MOVIEmeter
Top 5000
Down 494 this week

Rocky III (1982)

 -  Drama | Sport  -  28 May 1982 (USA)
6.4
Your rating:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X  
Ratings: 6.4/10 from 66,568 users  
Reviews: 158 user | 51 critic

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

Director:

Watch Trailer
0Check in
0Share...

User Lists

Related lists from IMDb users

a list of 2364 titles created 4 months ago
 
a list of 10000 titles created 2 months ago
 
a list of 237 titles created 1 month ago
 
a list of 120 images created 26 Jul 2011
 
a list of 40 titles created 2 months ago
 

Connect with IMDb


Share this Rating

Title: Rocky III (1982)

Rocky III (1982) on IMDb 6.4/10

Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.

Take The Quiz!

Test your knowledge of Rocky III.
Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 7 nominations. See more awards »

Videos

Photos

Learn more

People who liked this also liked... 

Rocky IV (1985)
Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.4/10 X  

When Apollo Creed is killed in a match against a powerful Soviet boxer, Rocky decides to challenge him himself.

Director: Sylvester Stallone
Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young
Rocky II (1979)
Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.9/10 X  

Rocky struggles in family life after his bout with Apollo Creed, while the embarrassed champ insistently goads him to accept a challenge for a rematch.

Director: Sylvester Stallone
Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young
Lionheart (1990)
Action | Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.7/10 X  

Lyon Gaultier is a deserter in the Foreign Legion arriving in the USA entirely hard up. He finds his brother between life and death and his sister-in-law without the money needed to heal ... See full summary »

Director: Sheldon Lettich
Stars: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Harrison Page, Deborah Rennard
Action | Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.1/10 X  

Based on H.G. Bissinger's book, which profiled the economically depressed town of Odessa, Texas and their heroic high school football team, The Permian High Panthers.

Director: Peter Berg
Stars: Billy Bob Thornton, Lucas Black, Derek Luke
Action | Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.4/10 X  

At his new high school, a rebellious teen is lured into an underground fight club, where he finds a mentor in a mixed martial arts veteran.

Director: Jeff Wadlow
Stars: Sean Faris, Amber Heard, Cam Gigandet
Gladiator (1992)
Action | Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.1/10 X  

Tommy Riley has moved with his dad to Chicago from a 'nice place'. He keeps to himself, goes to school. However, after a street fight he is noticed and quickly falls into the world of illegal underground boxing - where punches can kill.

Director: Rowdy Herrington
Stars: James Marshall, Richard Lexsee, Cuba Gooding Jr.
The Program (1993)
Action | Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.2/10 X  

Several players from different backgrounds try to cope with the pressures of playing football at a major university. Each deals with the pressure differently, some turn to drinking, others ... See full summary »

Director: David S. Ward
Stars: James Caan, Halle Berry, Omar Epps
Driven (2001)
Action | Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 4.3/10 X  

A young hot shot driver is in the middle of a championship season and is coming apart at the seams. A former CART champion is called in to give him guidance.

Director: Renny Harlin
Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Burt Reynolds, Kip Pardue
Fighting (2009)
Action | Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.4/10 X  

In New York City, a young counterfeiter is introduced to the world of underground street fighting by a seasoned scam artist, who becomes his manager on the bare-knuckling brawling circuit.

Director: Dito Montiel
Stars: Channing Tatum, Terrence Howard, Zulay Henao
Action | Crime | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.8/10 X  

Sequel to the 2002 film. This time, Heavyweight Champ George "Iceman" Chambers is sent to a Russian Jail on trumped-up drug charges.

Director: Isaac Florentine
Stars: Michael Jai White, Scott Adkins, Ben Cross
Fearless (2006)
Action | Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.6/10 X  

This film tells the story of Chinese Martial Arts Master Huo Yuanjia (1869-1910). Huo Yuanjia was the founder and spiritual guru of the Jin Wu Sports Federation.

Director: Ronny Yu
Stars: Shidô Nakamura, Betty Sun, Yong Dong
Over the Top (1987)
Action | Drama | Family
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.1/10 X  

Lincoln Hawk (Stallone) is a struggling trucker who's trying to rebuild his life. After the death of his wife, he tries to make amends with his son who he left behind years earlier. Upon ... See full summary »

Director: Menahem Golan
Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Robert Loggia, Susan Blakely
Edit

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Ian Fried ...
Al Silvani ...
Al
Wally Taylor ...
Clubber's Manager
Jim Hill ...
Sportscaster
Don Sherman ...
Dennis James ...
Wrestling Commentator
Jim Healy ...
Wrestling Commentator
Edit

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 ? Written by R. Kessen <rhkessen@cs.vu.nl>

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

fight | champion | death | fighting | rematch | See more »

Taglines:

The Excitement... The Power... The Man... See more »

Genres:

Drama | Sport

Certificate:

PG | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
Edit

Details

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

28 May 1982 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Rocky, Part 3  »

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:

 »
Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

|

Color:

(Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1
See  »
Edit

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. See more »

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. See more »

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!
See more »

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). See more »

Connections

Referenced in Entourage: I Love You Too (2005) See more »

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
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

A Fighter. A Lover. A Legend. The Greatest Challenge.
16 May 2002 | by (Hamilton, Australia) – See all my reviews

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


17 of 24 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
Do You Think Rocky Ever Cheated On Adrian? jahan215-1
why did Rocky taunt clubber during the last fight? admirdemondo
Clubber Lang charged with manslaughter? stell1837
Had Mick not suffered a heart attack... MakoKiller
why did Apollo want to train Rocky? admirdemondo
Apollo, Clubber, Drago, Tommy Gunn or Dixon -- who was best? BigEasy1203
Discuss Rocky III (1982) on the IMDb message boards »

Contribute to This Page

Create a character page for:
?