Rocky III (1982)
September 13, 2014 2:05 PM - Subscribe
Rocky has been holding the title as the heavyweight champion until he is defeated by a brutal challenger, and now must regain his fighting spirit through a big rematch, trained by an unlikely ally: his old nemesis Apollo Creed.
The cheese starts to get piled on as Rocky gets to fight not one, but two, upcoming icons of the 80s in this film - Hulk Hogan (as Thunderlips) and Mr. T as Clubber Lang.
"You ever fought a dinosaur kid? They can inflict a variety of damage!" The fight with Hulk Hogan. Apparently, Hogan didn't know to pull his punches and really did beat Stallone up during this scene, although the Hulk was apparently fired from the WWF for accepting the role.
"I'm gonna bust you up." The definitive breakdown of the final fight between Rocky and Clubber.
"ROCKY III continued an American tradition by transforming the stage of Rocky into a 4th of July fireworks show. It used compact storytelling and groundbreaking montage editing to create a new kind of fist-pumping summer crowd-pleaser." Cruel Summer: Rocky III
And, of course, the smash hit song from the film - Eye of the Tiger
The cheese starts to get piled on as Rocky gets to fight not one, but two, upcoming icons of the 80s in this film - Hulk Hogan (as Thunderlips) and Mr. T as Clubber Lang.
"You ever fought a dinosaur kid? They can inflict a variety of damage!" The fight with Hulk Hogan. Apparently, Hogan didn't know to pull his punches and really did beat Stallone up during this scene, although the Hulk was apparently fired from the WWF for accepting the role.
"I'm gonna bust you up." The definitive breakdown of the final fight between Rocky and Clubber.
"ROCKY III continued an American tradition by transforming the stage of Rocky into a 4th of July fireworks show. It used compact storytelling and groundbreaking montage editing to create a new kind of fist-pumping summer crowd-pleaser." Cruel Summer: Rocky III
And, of course, the smash hit song from the film - Eye of the Tiger
Hogan was basically fired for wanting to be bigger than the business. I think it's interesting to compare the Hulkster to more modern wrestlers like Dwayne Johnson and Brock Lesnar, both in terms of how effective their efforts outside wrestling have been and of how the company responded to them.
posted by box at 5:48 PM on September 13, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by box at 5:48 PM on September 13, 2014 [1 favorite]
(Stallone's Hogan-really-beat-me-up thing pretty much has to be kayfabe, right?)
posted by box at 4:32 AM on September 14, 2014
posted by box at 4:32 AM on September 14, 2014
Yeah, I doubt that a professional wrestler (especially a non-technical one like Hogan) wouldn't know to pull his punches in a movie. Stallone either A) is telling an amusing story, B) is confusing Hogan for Mr. T, a legit brawler, or C) pissed Hogan off and was taught a lesson.
posted by Etrigan at 7:31 AM on September 14, 2014
posted by Etrigan at 7:31 AM on September 14, 2014
(Stallone's Hogan-really-beat-me-up thing pretty much has to be kayfabe, right?)
I think so; I included it out of a sense of completeness, but it doesn't make sense to me that a professional wrestler would not understand the idea of staging a fake fight for the sake of the cameras. I suspect it's a bit of Stallone playing up the "professional wrestling is dangerous/real" thing for the media.
Also, I noted that during the fight there are a lot of cutaways and not as many close in shots as you get in the boxing action, which has me suspecting that there was a lot of stunt double work gong on in terms of Stallone for that particular sequence.
posted by nubs at 8:51 AM on September 14, 2014
I think so; I included it out of a sense of completeness, but it doesn't make sense to me that a professional wrestler would not understand the idea of staging a fake fight for the sake of the cameras. I suspect it's a bit of Stallone playing up the "professional wrestling is dangerous/real" thing for the media.
Also, I noted that during the fight there are a lot of cutaways and not as many close in shots as you get in the boxing action, which has me suspecting that there was a lot of stunt double work gong on in terms of Stallone for that particular sequence.
posted by nubs at 8:51 AM on September 14, 2014
Okay, I did a rewatch via Amazon, and things that leaped out at me:
I think this was the only time Mr. T has ever played a villain.
That beach running scene had a lot of slowly lingering crotch shots. The makers of Baywatch must have seen this movie and thought, That's a little over the line. When I make a show someday, it's going to be more tasteful than this.
Rocky II was... excusable? I mean, it obviously wasn't a patch on the original, but it didn't, like, actively tarnish my good will toward the original. But this one... ugh. I was just a kid when it came out, and of course, it was awesome if not good, but it really is bad in every particular. There is not a single damn thing in this movie that says "This is a direct descendant of one of the greatest sports movies ever made." It's practically a parody of the first one.
posted by Etrigan at 8:37 PM on September 14, 2014 [2 favorites]
I think this was the only time Mr. T has ever played a villain.
That beach running scene had a lot of slowly lingering crotch shots. The makers of Baywatch must have seen this movie and thought, That's a little over the line. When I make a show someday, it's going to be more tasteful than this.
Rocky II was... excusable? I mean, it obviously wasn't a patch on the original, but it didn't, like, actively tarnish my good will toward the original. But this one... ugh. I was just a kid when it came out, and of course, it was awesome if not good, but it really is bad in every particular. There is not a single damn thing in this movie that says "This is a direct descendant of one of the greatest sports movies ever made." It's practically a parody of the first one.
posted by Etrigan at 8:37 PM on September 14, 2014 [2 favorites]
That beach running scene had a lot of slowly lingering crotch shots
Somewhere I read a description of Rocky III that noted that it might have been the most HoYay film of its time.
There is not a single damn thing in this movie that says "This is a direct descendant of one of the greatest sports movies ever made." It's practically a parody of the first one.
It was the first Rocky film I ever saw - I guess I was 11 when it came out, and a friend wanted to see it. I was all "boxing? really?" but of course was utterly blown away by it - because when you are 11, it's awesome. I still have a huge soft spot for it despite the now apparent cheese and just general lack of...charm? grace? heart? soul? whatever the first one had that shows up less and less in the sequels as they go by. But when it was your first introduction to Rocky, it was amazing.
But if you thought this was a parody...wait until Rocky IV!
posted by nubs at 9:39 AM on September 15, 2014 [2 favorites]
Somewhere I read a description of Rocky III that noted that it might have been the most HoYay film of its time.
There is not a single damn thing in this movie that says "This is a direct descendant of one of the greatest sports movies ever made." It's practically a parody of the first one.
It was the first Rocky film I ever saw - I guess I was 11 when it came out, and a friend wanted to see it. I was all "boxing? really?" but of course was utterly blown away by it - because when you are 11, it's awesome. I still have a huge soft spot for it despite the now apparent cheese and just general lack of...charm? grace? heart? soul? whatever the first one had that shows up less and less in the sequels as they go by. But when it was your first introduction to Rocky, it was amazing.
But if you thought this was a parody...wait until Rocky IV!
posted by nubs at 9:39 AM on September 15, 2014 [2 favorites]
That beach running scene had a lot of slowly lingering crotch shots
And it was the 80s, when men's shorts were actually, y'know, short.
posted by dnash at 9:53 AM on September 15, 2014
And it was the 80s, when men's shorts were actually, y'know, short.
posted by dnash at 9:53 AM on September 15, 2014
Kind of like that other big Stallone franchise, the Rocky franchise wound up being something very, very different from the first movie. And, of all the movies in the franchise, I think that Rocky III is the Rocky-est.
posted by box at 10:44 AM on September 15, 2014
posted by box at 10:44 AM on September 15, 2014
The Dissolve's piece on ranking the Rocky movies has this to say about Rocky III:
...this is moment the Rocky series shredded any last vestige of realism or nuance for superheroism and uplift. But damn if the whole thing doesn’t work like gangbusters anyway; it’s formula, perfectly executed. There are training montages galore, the devastating death of Mickey, a great villain in Clubber Lang (Mr. T), and the appealing and clever reversal of Rocky’s dynamic with his arch-nemesis-turned-trainer Apollo Creed...posted by nubs at 4:12 PM on September 15, 2014 [2 favorites]
...There are smarter, more sophisticated, more provocative, and more intelligent movies than Rocky III. But there may not be a more rewatchable movie than Rocky III. “Eye Of The Tiger,” Hulk Hogan as angry wrestler Thunderlips (“In the flesh, bay-beh!”), and the best—or at least the most awesome—training montage in the franchise (Running on the beach! Swimming! The speed bag! Sparring! Dancing like Apollo! Running on the beach, but this time in short shorts!).
I thought Vincent Canby's 1982 NYT review was pretty good.
posted by box at 8:46 PM on September 15, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by box at 8:46 PM on September 15, 2014 [1 favorite]
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posted by box at 5:43 PM on September 13, 2014