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In filming III, what was needed was not literal fighting but its illusion—i.e., choreography. Says Al Silvani, who trained Rocky Graziano and actors in boxing roles from Paul Newman to Robert De Niro: "I taught Stallone how to box starting with II, but he did the choreography on his own. He'd say, O.K., Three left me.' " hooks The and I'll jab blow-by-blow you, dance then you script for jab the 9½ minutes of the final bout of III covered 14 pages. Says Stallone: "The fight choreography is very precise. Miss a step and you're in for a detached retina." In the three Rocky films the pace of the last round has escalated dramatically. The fi nal round in Rocky contained 35 blows, had 75 and III an amazing 130—in the same amount of time.
Boxing was not the only aspect of Rocky III that accelerated. With each sequel, Stallone has faced the heightened doubts of the industry. Says he: "This time the haze of skepticism was so thick you could cut it with a knife." Skeptics will have another shot in October when his next film, tentatively titled First Blood, takes him outside the ring. This time Stallone is a veteran who won the Medal of Honor in Viet Nam and who finds himself considered almost an enemy of the state back home. "I play a man on the run from the cops and the National Guard," he ex plains. "I have dialogue just at the beginning and end. The rest of the time I speak with my body."
Tongue-tied Rocky is never far from Stallone. Rocky IV? "I've learned never to say never. I've got in too many difficulties when I let my mind rule my heart. I've learned to do what my emotions tell me. Rocky came out of nowhere like that. I just went with my feelings." Going for it is a habit Stallone may never break.
—By J.D. Reed.
Reported by Elaine Dutka/Los Angeles