ROCKY III

Here we go again, again, again...

Written and directed by Sylvester Stallone, also starring: Talia Shire, Burgess Meredith, Carl Weathers Mr. T. and, the always excellent Burt Young. Music by the great Bill Conti. Running time 100 minutes. Box Office haul: $270 million.

Rocky might be the better film, but for my money this is the most fun of the franchise. The story sees poor Rocky not only lose his surrogate father, Mickey (Burgess Meredith) but also get very badly beaten and lose his Heavy Weight Title to the brash, brutal and very hungry Clubber "I pity the fool!" Lane (Mr. T).

Rocky, suffering from grief is carefully coached back to fighting fitness by Apollo Creed who teaches South Paw Rocky, not only, how to punch right-handed, but also how to dance, catch chickens and get the 'Eye of the Tiger'. Before Adrian gives him the final emotional push to get him back in the ring and  it's time for the fantastic rematch.

Meanwhile, it's up to Burt Young's character Paulie, Rocky's brother-in-law and best friend to provide the much needed link to reality, as we watch his character give up his dream-job of leg-breaker and become Rocky's bucket man in the corner, leading up to a very funny ring side moment where Rocky misses the bucket. Apparently this was unscripted and the look of shock on Young's face is a hoot.

Mr. T. is fantastic as Clubber Lane, although we never find anything out about him beyond the fact he's hungry and a killing machine, I always admired his feather ear rings, it takes a man very comfortable in his sexuality to carry off such a then metrosexual look. The two fights in this film are spectacular. And this is the only film where Rocky beats his opponent in less than 15 rounds.

This is also the film that revealed Stallone's new sculptured body, his new face, nose and his fantstically toned body. Stallone has never looked better.

But there's still Rocky IV to come!

7/10

ROCKY II

Starring, written and directed by Sylvester Stallone. Also starring Talia Shire, Carl Weathers, Burt Young, and Burgess Meredith. Running time 120 minutes. Budget $7 mil. Box office: $200 mil. Originally released in 1979. Soundtrack once again by Bill Conti.
Not as good as the original. Sly does everything in this film, from starring in it, to writing it, and directing it. The showdown between Creed and Rocky in their climatic battle is superb though, exceeding the original and makes you cheer.

But the trouble is before we get there, Sly has to fill up 92 minutes of film and to do it he just puts Rocky through the emotional meat grinder. And unfortunately it seems that Sly fell in love with the character Rocky (who can blame him) and can't quite make his decline too terrible, so the grinder is set on slow and the drama is really mild - Rocky can't get an office job, so has to go to the meat packing plant where Paulie used to work, Rocky gets mildly ribbed at the gym, Rocky gets heckled on a street corner. Rocky has a slight quibble with Adrian about wanting to fight again, Mickey kindly explains to Rocky that his fighting days are over, before we're rocked by Adrian's coma, following the birth of their son, that lasts for days, and which, it seems we have to witness each and every minute of. Plus that very long sequence where Rocky spends all his money on watches, cars, houses and coats. Indeed, despite being two minutes shorter than Rocky, this outing drags and feels like a much longer film. However all is forgiven when finally in the third act – Rocky gets his groove on and we get the obligatory training montage that culminates in the run through Phili' and that triumphant dash up the 72 stairs of Philadelphia Museum of Art trailed by 800 kids and we're back in Rocky's corner and rooting for him. 

Then it's on to the big fight and what a fight it is. Brilliantly filmed and edited, it's powerful and brutal, although utterly implausible, that many blows to the head are gonna kill you. This is when the film finally comes to life and you find yourself rooting for Rocky, cheering him on. And when he wins, it feels like we've won too.

I'm fascinated by Paulie, as played by Burt Young. He's such an interesting character and in this film finally lands his dream job of breaking fingers for the local loan shark, Tony Gazzo (Joe Spinell), it's a job that really seems to suit Paulie and he looks sharp and has even managed to lose weight.
Friendships in films often get over looked for the more obvious one between lovers, but I'm fascinated by friend dynamic and the one between Rocky and Paulie is fascinating. 

7/10

ROCKY

Written and starring Sylvester Stallone. Also starring Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers and Burgess Meredith. Directed by John G. Avildsen. Music by Bill Conti. Running time: 119 minutes. Budget $960,000. Box office $225 million.

I have not seen this film since the early 1980s, when I saw it on a date, as a double-bill with Rocky II.

The story is simple, boxing lug Rocky, makes $70 a fight, while collecting money for the local loan shark when the Heavy Weight Champion of the World, Apollo Creed plucks him from obscurity and offers him a shot at the title in the fight of his life.

Watching it now you can see why it put Stallone on the map, it's a wonderful movie, so raw, tender, emotional, brutal and grotty. At its heart it's a love story about two lost souls finding each other and salvation. I know that over the years Sly has become something of a joke, but you have to admire his passion and commitment to this project. He was an unknown actor, who after watching the Ali Vs. Chuck Wepner fight, wrote the script for himself in the space of three days then touted it round Hollywood before it fell into the hands of producers Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff. Initially offered $70,000 for the script, Sly refused, demanding he star in it, despite the offer increasing to $300,000. Finally he won the role.

The film was shot, guerilla style over 28 days on a budget of just $950,000 and would go on to win Best Picture Oscar and gross, on its release, thus becoming the highest grossing film of 1976 over $225,000,000. It's worth remembering that Rocky not only beat All The President's Men, Network and Taxi Driver for the Oscar, but also the clear favourite, King Kong.

I forgot how funny Rocky was or how witty Stallone can be. I forgot how wonderful and natural the relationship between Rocky and Adrian (Talia Shire) seemed, or how good the relationship between Rocky and Adrian's brother, Paulie was, Burt Young is terrific as the dim-witted lug who dreams of giving up his job in the meat packing company to break legs for a local, second-rate loan shark. 

This film doesn't have a single bum note, the training sequence is wonderful, the music by Bill Conti is glorious and the direction by John Avildsen, who utlised a steadicam for most of the film is inspiring.

I bloody loved it. 10/10