Things I’m Supposed To Hate, But Don’t: Rocky III

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Conventional wisdom is that Rocky is the only part of the franchise worth watching (or was, until Rocky Balboa, the sixth part of the series, came out).

But I beg to differ, from the CW and from most critics; I loved Rocky III.

The film featured Sylvester Stallone and “Mister T” – both of them at the brink of the “caricature” phases of their careers (from with Stallone only emerged in the mid-nineties, and T has not), but not quite there yet.

I saw this film about the same time I was drifting toward conservatism.  And that may have been one of the reasons I loved it; Rocky, the old-school plugger and ex-kneebuster from Philly (along with former foe and now-teammate Apollo Creed) were the old school; T’s Clubber Lang represented all that was gauche and vile about modernity.

And yet, for a film that basically was a cartoon, I loved the Clubber Lang character; T played it with visceral, uncompromising anger that went – I thought, and still think – way past the material.

Look, Mister T will probably never do Shakespeare in the Park – but after watching Clubber Lang, I was always disappointed he wound up on “The A Team” and chattering “I Pity Da Fool” for the rest of his career.

Rocky was, of course, a classic – one of my favorite movies ever.  Rocky II was, of course, utterly predictable; there was never a moment of suspense; you knew Apollo Creed was going down (and even though I’ve seen Rocky at least a dozen times, it’s still got suspense).

And even though I was a Republican by that time, Rocky IV was too obvious a “morning in America” Cold War movie even for me, the newly-minted Reagan voter; I knew the entire plot as I walked into the theater; First Blood was a much better movie.  I have yet to see V, and Balboa was another whole thing altogether (a great movie, but just…different).

But Rocky III?  I felt that one.

It’s a wrecking crew.

31 thoughts on “Things I’m Supposed To Hate, But Don’t: Rocky III”

  2. Oh, I didn’t say I didn’t dig IV. I mean, dude – James Brown, and kicking genetically-alterned überboxer butt.

    But I liked III a lot more.

  3. I’ll have to give that a second look. I just remember getting turned off cause the boxing scenes were so fake. Both of ’em connecting with multiple, bone-crushing crosses. And I always thought T was a joke. Stallone only later.

  5. I saw Rocky III when it came out and Mr. T was pretty menacing and effective in the role. It’s just hard to watch the movie now and set aside the cartoon that Mr. T has become.

    The funny thing is, I feel the same way about Mike Tyson now.

  8. I think we need to rank the Rockies. Sort of like 24.

    For me it’s IV, I, III, II, V. Fighting in Moscow against Drago is not to be beaten. But the first movie has to rank ahead of III too. II was bad and V is simply unwatchable.

    I haven’t yet seen Rocky Balboa, a/k/a Rocky VI.

  10. Banaian, are you insane? Rocky is one of the all-time classic movies. I like IV OK, but no sane person ranks any of the Rocky sequels higher than the original.

    You can argue over whether you liked The Godfather or Godfather II. Just don’t let anyone hear you claim III was the best, or you’ll be committed.

  11. I used to listen to the Rocky IV soundtrack to get pumped-up for wrestling matches.

    Probably wouldn’t go that route nowadays. . .

  12. Rocky Balboa was such a refreshing return… a great Rocky film. I’ve been meaning to go back and watch II and III again.

    When I picked up Rocky Balboa on a strong recomendation, I knew that everyone who reviewed it and went to see it went in heavily skeptical (even eager to mock it) and came out surprised at least and impressed at best.

    My wife remarked, “Why couldn’t he have made Rocky this good?” I asked her if she’d seen Rocky recently… or at all. I showed her a few scenes and we ended up watching the who first movie… she revised her opinion.
    😀

  13. Maybe you can explain this to me, Yossarian. When I was a small clown, I enjoyed baseball and basketball. And in gym class Angryclown always liked volleyball, dodgeball, kickball, ultimate frisbee…

    But when the wheel turned and, inevitably, we would have to do a day of wrestling, Angryclown always thought, “Wow, this is super gay.” No offense, Yossarian. I’m sure you had an excellent rationalization for why grappling around with other sweaty dudes was an activity you wanted *more* of. But it’s not immediately apparent to Angryclown.

    Sure, there’s the competitive aspect. And I’m sure it was a good counterpoint to your two-man luge team. Also, we know you have spandex pants that you need to put to use. But still, it’s hard for Angryclown to get past that threshold question: Isn’t wrestling like the gayest possible sport you can possibly do? Why not, say, roller disco? You get to wear spandex, it’s a great cardiovascular workout, but it doesn’t involve one sweaty dude climbing on top of another one. Not until afterward, anyway.

    So wrestling, Yossarian. What up wid dat?

  14. Gosh, AC, I’ve never, ever, EVER heard that kind of adolescent critique. Nope, you’re the first.

    But, I’ll tell ya what, AC. When it comes to a one-on-one fight scenario, where your snark is paired against my ground fighting, you’re welcome to spout all the smarmy twaddle you can muster before I dislocate your shoulder, snap your elbow and sink you into unconsiousness to stifle your pathetic screams and mewlings. When you come to, you can talk about how gay the whole experience was.

    And I’m holding off from your unwarranted attack on roller disco. Consider yourself warned though.

  15. Yossarian fantasized: “dislocate your shoulder, snap your elbow and sink you into unconsiousness to stifle your pathetic screams and mewlings.”

    Wouldn’t it be easier to just get some roofies for when you’re in the mood for nonconsensual sodomy?

  17. Angryclown loves gay people, Cathcart. He just happens not to be one. As a result, he tends to eschew activities that are peculiar to the gay community, such as wrestling, wearing spandex, blowing other dudes…

  19. I would generally agree “blowing other dudes” is probably a gay activity, provided a briefcase of cash or a gun to the head isn’t involved.

    As for your “wrestling is teh gay” nonsense. Whatever, dude. You’re obviously an idiot who doesn’t know the first thing about wrestling and grappling, so I’m content to let you wallow in your stupidity.

    That, and you have a very small penis.

  20. doesn’t know the first thing about wrestling and grappling

    How DO you think one moves from D-list clown to C-list clown?

  21. Dear Mom,

    Last week I wrote I had a “blog”.

    I meant “dog”. Dog. My bad.

    Nothing to see here.

    Mitch

  25. Er, you should maybe ignore the C&C Music Factory background track in that YouTube vid. It kind of adds a layer of gay to what is otherwise a pretty awesome wrestling highlight reel.

    *shrug*

  26. You see, Cathcart? Two men in love – there’s nothing wrong with that.

  27. So long as you stick to your spinning classes and power-walking, AC, I’ll enjoy the competition of tapping out my fellow grapplers. That you see it as gay, and I don’t, says more about you and your prejudices than anything else.

    And, yes, I realize you’re just yanking my chain. I’m just playing along because work is slow today.

  28. anyway, back to the movie…It always bothered me that Rocky had a flashback of him getting his ass kicking from Clubber while wearing the stars and stripes trunks that he didn’t wear until the last fight of the movie. Whats up with that?

  30. I agree with you that the second movie was predictable and probably one of my least favorites of the series.

    Oh, and I hope you were able to overcome your conservatism.

  31. Jules,

    Oh, and I hope you were able to overcome your conservatism.

    You haven’t read the rest of the blog, have you?

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