Rocky III (1982)

Director:

Sylvester Stallone

Writer:

Sylvester Stallone (written by)

Release Date:

28 May 1982 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Sport

Tagline:

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...

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Champion | Rematch | Death | Boxing | Charity

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 6 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Sylvester Stallone	...	Rocky Balboa
Talia Shire	...	Adrianna 'Adrian' Pennino Balboa
Burt Young	...	Paulie
Carl Weathers	...	Apollo Creed
Burgess Meredith	...	Mickey Goldmill
Tony Burton	...	Duke
Mr. T	...	Clubber Lang
Hulk Hogan	...	Thunderlips
Ian Fried	...	Rocky Junior
Al Silvani	...	Al
Wally Taylor	...	Clubber Lang's manager
Jim Hill	...	Sportscaster
Don Sherman	...	Andy
Dennis James	...	Wrestling commentator
Jim Healy	...	Wrestling commentator

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby | 70 mm 6-Track

Certification:

Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Canada:PG (Alberta) (re-rating) (1999) | Iceland:16 | Mexico:A | South Korea:12 | Brazil:12 | Peru:14 | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Canada:G (Quebec) | Chile:14 | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 | Norway:18 (1982) | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:PG | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Chartoff-Winkler Productions

Trivia:

Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004) broke this movie's record for the biggest box office opening weekend ever for any film that opened in fewer than a thousand theaters.

Goofs:

Continuity: In Rocky's first title defense, he begins the fight with golden gloves, but at the end of the fight, his gloves are black.

Quotes:

Mickey: The worst thing that happened to you, that can happen to any fighter: you got civilized.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The War at Home: It's Not Easy Being Green (#2.13)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Eye of the Tiger

Be nice, it ain't that bad.....

Clearly the most entertaining of the Rocky films due to its perfect pacing and well-choreographed matches. Stallone is at his best when playing Rocky--it is his vision and his creation--and, despite what Hollywood wants us to think, he is not a bad director either.

What he masters are "subtleties" (my term): certain facial expressions or small actions/reactions at perhaps less-than-pivotal moments which reveal his skill. They need to be really looked for to be seen, which is why only those who without the ability to look deeper than the surface find him so mediocre.

I don't want to give them all away, but here's one example of a subtlety that shows just how human he can make his characters (especially Rocky): in this film, in the break between the end of Round 2 and the beginning of Round 3, he is sitting in his corner getting a mouthful from Apollo. An assistant starts to spray something in his face (probably something to coagulate the blood, I don't know), but Rocky, who is focused intently on Apollo's furious coaching, opens his mouth as if he is expecting water to be sprayed in. He suddenly flinches in disgust as the spray goes in his mouth and stings his face. It's just a tiny tiny humorous moment that speaks loudly about attention to detail.

Or how about in Rocky 2, at the beginning of the match when they meet in the center of the ring and Apollo starts making his bravado-laden threats, we see Rocky just sort of nod and half-smile at him politely, then next you see a side-on shot of him turning to walk back to his corner, and the look on his face says "What a prick." Priceless.

I'm not a fan of boxing, or the first Rocky movie (too slow), or the last Rocky movie (huh?), but this one is extremely enjoyable for me to watch as a human being who faces challenges just like anyone else, and who needs that occasional inspiration to give me a dose of determination to overcome them.