Rocky III

Rocky III is a 1982 American sports drama film written, directed by, and starring Sylvester Stallone. The third installment of the "Rocky" franchise, it is the sequel to the 1979 film "Rocky II" and the second in the franchise to be directed by Stallone. The film features returning co-stars Carl Weathers, Burgess Meredith, Talia Shire, Burt Young and Tony Burton, and also marked the feature film debuts of both Mr. T and professional wrestler Hulk Hogan.
"Rocky III" is the first installment in the series not to be distributed solely by United Artists after the company's merging with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1981. The film's main theme, "Eye of the Tiger", was written by the group Survivor and became a smash hit single, topping the U.S. "Billboard" charts and receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song.
Released on May 28, 1982, the film was followed by "Rocky IV" in 1985.
Plot.
In 1981, two years after winning the world heavyweight championship against Apollo Creed, Rocky Balboa has had a string of ten successful title defenses. His fame, wealth, endorsements, and celebrity profile have increased, leading him to participate in an exhibition charity event against the world heavyweight wrestling champion, Thunderlips.
Rocky's manager, Mickey, worriedly eyes a young and powerful contender rapidly rising through the ranks named James "Clubber" Lang. While unveiling a statue of himself at the stairway by the Philadelphia Museum of Art just prior to announcing his retirement, Rocky is publicly challenged by Lang, now the number-one contender. Lang accuses Rocky of intentionally accepting challenges from lesser opponents, and goads Rocky into accepting his challenge for a championship fight.
Mickey initially wants no part of it. Pressed by Rocky, Mickey confesses that he handpicked the opponents for Rocky's title defenses in order to spare him from another beating of the kind that Creed gave him in their rematch. He explains that Lang is young and powerful, and most of all he's "hungry", and that Rocky won't last three rounds because he hasn’t been hungry ever since he won the title and became "civilized". Rocky, now knowing that he never really defended his title against the best opponents, convinces Mickey to work with him for one last fight. Despite his promise to Mickey to 'live in the gym', Rocky trains in a Las Vegas-style environment that is filled with distractions, and is clearly not taking his training seriously. In contrast, Lang trains with ruthless determination and vigor.
Lang and Rocky meet at Philadelphia's Spectrum. Pandemonium erupts backstage, as Mickey is violently shoved by Lang, causing Mickey to suffer a heart attack. Distraught, Rocky wants to call the match off, but Mickey urges him on while he receives medical care in the dressing room. By the time of the match, Rocky is both enraged and severely distracted by his mentor's condition. The match begins with Rocky pounding Lang with several huge blows looking for an early knockout, but he cannot put Lang down due to his own lack of conditioning. Lang quickly recovers and takes charge, dominating Rocky and knocking him out with a haymaker left hook in the second round, winning the world heavyweight championship. After the match, Rocky tells a dying Mickey that the match ended in a second round knockout without saying who the victor was. Mickey expires right after he says "I love ya, kid". Rocky, lapsing into severe depression, mourns over Mickey's death.
Stopping by Mickey's closed gym, the forlorn Rocky encounters his former rival, Apollo Creed, who witnessed the match as a guest analyst. Creed offers to help train Rocky for a rematch against Lang in exchange for a future favor which Rocky accepts. Apollo then takes Rocky to the gym where he once trained, Tough Gym in Los Angeles. Apollo is infuriated with Rocky's lack of effort, as he is demoralized by a combination of Mickey's loss and nightmares of Clubber's knockout. However, Rocky regains his focus after Adrian helps him come to terms with Mickey's death. Apollo and his manager, Tony "Duke" Evers infuse Rocky's undisciplined brawling style with more of Apollo's trademark footwork, skill and speed.
After months of training, the rematch takes place at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Apollo lends Rocky the American flag trunks that he wore during their first match. At the outset of the match, Rocky sprints from his corner, battering Lang with a level of skill and spirit that no one ever expected. Rocky completely dominates the first round, leaving Lang enraged and bewildered after the bell. Lang gains the upper hand in the second round, and Rocky adopts an entirely different strategy that bewilders Apollo by intentionally taking a beating from Lang, even getting knocked down twice, all the while taunting Lang that he cannot knock him out. By the third round, Lang, who is used to winning matches swiftly with knockouts in the early rounds, becomes increasingly furious over Rocky's taunts. He quickly exhausts his energy trying to finish Rocky off with repeated knockout blows, which Rocky blocks or dodges. With Lang rattled and vulnerable, Rocky out-boxes Lang with a flurry of punches, culminating in a brutal knockout to reclaim the heavyweight championship.
Afterwards, Rocky fulfills Apollo's favor — a second, private rematch with him, but this time in the spirit of friendly competition, taking place at Mighty Mick's Gym. The film concludes without showing the result, but freezes into an oil painting of two boxers simultaneously throwing the first punch, showing two equally skilled athletes.
Cast.
In addition to the main cast several others had cameo appearances. Bill Baldwin and Stu Nahan returned as the fight commentators for the two Rocky-Lang fights. Veteran ring announcer Jimmy Lennon was the ring announcer for the first Lang fight, while boxing judge Marty Denkin was the referee. Lou Filippo returned for his third appearance as a referee during the second Lang fight. Dennis James and Jim Healy appeared as the commentators for the Rocky–Thunderlips match, while LeRoy Neiman was the guest ring announcer. Jim Hill was a TV announcer. A then unknown Morgan Freeman auditioned unsuccessfully for the role of Lang's trainer. Footage of Stallone's guest appearance on "The Muppet Show" was incorporated in the opening sequence, with Jim Henson dubbing Kermit the Frog's announcement that the episode's guest was Rocky Balboa, rather than Stallone.
Production.
Development and writing.
For the role of Clubber Lang, two real world-class heavyweight boxers were first considered: Joe Frazier and Earnie Shavers. Both were about the same height as Sylvester Stallone and had the powerful physique he was looking for, but, according to casting director Rhonda Young, Frazier had a stuttering problem, while Shavers had a high-pitched voice which would have undermined the character's menacing presence. After looking far and wide (even going to prisons in the hope of finding a suitable black antagonist), Rhonda Young stumbled upon a television program on NBC, "America's Toughest Bouncer", showcasing a sports competition, and was mesmerized by the winner's physical prowess as well as his charisma. She then called the producer, Dan Ohlmeyer, to ask him about "the man with the mohawk". It turned out that not only Mr. T was a perfect fit, but he also proved tremendously determined to give the best possible performance right from the first screen test, for what would be his breakout role.
In preparation for film, Stallone claims to have got his body fat percentage down to his all-time low of 2.6% and weighed 155 lbs. He stated that he ate only ten egg whites and a piece of toast a day, having a fruit every third day. His training consisted of a two-mile jog in the morning followed by two hours of weight training, a nap during the afternoon followed by 18 rounds of sparring, another weight training session, and finishing the day with a swim.
The three Rocky statues made for the movie weigh each and stand about tall. The third statue was listed on eBay in early 2005, with a starting bid of $5 million. It was being auctioned to raise funds for the "International Institute for Sport and Olympic History". It failed to sell and was listed again for $3 million; after receiving only one bid, which turned out to be fraudulent, it has been re-listed several times for $1 million. 
Music.
Soundtrack.
The version of "Eye of the Tiger" that appears in the film is actually a demo—the "finished" version is what appears on the soundtrack. Also missing from the soundtrack is the instrumental version of the song played when Rocky is training in Apollo's old gym.
Reception.
Box office.
"Rocky III" was an enormous box office success and surpassed the gross of its predecessor. The film grossed $16,015,408 in its opening weekend and earned $125,049,125 during its North American theatrical run, becoming the fourth highest-grossing film of 1982; its worldwide box-office earnings stand at around $270 million. Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel attributed the film's success to the positive reaction from critics and audiences towards "Rocky II" and the production team's "quality control" of that film. Siskel stated "if you want a hugely successful series, then make sure that the second one is a winner."
Critical response.
"Rocky III" holds a 64% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 36 reviews, with an average of 5.5/10. The film's consensus reads, "It's noticeably subject to the law of diminishing returns, but "Rocky III" still has enough brawny spectacle to stand in the ring with the franchise's better entries". On Metacritic the film has a score of 57 out of 100 based on reviews from 10 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". The film is one of the few which has received the rare A+ grade from audiences surveyed by CinemaScore.
Gene Siskel gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four and wrote, "Sorry to say this, but there's not anything new in "Rocky III", and we sit there wondering why it exists." He added that "we see nothing new about Rocky's character, except that the tender side of his soul, which made him so appealing, is now virtually missing. Rocky Balboa in "Rocky III" is no longer likable." Pauline Kael of "The New Yorker" stated, "The first "Rocky" was primitive in a relatively innocent way. This picture is primitive, but it's also shrewd and empty and inept." Sheila Benson of the "Los Angeles Times" wrote, "Somehow, Sylvester Stallone has kicked life into what you might imagine is a pretty tired Rocky Balboa and has gotten him up on his feet again ... "Rocky III" works, possibly even better than numbers "I" and "II"." Rita Kempley of "The Washington Post" called it "as much fun as ever, a ground-meat-and-potatoes movie, with guys beating hell out of each other to a disco beat." Tom Milne of "The Monthly Film Bulletin" wrote, "Starting off with a replay of our hero's second miraculous return from the dead to win the championship back at the end of "Rocky II"—itself a virtual repeat from the original "Rocky"—"Rocky III" soon demonstrates that it has nothing to offer but more of the same ... There are fleeting moments, thanks chiefly to a personable performance from Carl Weathers, but the time has surely come for Rocky Balboa to take the final count."
Accolades.
"Rocky III" was nominated for both the Award of the Japanese Academy for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Motion Picture at the Image Awards. The film's theme song "Eye of the Tiger" was nominated for Best Original Song at the Academy Awards, the BAFTA Film Awards and the Golden Globes. However, Mr. T was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst New Star.
The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:
Other media.
"Rocky" statue.
A bronze statue of Rocky, called "ROCKY", was commissioned by Sylvester Stallone and created by A. Thomas Schomberg in 1981. Three statues were created, and one was placed on the top of the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art for the filming of "Rocky III". After filming was complete, a furious debate erupted in Philadelphia between the Art Museum and the City's Art Commission over the meaning of "art". Claiming the statue was not "art" but rather a "movie prop" the city considered various alternative locations and settled upon the front of the Spectrum in South Philadelphia. It was later returned to the Art Museum where it was used in the filming of "Rocky V", as well as "Mannequin" and "Philadelphia". Afterward, it was again moved to the front of the Spectrum. The statue was returned to the bottom of the museum's stairs on 8 September 2006. The steps leading to the east entrance of the Philadelphia Museum of Art are also known as “The Rocky Steps.”
Novelization.
A novelization by Robert E. Hoban was published by Ballantine Books in 1982.
Video game.
A video game based on the film was released on 1983, titled "Rocky Super Action Boxing", designed by Coleco and released for ColecoVision. Players can play as either Rocky Balboa or Clubber Lang either against the computer in a one player game, or against each other in a "Head to Head" two player mode. In 1987 was released "Rocky", based on the first four "Rocky" films. In 2002 was released "Rocky", based on the first five "Rocky" films. In 2004 was released "Rocky Legends", based on the first four "Rocky" films.