The Ups And Downs Of Rocky & Mr. T

Rating: 8/10 (27 May 2006)

For pure entertainment, this might be the best of the five "Rocky" movies. I mean, where else can you see Rocky, his entourage, Mr.T. and Hulk Hogan all creating mayhem in the same movie? Hokey? Oh, man, yes indeed, but it probably has more ups and downs and memorable scenes than any in this series. Some examples:
DOWN - "Rocky Balboa" (Sylvester Stallone) fights an exhibition match with a wild overzealous wrestling giant called "Thunderlips" (Hulk Hogan) and almost gets killed.
UP - However, he rallies to beat the over-sized animal.
DOWN - In defending his boxing title, Rocky gets pummeled by a loudmouth boxer "Clubber Lang" (Mr. T.).
DOWN - His longtime manager "Mickey" (Burgess Meredith) collapses at the arena before the fight and then dies.
UP - Rocky's former rival "Apollo Creed" agrees to train our hero in a re-match against the obnoxious villain Lang.
DOWN - Down and depressed, Rocky is unable to train and be has lost his will to fight again.
UP - He finds his "eye of the tiger" spirit and trains with great inspiration, becoming even and quicker and faster afoot than Creed!
This goes on and on and on, climaxed by the fight which, of course, has another 30 of these "ups and downs." By the end, you're more worn out than Burgess Meredith. Mr. T, by the way, makes a great villain and the filmmakers added to the suspense using slow-motion action scenes and effective sound with all the punches, grunts and groans all add to the circus-like atmosphere. Nobody grunted like Mr. T!
It's corny, it's hokey, etc., but it somehow works and certainly gives the viewer what it delivers in the ring: non-stop entertainment.