most movies seem to release a third movie just so it can be called a trilogy .
rocky iii seems to kind of fit in that category , but manages to be slightly unique .
the rocky formula of ” rocky loses fight/rocky trains/rocky wins fight ” is carried out to the letter .
also the ‘tradition’ of showing the last five minutes or so from the past rocky film is used as well .
this movie begins with a series of clips showing how famous rocky ( sylvester stallone ) has become . . .
even showing a brief appearance on sesame street ! !
then it moves on with rocky being in a fixed fight with thunderlips ( hulk hogan ) .
a mysterious bad-ass known as clubber lang ( mr . t ) trash-talks to rocky about his stupid decision to retire from boxing and that he ” pities the fool ” for not coming out and fighting him outright .
rocky’s trainer ( burgess meredith ) tells rocky not to fight , but the italian stallion doesn’t listen .
naturally , he gets his ass kicked .
somewhere along the line after this several things happen .
rocky’s longtime trainer dies , causing rocky to train with his former opponent apollo creed .
rocky’s wife complains to her husband that he should fight .
the final fight ensues between clubber and rocky .
guess who wins ?
the winner’s name rhymes with ‘smocky’ .
the movie is entertaning mainly because of clubber lang’s over the top performance .
the dramatic aspect has been toned down considerably since rocky ii and now action seems to be the strong point of the film .
which is good if you like fighting scenes .
the last match is quite decent actually .
if you liked the previous films , rent this one .
it’s well worth seeing if you are a fan of the series .
but if you can’t stand rocky shouting ” adrianne ! ! ! ”
one more time , see something else .