See that look in their eyes, Rock? You gotta get that look back, Rock. Eye of the tiger, man. – Apollo Creed.
Well the holidays are finally over boys and girls, which means time to put up the eggnog, presents and the like. Now I don’t know about you guys, but the holidays are always the time of year when I like to sit down and take in my seasonal viewing rotation. The difference is, this year my usual lineup of the first two Die Hard entries, Lethal Weapon and Gremlins was hijacked by my childhood heroes. I’m not saying that John McClane, Riggs and Murtaugh aren’t in that group somewhere, but Superman, James Bond and Rocky Balboa are just on another level.
Between the new Superman Ultimate Collector’s Edition, and going through all twenty entries in my 007 collection (plus Never Say Never Again), I’ve was pretty busy as far as my time off went. I’ve overloaded on my nostalgia for Christopher Reeve and Roger Moore, over the last few weeks. Then on December 20th, Rocky Balboa punched down the door and had me aching to go back to watch the Italian Stallion “murderize” all those bums in the ring again.
Now in my last column, I went all over my love for Rocky, so now I’ll go over my feelings for the rest of them. I’m not going to compare the Rocky series to The Godfather or Star Wars, but I will say that this series has this special place in American culture and in my heart. The movies aren’t masterpieces (some are even really crappy), and yet they still remain the ultimate saga of the underdog and making the most out of your opportunity for redemption.
Rocky II Starring Sylvester Stallone, Carl Weathers, Burgess Meredith, Talia Shire, and Burt Young. Director Sylvester Stallone
So this shouldn’t be a big deal because Rocky’s got a bunch of commercials lined up, gets married and buys a new car and house. Then things go south for the next 80 minutes of the film. First, it turns out that Rocky can’t read (which is a handicap that seems to magically disappear in subsequent movies) which forces Rocky to either quit or get fired from his commercial prospects.
He then tries to get an office job, but doesn’t have a high school diploma, and even when he gets a job at the meat packing plant where Paulie works, he gets laid off from that also. So Rock ends up cleaning in Mickey’s gym so he won’t have to end up back in the loan shark racket. He’s cleaning, taking up spit buckets, and he has to take the insults of the other boxers in the ring. Worse yet, Adrian is pregnant, but has to go back to work at the Pet store just to make ends meet.
So bottom line, Rocky hits bottom and the only way out is a fight that could permanently disable him. This is pretty rough going, as you really feel for Rocky, especially due to Stallone’s lovable performance. The guy is just so “everyman” and goofy that you can’t help but root for him. His jokes are corny and he makes choices that are obviously bad ones, but you can see yourself making those same choices if you were faced with instant celebrity and notoriety. Plus, Apollo is putting on the pressure publicly, because his reputation took a beating since nobody had ever gone the distance with him in the ring.
I think maybe my biggest problem with this section is that when Rocky finally decides to get back in the ring with Apollo, he doesn’t get any support at home. There’s a forced sense of negativity from Adrian, who desperately just wants Rocky to stay home. This kind of makes you hate Adrian a little, really screwing up your feelings for her and even Rocky himself, as he’s so distracted that his training is pretty blasé’. To make matters worse, when the camera goes back to Apollo, he’s training like a madman, focused on putting the legend of Rocky Balboa to rest once and for all. It almost makes you want to root for Apollo, because it makes it seem as if Rocky doesn’t really deserve to win.
Is this depressing enough for you? Stallone, who took the directing reigns this time out really pours the hardships for Rocky, taking the film to the breaking point by even putting Rock’s beloved Adrian in a coma. It’s almost too much to take, but then amazingly all is forgiven as the final training sequence and climactic fight totally blow the roof of your emotional expectations for the movie. Stallone thankfully relies on images to squeeze out every once of power this story has, with a training montage that may be second to none in this series. The battle with Apollo may also be the most brutal, as the champion punishes Rocky worse than he does in the first fight, with a finale that is without question the best of the Rocky saga.
Also, you get terrific performances here, especially from Rocky veterans Carl Weathers and Burgess Meredith. This time out, Weathers really gives Apollo some dimension, as you feel for a character that went out and gave it his all against Rocky, just to be lambasted in the press. Then again, he’s got to play dirty pool to be able to embarrass Rocky into a rematch, which takes that respect right back away from him. It’s the quiet moments that I really like with Weathers in this one, especially a scene where Apollo, all alone, has to look at himself in the mirror and tries to see a real champion.
Burgess Meredith’s Mickey really becomes the stuff of legend in this movie.
You can feel his desperation, as Rocky is his last chance to manage a champion, and he gets the miracle of one last shot at Apollo. When Rocky isn’t living up to his expectations, its like his life starts to feel like a failure and he has to cut Rocky off before it kills him. Then again, we share in his adulation and his “What are we waitin’ for?” is one of the best moments in the movie.
All in all, Rocky II is still a winner, even if it doesn’t stand as tall as its predecessor. It still feels authentic, and you’re still rooting for Rocky as hard as you can at film’s end. The last moments of the movie are also pretty awesome, as the double knockdown and Rocky’s speech gives you definite goose bumps. While the movie didn’t get the award attention of the original, it garnered enough goodwill to be a fan favorite, and if you think Rocky would be done at this point, you hadn’t seen anything yet.
Rocky III Starring Sylvester Stallone, Carl Weathers, Burgess Meredith, Talia Shire, Burt Young, and Mr. T. Director Sylvester Stallone
When I think of all the Rocky’s, Part III may be the one that encapsulates the series. I’m not saying its better than the first movie, but this may be the installment that’s the most fun. Three is the halfway point, where he’s still the people’s champion, but not quite the superhero he becomes in part four. Also, this time out the villain is more evil and comic book like, but still not as ridiculous as what was yet to come.
That’s not to say that this entry doesn’t have its share of problems. Stallone himself is more chiseled than he was the last time out, and he dresses in a smart suit most of the time instead of his hometown threads. I think this loses some of the connection he had with us in the first two movies. We root for the underdog until he gets big, and then we sit back and see what happens. I hate that this Rocky isn’t as jokey as he was in the first two films, and what happened to his eye injury?
So why do I like this one? Well, after sloshing through the doldrums of depression in the last sequel, this one is packed with fun and way more fights. First off, Rocky III is responsible for the initial popularity of one of my childhood heroes. That’s right; there would probably be no Hulkamania if there wasn’t a Rocky III. Appearing as the Wrestling Champion “The Ultimate Male” Thunderlips, Hogan actually lost his job with the World Wide Wrestling Federation in order to be in the movie. Turns out it was the right move, considering he’s been able to milk that popularity for nearly twenty-five years.
The next American icon to come out of Rocky III was Mr. T as Clubber Lang, Rocky’s main nemesis. While this character didn’t feel like a real fighter in the way that Apollo did, he did represent a juggernaut of an opponent that Rocky would have to face in the ring and defeat. According to Stallone himself, he actually wanted a real fighter for this role, but after sparring with and getting cut open by Joe Frazier, that notion was quickly discarded. Just as with Hogan, this turned out to be a terrific decision as T’s bizarre appearance and imposing presence made him perhaps the ultimate Rocky villain.
The real masterstroke by Stallone was finally pulling the trigger on Carl Weathers’ Apollo and making him a hero. He comes over to train Rocky this time out and the results are awesome. We’ve always wanted to root for this character, secretly loving his showboating tactics in the first film and his dead seriousness in the second, stopping us short because of our everyman hero in the other corner. With that barrier gone, we get twice the amount of heroes on the same side of the ring, which we need due to the mammoth villain facing the Italian Stallion.
Despite its shortcomings and predictability, Rocky III stands as the series first popcorn flick. Adorned in Old Glory at the end of the film, Balboa becomes even more part of American culture than he did before and cemented Stallone as one of our biggest stars at the time. The Rocky series may not have had all the magic it possessed in the first two entries, but there was still definitely enough gas in the tank to keep this series going.
Picture Credits: razyboard.com, impawards.com, typepad.com
