Interviewer: Do you hate Rocky? Clubber Lang: No, I don't hate Balboa. I pity the fool.
So I'm going through my videotapes and I stick in a tape that I think has some old videos on it. What comes on is the 1982 Sylvester Stallone vehicle Rocky III. I didn't realize I had a copy of it. And it's just too hard to shut off a Rocky flick, so I indulged. The third installment of the five-part boxing series sometimes veers towards formula ground, but I'll take Balboa over lesser sports flicks any day.
The Italian Stallion is back, hot off the heels of a victory against the flashy Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers). Opting for low-profile bouts and even a charity event against the imposing wrestler Thunderlips (WWF superstar Hulk Hogan), Rocky soon finds himself the target of heavy criticism by up-and-comer Clubber Lang (Mr. T, from TV's the A-Team). After a rather public challenge, ole Rock solicits the help of his frail manager Mickey (Burgess Meredith), but allows his new flashy image to dominate his training time. Burt Young is back as the drinking Paulie, and Talia Shire returns as the concerned wife Adrian. The twist this time around is that the enemy becomes the mentor: Apollo Creed offers to help Rocky prepare for an important bout in exchange for a top-secret favor.
As with the second, fourth and fifth films in the series, Stallone wrote, directed and starred in Rocky III (he wrote the first film but it was directed by John G. Avildsen). His performance is the best, but it's a shame he doesn't give much material to his supporting players. Shire and Creed are appropriately intense, but Meredith and Young fall into stereotypes. This is disappointing, given how far from cliched they were in the 1976 original. Mr. T glares at Rocky quite well and has a few zingers too. It's interesting to note that it wouldn't be until the fourth installment in the franchise that the Italian Stallion would have an opponent other than an African-American.
Of course, Rocky III features the infamous, triumphant song "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor, and some more of Bill Conti's identifiable score along the way. There are lots of big and brutal sound effects as Rocky pummels and/or gets pummelled in the ring, and a few too many slow-mo techniques. However, Stallone is nevertheless able to construct an affecting boxing movie by tinkering with the ingredients just enough to dodge the perils of repetition. While Rocky's subsequent trips to the ring wouldn't be as rewarding, this one still packs a pretty mean left hook.
