A-Z GUIDE TO MOVIES AND TV SHOWS PARODIED BY MAD, CRACKED, CRAZY, ETC. UP TO 1996. THEY HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS. SPOILERS AND OTHER NON-SEQUITURS, TOO. SOMETIMES THESE THINGS HAVE WORDS OR SITUATIONS WE DON'T USE ANYMORE. YOU KNOW, 'CAUSE THEY'RE OLD.
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Wednesday, June 14, 2023
ROCKHEAD III
ROCKY III (1982)
dir: Sylvester Stallone
MAD #235, December 1982
w: Arnie Kogen
a: Jack Davis
Rocky week continues with the third installment.
Like the last sequel, this continues where the previous installment left off, with Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) beating Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) in a long match where both are left standing. This time we see rising boxing star Clubber Lang (Mr. T.) in the audience.
Fast forward a few years to Rocky becoming a huge celebrity with magazine covers and TV appearances. His wife Adrian (Talia Shire) and trainer Mickey (Burgess Meredith) are with him all the way. His brother-in-law Pauly (Burt Young) goes on a drunken spree jealous of Rocky's success and Rocky has to bail him out. Rocky later does a charity event with Thunderlips (Hulk Hogan), a wrestler twice his size.
Thunderlips goes berserk, Rocky comes back fighting, and it was all in good fun. Later he has a statue dedicated to him in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art (which is actually there), Rocky is about to announce his retirement until Clubber Lang pops up and challenges him. Mickey is retiring though.
Mickey doesn't want anything to do with Rocky fighting a killing machine like Clubber Lang, and urges him not to do it. He especially thinks Rocky's going soft making his last training a theatrical public spectacle. At the match, Clubber badly beats him.
Because Dolly Parton has large breasts, you see.
Mickey dies during Rocky's fight, and Apollo steps in to be Rocky's trainer for the rematch. He begins training by taking Rocky to the gym he started at in Los Angeles.
One of the reasons Apollo brought Rocky to his old gym was to show how tough everyone there is, Rocky needs to get his groove back with what they have, “the eye of the tiger”. Rocky almost quits his training but Adrian gives him a pep talk about how he never gives up.
On the night of the match, Apollo gives Rocky his old shorts for good luck and he defeats Clubber Lang. They don't use the epilogue with Apollo and Rocky having a rematch in private, leaving it open-ended which one wins.
Jaws, James Bond, Star Wars, and Superman were the biggest franchises then.
Mr. T.'s most well-known catchphrase comes from this.
ROCKY'S SCRAPBOOK
Cracked #192, January 1983
a: John Severin
Weird Al did a parody of "Eye of the Tiger" called "Theme to Rocky XIII" with the lyrics of "Rye or the Kaiser". And Rocky eventually does own a restaurant! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HX3oMbPQMzU
The punchline of the Cracked thing was an actual plot-point of one of the later Rocky movies (He loses his fortune due to tax issues), I think.
Rocky III used a scene from Stallone's appearance on The Muppet Show (and Jim Henson recorded an introduction of "special guest star Rocky Balboa") to have Rocky on the Muppet Show.
Weird Al did a parody of "Eye of the Tiger" called "Theme to Rocky XIII" with the lyrics of "Rye or the Kaiser". And Rocky eventually does own a restaurant!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HX3oMbPQMzU
The punchline of the Cracked thing was an actual plot-point of one of the later Rocky movies (He loses his fortune due to tax issues), I think.
Rocky III used a scene from Stallone's appearance on The Muppet Show (and Jim Henson recorded an introduction of "special guest star Rocky Balboa") to have Rocky on the Muppet Show.