Sylvester Stallone directs himself, Talia Shire and Carl Weathers in this boxing three-quel where The Italian Stallion’s heavyweight championship title is called into question when an aggressive undercard fighter points out the easy ride of contenders he has faced.

Gritty and glossy, camp and macho in a way that shouldn’t work. Shut up and eat your montage. Not the best Rocky entry but possibly the most daft fun. The challengers here feel like a genuine risk to his mortality and the training sessions make funky sense. This is the one with MR T, AND Hulk Hogan, where Mickey dies and Adrian finally shakes off her retardation and becomes a glamorous adult. Weathers is tops as always as Creed and I hope Mr T got paid a bonus for each guttural grunt. Hurr… Hurgghhh… Huggggnnn!

7

Perfect Double Bill: Rocky IV (1985)

I write regular features about live comedy for British Comedy Guide here https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/bobby_carroll/features/