Rocky III

It took me thirteen months to go from Rocky to Rocky II, and only nine hours to go from Rocky II to Rocky III. This film did not follow the same general structure as its two predecessors and that made it naturally more interesting. This time, Rock-O starts out on top, with fame and fortune surrounding him. He dicks around in a boxing-vs.-wrestling match with Thunderlips (Hulk Hogan!) before getting challenged by the up-and-comer Clubber Lang (Mr. T!). Oh, and Stallone was ridiculously jacked this time around. This movie also marks the debut of Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger." The shorter running length (100 minutes) and the more even distribution of action scenes throughout the movie made it more entertaining than the previous two, though not necessarily as well-written or iconic. Overall, I'm enjoying the franchise so far after finding that the first movie did not live up to my expectations. Good. Next up, however, is Rocky IV, which is often considered the worst of the Rocky films aside from the one that comes right after it. Whatever. I can stomach a couple of terrible movies. Besides, Balboa is supposed to redeem the saga completely.