Rocky III

Who Asked For This Anyway?

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words ... uh ... ummmm. Okay, fine. First, in Rocky, Rocky overcomes tremendous odds and takes a beating from Apollo Creed losing a split decision and possibly suffering traumatic brain injury. That last bit is mere speculation on my part. In Rocky II, much the same happens - including the apparent brain injury - but this time Rocky wins. The producers of both movies also win-sans the brain injury - by making a lot of money. So naturally, here comes Rocky III. This time, in a nod to Bergman, Rocky's biggest opponent is himself and his place in a world where God is silent and Mister T is loud. Rocky spends much of the first have of the film wandering through his own personal Gethsemane pleading with Mickey to stay with him whilst being tormented by T (Clubber Lang), "Balboa, your family doin' real nice, ain't it? You call yourself a fighter? Prove it now. Gimme that same chance!" Rocky ends up fighting Clubber not once but twice and both gives and receives a tremendous beating, possibly - and again this is speculation - further exacerbating his traumatic brain injury. He also engages in water sports and horseplay with Apollo, and as a reward, is gifted by Apollo with a pair his used boxing trunks. Triumph and self redemption can't be far away, or can they?