Rocky III: 40 Years Later

The 80s have given us movies that many will never forget. It is no different when Rocky became a film franchise with its third installment.

Sylvester Stallone was making a name for himself as an action star in that decade as he was also in First Blood, released the same year. One way that will make many movie fans remember him is the cinematic portrayal of a movie underdog named Rocky Balboa.

The third installment, released three years after the second film, follows Rocky’s rise to fame as he defends his title ten times successfully. In the background, a young, mean, hungry contender has his eyes on one thing that Rocky has, the title.

As the film progresses, Rocky is about to retire from the sport when Clubber Lang shows up to publicly challenge him to a title bout. Rocky’s manager wanted no part of it though Rocky gives it another fight.

Rocky would lose the title and his manager would die of a massive heart attack following a pre-match altercation. Rocky is later approached by his former opponent, Apollo Creed, to turn him into a new fighter. Eventually, after helping him gain his confidence and coming to terms with his late manager’s death, Rocky fights Clubber in a rematch, only to regain the title after three rounds.

Lessons from Film

The first is coming to terms with the past. In the scene before the iconic training montage, Rocky spills his guts out about how Mickey’s death to his wife, Adrian. Amid the heated exchange, Adrian tells Rocky about how Mickey did what he could to protect him. Mickey picked the fights for his title defenses. In turn, Rocky laid something that held him back since his defeat to Clubber, being afraid.

Adrian assured him that fear is part of our human nature, but he had to overcome it as he fights his opponents.

The second lesson from the film has the right motives to achieve goals. For Rocky, he had to be reminded that he must have the right motive to regain his title. He couldn’t do it to avenge his late manager’s death. He had to put the past behind him. For us, we have to evaluate and discern how we plan to achieve goals in our spiritual, physical, and professional lives. 

The third lesson from the film is facing your fears. Until the third film, Rocky had nothing to fear. Even Adrian acknowledged the change in him. Rocky had much to fear when Clubber was eager to knock him down. That fear slowed down his road to regaining his confidence. What helped him was Adrian. It is good to have the support system that is needed when things don’t go as planned.

Rocky III is 4.5 out of 5. A knockout like its two predecessors.