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