Rated: PG
Running Time: 99 Minutes
Year: 1982
Boobs: Zero
One Sentence: More part 3's.
I will admit it, there are some movies out there that I have not seen before, movies that someone who writes reviews, should have seen. I was raised in a house of girls, all girls, mom, aunt, sister, cousin, all girls. So when I was 5, in 1982, I think Rocky III was low on the list of movies that were going to be watched, or rented. Truth be told I am pretty sure I have never seen Rocky 1 all the way though. However probably over the years I have pieced it together. I have seen the end a million times. So this weekend, I caught Rocky III for the first time.
I know what happens in all of the movies, I knew the story, I have seen the Hulk Hogan scene before. I just never watched the whole movie before. I knew Mr. T was in it, and that this movie launched his career. What I wouldn't be ready for was the curve ball that is Rocky III. This was not the same format, oh no, they were not gonna show us the same movie a third time. I am still in shock by the huge changes for the series for Rocky III. Was I actually seeing this.
Rocky III might be the poster child for bad part 3 movies. You can see my top 5 part 3 movies of all time list here. What I found was that part 3 is usually a bad movie. Rocky III is no exception, and I think the standard for other bad 3's to follow. Cheesy over the top characters, like Thunderlips, played by Hulk Hogan, and a very non-threatning Clubber Lang, played by Mr. T. A story line that has so much going on and is just pushing on pathetic. Yet, while all this fluff and distraction is going on, they had not made it past the point where they knew they were making crap, and were having fun with it. Part IV shows where they just gave way to making a Rocky movie and not taking themselves too seriously. So Rocky III, is still attempted at being a serious film. Which seems to make it even worse.
I think now watching it though, I had a lot of fun with it and I am probably the only person who had not seen it yet. However I know now what Rocky has become and that part III was the beginning of it. I think if this was 1982, I would give it a 2, but today, it gets a 3.
