is taken aback when Apollo Creed offers to train him and win back the heavyweight crown in the ‘comeback of the century'. All Apollo wants in return is a ‘favour', which he will not disclose until after the fight. With Creed's help Rocky again develops ‘the eye of the tiger' and the scene is set for another powerful battle in the ring.

The cast of Rocky III was great once again. Taking on the roll of Rocky for a third time was Sylvester Stallone. I have watched the whole serious and his acting ability just gets better and better. His scenes along with Carl Weathers in this movie are really special. I am sure these two would be good friends in real life and I can see why they are. It was the final time we get to see the ever-green Burgess Meredith. His role as Rocky's trainer Mickey ended in this part of the Rocky saga, which for me was a little sad. He was the perfect person for the role of Mickey, as he made you feel as if he was a real boxing trainer. There was also another good role from the now ‘Mrs. Balboa', of course I am talking about Talia Shire. She was such a good choice as Adrian. I am sure a famous actress would have spoiled that part of Rocky.

Yet the one surprising part of this cast is a new edition, that being the brutal Mr. T. He made his presence felt onscreen extremely well. I enjoyed how you felt he was so confident, yet he had the fist to back it up. I never got that heavily into The A-Team, but what I can remembering seeing of it was enjoyable. His role in that show was also very heavy, but he was one person you could look forward too seeing on TV.

The story of Rocky III was for an enjoyable one. To have our champ up against it, for me made this an interesting premise. Then to thrown in the death of trainer, a very angry opponent, who is sure that he can take out Balboa in two miserly rounds. Then to top it off we have the great rivals, becoming great friends and teaming up to defeat this very nasty opponent. Stallone is a great writer, with the Rocky franchise a joy to watch in my view.

Up in till now, I have not mentioned the powerful soundtracks that accompany these great movies. The main theme especially had a powerful impact on me, to the extent, that I wanted to try and achieve something that normally I would say is just too hard to do. The trumpets at the start are just great. Yet the third movie was based around the ‘eye of the tiger'. This was in relation into Rocky get that hunger back to get back into the ring as a real fighter. The eye of the tiger is also a great song that was sung by the group, Survivor. As the movies are made in this series, the music just gets better and better.

So Rocky III makes my summation from the first film come true, that Rocky is truly about motivation. Yet it also shows that if you can rekindle the passion, then you can achieve more than you could ever wished for. With its powerful music, great acting and story, I am glad that by 1982 the world had seen 3 movies with the name ‘Rocky' attached to them!

Rating: 4 Stars or 9/10