Rocky III *** (1982, Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Burgess Meredith, Carl Weathers, Hulk Hogan, Tony Burton, Mr T) – Classic Movie Review 7,829

The 1982 boxing movie sequel Rocky III provides yet another fistful of dollars for Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa, who turns to his old adversary Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) to help him train to fight vicious Clubber Lang (Mr T).

The 1982 boxing movie second sequel Rocky III provides yet another fistful of dollars for Sylvester Stallone as writer, director and star of this third episode that picks up the on-going saga from the original 1976 Rocky and from Rocky II (1979). It is an Oscar, Golden Globe and Bafta nominee for Best Original Song for the classic ‘Eye of the Tiger’ by Jim Peterik and Frankie Sullivan (both music and lyrics). It should have won of course.

Stallone again stars as Philadelphia fighter Rocky Balboa, who takes on vicious young thug Clubber Lang (Mr T) and loses his world heavyweight champion title. Mrs Rocky, Adrian Balboa (Talia Shire), wants him to retire, and Rocky’s beloved poor old manager/ trainer Mickey Goldmill (Burgess Meredith) gets the final knockout, all of which cause Rocky to sink into a depression. But Rocky’s old boxing rival and enemy, Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), comes to the rescue. Tony Burton appears as Creed’s former manager Duke, Hulk Hogan plays Thunderlips, Ian Fried plays Rocky Jr, and Al Silvani plays Al.

Sylvester Stallone in Rocky III (1982).

Rocky III is yet more of the same from Stallone, with a little less credibility, but no less self-conviction. The training sessions and the fights still have punch, and it seems an infallible formula. Parts III and IV are happily much shorter and punchier than the first two films, with Rocky III running just 99 minutes.

Rocky IV, Rocky V, Rocky Balboa (2006), Creed (2015) and Creed II (2018) and Creed III (2023) follow.

‘Eye of the Tiger’ lost out to ‘Up Where We Belong’ from An Officer and a Gentleman (Music by Jack Nitzsche and Buffy Sainte-Marie; Lyrics by Will Jennings) as Best Original Song at the 55th Academy Awards.

The version of ‘Eye of the Tiger’ (by Survivor) that appears in the film is a demo. The ‘finished’ version appears on the film soundtrack. Jim Peterik and Frankie Sullivan formed the American rock band Survivor in Chicago in 1978. They had many chart singles, but are best known for their double-platinum 1982 hit ‘Eye of the Tiger’ which spent six weeks at number one in the US.

Carl Weathers (January 14, 1948 – February 1, 2024).

Carl Weathers died peacefully in his sleep at his Los Angeles home on February 1, 2024, aged 76.

Carl Weathers (January 14, 1948 – February 1, 2024) played Apollo Creed in the first four Rocky films (1976–1985), Colonel Al Dillon in Predator (1987), and Combat Carl in the Toy Story franchise.

For Rocky Balboa, Weathers decided not to allow Stallone to use his image for flashbacks from the Rocky films so they used footage of a similar fighter. But Weathers agreed to allow footage of him from previous films to be used throughout Creed (2015).

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7,829

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