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Rocky #3
Rocky III
Three years have passed since Rocky fought Apollo Creed. Years of enjoying easy fights and a happy home life with Adrien.But now a vicious, young fighter named Clubber Lang, jealous of Rocky's success has challenged him to a bout.Can an out of shape hero beat this young upstart? Rocky's got the guts and the courage. And that's not enough, he's getting help -from none other than Apollo Creed himself.
- GenresFiction
152 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published May 12, 1982
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 24, 2026
How Screenplay differs from Movie: Rocky III
-The beginning montage of all the winning Rocky has been doing the last 3 years, Paulie asks Adrian for money ($5,000 & $10,000). (not in movie).
-Beginning montage, Rocky tells Mickey he wants to get his face fixed up. (not in movie).
-When Paulie enters the arcade to destroy the Rocky Pinball Machine, movie has him throw his flask, screenplay has him throw a stool. I think the flask is more appropriate since he is very drunk. Paulie also throws more stools around the place and argues with the owner and challenges him to fight. (not in movie)
-When Rocky goes to bail Paulie out of the drunk tank, Rocky and the Policeman have a little conversation. He asks when Rocky is going to fight Clubber, Rocky just shrugs. (not in movie).
-In the parking lot of jail, Rocky and Paulie are arguing. Paulie says Rocky never gave him anything. Rocky says he got him 10 jobs, but he blew them all because he didn’t want to work. (not in movie).
-After they leave the jail, Paulie is speaking to Rocky through Rocky’s bedroom door. Asking him if he needs anything, and maybe he can help with the business side of things. Rocky is in bed with Adrian just appeasing him. Mick pokes his head out of his bedroom door and says hello and tells Paulie to keep it down so he can get some sleep. Paulie says good night to Rocky and Adrian. When Paulie leaves and walks by Mick’s room he says to him “I can’t believe she’s living with another guy y’know.” (not in movie). This isn’t a necessary scene but I didn’t mind it because it shows the desperation and jealousy Paulie still has.
-When Rocky is signing to Adrian in bed the movie is “Take me Back”. This screenplay is “I only have eyes for you” I wonder if they couldn’t get the rights for that song.
-The fight between Rocky and Thunderlips, Clubber Lang is with the 2 commentators talking. (not in movie)
-Clubber says Rocky has nothing inside, and he has been ducking me for three years just like that chump Apollo Creed. I like this part because it shows that he has been around for awhile and he has disliked Apollo for a long time as well. (not in movie)
-When Rocky enters the ring and is waving to the fans, Clubber comes up to the Ring and talks smack to Rocky about wanting to fight him. After Clubber leaves, Rocky asks Mick “when we going to fight him?” Mick says “Do I make the match? Then don’t worry about it.” (not in movie)
-When Thunderlips is getting announced, Rocky looks into crowd and see Clubber sitting there staring at Rocky. Clubber then shows Rocky his fist. (not in movie).
-After the announcer says it’s a draw between Thunderlips and Rocky, Clubber and Rocky stare each other down. Clubber talks smack about it being fake and he needs to fight him, Rocky says “anytime” and Mickey comes to Rocky and says “Y’all fight who I say!” (not in movie).
-When Clubber crashes the statue ceremony, the part where Clubber hits on Adrian drives Rocky mad. They go after each other. The movie has them separated pretty quickly, the screenplay has Clubber land a punch on Rocky and cuts him over his eye.
-When Rocky is training in the new gym with all the glitz and glamour, he isn’t working as hard as he once did. He is running around the gym in and out of the dark and Mick is yelling and trying to motivate him. He has a pain in his chest that he shields from Paulie so he doesn’t see and Rocky is way in the distance. I think this should have been in the movie since it really shows Mick is not doing well at all.
-Before the fight with Clubber, in the movie they have cameras in the locker room. The movie has them interview Rocky and ask what he and Mick will do after this one is over. This was not in the screenplay.
-When Clubber and Rocky meet in the middle of ring with referee, after his instructions, Clubber spits on Rocky’s chest. Rocky tries to attack Clubber and they are separated. I’m glad it was not in movie. They are making Clubber way to feral and animalistic (not in movie).
-At Mickey’s funeral, Rocky and Paulie had a short conversation. Rocky says Mick wanted them to go out good. Paulie tells him that he tried but it wasn’t him out there that night against Clubber. He told him he didn’t lose but gave up. (not in movie)
-After Mickey’s funeral, at home Rocky goes into Mickey’s room and lays on his bed. He flips through memory books about he and Mick. Reporters are out front of the house and Paulie yells at them. (not in movie)
-When Rocky drives his bike to the statute, he throws a wine bottle at the statue. In the movie he throws his motorcycle helmet.
-After Apollo convinces Rocky to let him train him, they have a big press conference to announce it. Rocky answers questions with no personality while Apollo treats it as a big show. Talks smack about Clubber Lang and calls him out. (not in movie)
-Rocky and Apollo watch their old fight and go over a few things. This was seen in Rocky IV. The Rocky III movie shows film on the Clubber fight.
-When they leave to California, Rocky and Paulie go with Apollo while Adrian stays with Rocky Jr. In the movie Adrian goes with them.
-When they land in LA, they show them at the airport and then go to the hotel first, then the gym. In movie we see them go right to the gym.
-While Rocky is training in LA, there are a few differences from the movie. Rocky has lots of daydreams about him losing the fight and dying in the ring. Adrian is not there for any of the training at this point. Apollo and Rocky are running along train tracks.
-After the race between Apollo and Rocky where Rock gives up, they all go home. Rocky backs out of the fight. Paulie gets on Adrian about how long she will allow Rocky to do this.
-Adrian sees in interview on TV. Clubber talks about Rocky being a quitter and was never given a reason for Rocky backing out. They then cut to Apollo on the TV and he says Rocky had other things on his mind other than fighting. The reporter asks Apollo if he thinks he could have beat Clubber, Apollo says, “He could win”. (not in movie)
-Adrian confronts Rocky at home in the bedroom before bed about why he came back home. He said he didn’t want it no more. She didn’t believe him, they fight more and he leaves. (not in movie)
-When Rocky leaves the house, he grabs his old leather coat and gloves. He goes tho the graveyard and goes off on Mick’s headstone. Asking why he carried him and why couldn’t he be honest. It is a long speech with questions that he ends with you should I be fighting for. Then you hear Adrian say “you”. She is standing in the background, she heard everything. (not in movie)
-Rocky then calls his son from a pay phone and tells him he has to go away for a little while. He then goes back to the Rocky Statue and stares at it until he raises both hands in the air. The spirit is back it says.
-Screenplay does not have Apollo give Rocky his stars and stripes shorts!!!!!
-The ring announcer says Clubber Lang is from New York. Movie says he is from Chicago.
-The final fight meeting with ref in center ring. Clubber spits on the ground and doesn’t touch gloves with Rocky. (not in movie)
-After Rocky wins the rematch, Clubber comes over to Rocky and tells Rocky” you got it! All the badmouthing was to get people goin, hear.” (not in movie)
-The beginning montage of all the winning Rocky has been doing the last 3 years, Paulie asks Adrian for money ($5,000 & $10,000). (not in movie).
-Beginning montage, Rocky tells Mickey he wants to get his face fixed up. (not in movie).
-When Paulie enters the arcade to destroy the Rocky Pinball Machine, movie has him throw his flask, screenplay has him throw a stool. I think the flask is more appropriate since he is very drunk. Paulie also throws more stools around the place and argues with the owner and challenges him to fight. (not in movie)
-When Rocky goes to bail Paulie out of the drunk tank, Rocky and the Policeman have a little conversation. He asks when Rocky is going to fight Clubber, Rocky just shrugs. (not in movie).
-In the parking lot of jail, Rocky and Paulie are arguing. Paulie says Rocky never gave him anything. Rocky says he got him 10 jobs, but he blew them all because he didn’t want to work. (not in movie).
-After they leave the jail, Paulie is speaking to Rocky through Rocky’s bedroom door. Asking him if he needs anything, and maybe he can help with the business side of things. Rocky is in bed with Adrian just appeasing him. Mick pokes his head out of his bedroom door and says hello and tells Paulie to keep it down so he can get some sleep. Paulie says good night to Rocky and Adrian. When Paulie leaves and walks by Mick’s room he says to him “I can’t believe she’s living with another guy y’know.” (not in movie). This isn’t a necessary scene but I didn’t mind it because it shows the desperation and jealousy Paulie still has.
-When Rocky is signing to Adrian in bed the movie is “Take me Back”. This screenplay is “I only have eyes for you” I wonder if they couldn’t get the rights for that song.
-The fight between Rocky and Thunderlips, Clubber Lang is with the 2 commentators talking. (not in movie)
-Clubber says Rocky has nothing inside, and he has been ducking me for three years just like that chump Apollo Creed. I like this part because it shows that he has been around for awhile and he has disliked Apollo for a long time as well. (not in movie)
-When Rocky enters the ring and is waving to the fans, Clubber comes up to the Ring and talks smack to Rocky about wanting to fight him. After Clubber leaves, Rocky asks Mick “when we going to fight him?” Mick says “Do I make the match? Then don’t worry about it.” (not in movie)
-When Thunderlips is getting announced, Rocky looks into crowd and see Clubber sitting there staring at Rocky. Clubber then shows Rocky his fist. (not in movie).
-After the announcer says it’s a draw between Thunderlips and Rocky, Clubber and Rocky stare each other down. Clubber talks smack about it being fake and he needs to fight him, Rocky says “anytime” and Mickey comes to Rocky and says “Y’all fight who I say!” (not in movie).
-When Clubber crashes the statue ceremony, the part where Clubber hits on Adrian drives Rocky mad. They go after each other. The movie has them separated pretty quickly, the screenplay has Clubber land a punch on Rocky and cuts him over his eye.
-When Rocky is training in the new gym with all the glitz and glamour, he isn’t working as hard as he once did. He is running around the gym in and out of the dark and Mick is yelling and trying to motivate him. He has a pain in his chest that he shields from Paulie so he doesn’t see and Rocky is way in the distance. I think this should have been in the movie since it really shows Mick is not doing well at all.
-Before the fight with Clubber, in the movie they have cameras in the locker room. The movie has them interview Rocky and ask what he and Mick will do after this one is over. This was not in the screenplay.
-When Clubber and Rocky meet in the middle of ring with referee, after his instructions, Clubber spits on Rocky’s chest. Rocky tries to attack Clubber and they are separated. I’m glad it was not in movie. They are making Clubber way to feral and animalistic (not in movie).
-At Mickey’s funeral, Rocky and Paulie had a short conversation. Rocky says Mick wanted them to go out good. Paulie tells him that he tried but it wasn’t him out there that night against Clubber. He told him he didn’t lose but gave up. (not in movie)
-After Mickey’s funeral, at home Rocky goes into Mickey’s room and lays on his bed. He flips through memory books about he and Mick. Reporters are out front of the house and Paulie yells at them. (not in movie)
-When Rocky drives his bike to the statute, he throws a wine bottle at the statue. In the movie he throws his motorcycle helmet.
-After Apollo convinces Rocky to let him train him, they have a big press conference to announce it. Rocky answers questions with no personality while Apollo treats it as a big show. Talks smack about Clubber Lang and calls him out. (not in movie)
-Rocky and Apollo watch their old fight and go over a few things. This was seen in Rocky IV. The Rocky III movie shows film on the Clubber fight.
-When they leave to California, Rocky and Paulie go with Apollo while Adrian stays with Rocky Jr. In the movie Adrian goes with them.
-When they land in LA, they show them at the airport and then go to the hotel first, then the gym. In movie we see them go right to the gym.
-While Rocky is training in LA, there are a few differences from the movie. Rocky has lots of daydreams about him losing the fight and dying in the ring. Adrian is not there for any of the training at this point. Apollo and Rocky are running along train tracks.
-After the race between Apollo and Rocky where Rock gives up, they all go home. Rocky backs out of the fight. Paulie gets on Adrian about how long she will allow Rocky to do this.
-Adrian sees in interview on TV. Clubber talks about Rocky being a quitter and was never given a reason for Rocky backing out. They then cut to Apollo on the TV and he says Rocky had other things on his mind other than fighting. The reporter asks Apollo if he thinks he could have beat Clubber, Apollo says, “He could win”. (not in movie)
-Adrian confronts Rocky at home in the bedroom before bed about why he came back home. He said he didn’t want it no more. She didn’t believe him, they fight more and he leaves. (not in movie)
-When Rocky leaves the house, he grabs his old leather coat and gloves. He goes tho the graveyard and goes off on Mick’s headstone. Asking why he carried him and why couldn’t he be honest. It is a long speech with questions that he ends with you should I be fighting for. Then you hear Adrian say “you”. She is standing in the background, she heard everything. (not in movie)
-Rocky then calls his son from a pay phone and tells him he has to go away for a little while. He then goes back to the Rocky Statue and stares at it until he raises both hands in the air. The spirit is back it says.
-Screenplay does not have Apollo give Rocky his stars and stripes shorts!!!!!
-The ring announcer says Clubber Lang is from New York. Movie says he is from Chicago.
-The final fight meeting with ref in center ring. Clubber spits on the ground and doesn’t touch gloves with Rocky. (not in movie)
-After Rocky wins the rematch, Clubber comes over to Rocky and tells Rocky” you got it! All the badmouthing was to get people goin, hear.” (not in movie)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 5, 2016
Two Wods - Great Book
April 30, 2020
It seems appropriate that I finish this novelization on Burt Young's 80th birthday, and I rediscover my immense annoyance for his character during this.
I have been recently revisiting the Rocky movies, in preparation for reading the novelizations, and I think this is possibly in my top two favourite in the series. I like the progression of the series, Adrian seems to get a bit more of a mouth in this one, whereas Apollo is back to the Apollo we knew and loved from the first, rather than the complete character change we saw in the second and it's just a real heartwarming film.
This novelization reverts back to how the first novelization was told, after the [[ASIN:0345286502 second novelization]] was told completely from Rocky's POv. I still like the uniqueness that the second novelization brought to the storytelling, and you got a real insight into what was going on in Rocky's head. Some aspects of this have been brought forward into this one (by Robert E. Hoban, with the copyright still being credited to Sylvester Stallone and who I still believe to have written the majority of the novelizations.)
The more I read and enjoy this series, the more I realise how much Paulie irritates me. Burt Young has played the character really well, but it's the little nuances that I didn't necessarily pick up on in the film. The fact that he puts down his sister constantly. The fact that when Apollo and Duke both wear sweaters with "Rocky" emblazoned on the back, Paulie's says "Paulie". The fact that he doesn't want the best hotels, gyms etc for Rocky, he wants all the comfort for him. While he doesn't detract from the storyline, his character just gets my blood boiling.
There are a few differences between this and the film:
Paulie in the beginning scene, has a dream, and gets awoken from his drunken stupor by "Officer Flanagan", before being slung in the cells. This leads into a scene where Rocky is sitting in his office, listening to speech dictation tapes, trying to pronounce his "th" sounds, before getting the call to pick up Paulie from the cells.
Father Carmine and Tony Grazzo appear in the training room before the Thunderlips fight - maybe I missed them in the initial scene, but it was a nice tie in to have them reappear.
There's also an additional scene with Thunderlips in his training room and added talk from his "slave girls" about how vain he is.
During some of the fight scenes, we get an insight into what is going in Rocky Jnr's three year old mind, watching his dad fight, and how he finds that everyone is reacting strangely.
There's a nice flashback from Adrian, before the Clubber Lang fight, where she's struggling to sleep (while Rocky sleeps sound), and thinking back to the first time they met in the pet shop, when he was buying the tortoises. This was quite sweet and heartfelt.
There is obviously the main scene in this where everyone's heart breaks - I will not ruin it for anyone who hasn't seen a nearly 40 year old film. But I swear even if I hint at what the scene is, someone will find fault with it. So the scene where everyone's heart breaks, is followed up by another scene, which is quite different to how it is shown on film. Instead of the small scene which fits into the character, it's described as being an all out thing, with many people being there.
There's a brief scene when Rocky, Apollo, Adrian and Paulie are in LA, and Paulie fools around with a woman - who isn't a woman.
One of the main scenes that I love in the film, that makes me quite misty eyed, even though it is a good scene, is the last "beach run" between Apollo and Rocky. This is replaced with Adrian giving Rocky a hard time, and then them kissing and cuddling on the beach - rather than a second run between Rocky and Apollo. This scene in the film always has me jumping for joy and I was a little disappointed to see that it was not included.
This is an excellent novelization, and one that works really well in conjunction with the film. It's only 152 pages (compared to 138 and 180 for the first and second respectively), so doesn't feel too long or too short. It's also got fairly short chapters, so reads quite easily, if you fancy something quick and easy to read between work calls. I'm still disappointed that (as far as I can find) only the first four films have been novelized, but at least we have the first four available.
I have been recently revisiting the Rocky movies, in preparation for reading the novelizations, and I think this is possibly in my top two favourite in the series. I like the progression of the series, Adrian seems to get a bit more of a mouth in this one, whereas Apollo is back to the Apollo we knew and loved from the first, rather than the complete character change we saw in the second and it's just a real heartwarming film.
This novelization reverts back to how the first novelization was told, after the [[ASIN:0345286502 second novelization]] was told completely from Rocky's POv. I still like the uniqueness that the second novelization brought to the storytelling, and you got a real insight into what was going on in Rocky's head. Some aspects of this have been brought forward into this one (by Robert E. Hoban, with the copyright still being credited to Sylvester Stallone and who I still believe to have written the majority of the novelizations.)
The more I read and enjoy this series, the more I realise how much Paulie irritates me. Burt Young has played the character really well, but it's the little nuances that I didn't necessarily pick up on in the film. The fact that he puts down his sister constantly. The fact that when Apollo and Duke both wear sweaters with "Rocky" emblazoned on the back, Paulie's says "Paulie". The fact that he doesn't want the best hotels, gyms etc for Rocky, he wants all the comfort for him. While he doesn't detract from the storyline, his character just gets my blood boiling.
There are a few differences between this and the film:
Paulie in the beginning scene, has a dream, and gets awoken from his drunken stupor by "Officer Flanagan", before being slung in the cells. This leads into a scene where Rocky is sitting in his office, listening to speech dictation tapes, trying to pronounce his "th" sounds, before getting the call to pick up Paulie from the cells.
Father Carmine and Tony Grazzo appear in the training room before the Thunderlips fight - maybe I missed them in the initial scene, but it was a nice tie in to have them reappear.
There's also an additional scene with Thunderlips in his training room and added talk from his "slave girls" about how vain he is.
During some of the fight scenes, we get an insight into what is going in Rocky Jnr's three year old mind, watching his dad fight, and how he finds that everyone is reacting strangely.
There's a nice flashback from Adrian, before the Clubber Lang fight, where she's struggling to sleep (while Rocky sleeps sound), and thinking back to the first time they met in the pet shop, when he was buying the tortoises. This was quite sweet and heartfelt.
There is obviously the main scene in this where everyone's heart breaks - I will not ruin it for anyone who hasn't seen a nearly 40 year old film. But I swear even if I hint at what the scene is, someone will find fault with it. So the scene where everyone's heart breaks, is followed up by another scene, which is quite different to how it is shown on film. Instead of the small scene which fits into the character, it's described as being an all out thing, with many people being there.
There's a brief scene when Rocky, Apollo, Adrian and Paulie are in LA, and Paulie fools around with a woman - who isn't a woman.
One of the main scenes that I love in the film, that makes me quite misty eyed, even though it is a good scene, is the last "beach run" between Apollo and Rocky. This is replaced with Adrian giving Rocky a hard time, and then them kissing and cuddling on the beach - rather than a second run between Rocky and Apollo. This scene in the film always has me jumping for joy and I was a little disappointed to see that it was not included.
This is an excellent novelization, and one that works really well in conjunction with the film. It's only 152 pages (compared to 138 and 180 for the first and second respectively), so doesn't feel too long or too short. It's also got fairly short chapters, so reads quite easily, if you fancy something quick and easy to read between work calls. I'm still disappointed that (as far as I can find) only the first four films have been novelized, but at least we have the first four available.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 8, 2021
Rocky is back and about to have his hardest fight and will lose his trainer/mentor/father figure. Rocky is scared and deep down he will need to channel all his inner mental and physical strenght to beat the brick with eyes, the walking talking wrecking ball that is Clubber Lang. Nothing will keep Rocky down with his eye of the tiger determination, lets get it on!
June 2, 2026
8/10
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