And Rocky just lost the first fight fair and square. No excuses, then when he comes back and wins the second fight it's all the more meaningful. They could have had Mick die between the two fights. I guess they had to have the drama. Mick's death scene looked like the death scene from The Champ.
shareStallone has said from time to time that if he had to do it over again he probably wouldn't have killed Mickey off. I think he realized what a great character Mick was.
share1. Imagine how proud of him Micky would have been if he got to live to see Rocky defeat Lang and get his title back.
2. If he was alive in this alternate universe of Rocky 4 to see Apollo beaten to death imagine him having to live with Rocky facing Drago, that might kill him just WATCHING it.
https://screenrant.com/rocky-movies-character-deaths-stallone-reason/
Burgess Meredith made the character of Mickey a pop culture icon, and his death in Rocky III secured the character's legendary status. At the beginning of Rocky III, Mick insists that the up-and-coming Clubber Lang (Mr. T) is a "killer" and that Rocky shouldn't fight him. When Rocky takes the fight anyway, Mick reluctantly agrees to coach his fighter, but a pre-fight argument sees Mick pushed by Lang, resulting in the coach going into cardiac arrest. A distracted Rocky fights the dangerous Clubber Lang anyway, only to lose his heavyweight championship. When Rocky visits Mick shortly after the fight, the coach dies of a heart attack.share
Mickey's death proves to be a galvanizing moment for Rocky. His previous comments about Rocky getting too "civilized" after winning the championship were proved by his beating at the hands of Lang, and his death is what motivates Rocky to push past his defeat and come back stronger. It also prompts Rocky to reach out to former rival Apollo Creed, who agrees to train the Italian Stallion for his rematch against Lang.
Mick's death not only serves as a moment of painful growth for Rocky, but it also works as a reason to bring Carl Weathers' Apollo Creed back for another movie. The Rocky franchise's returning characters are one of the films' biggest assets, and as Rocky and Apollo's rivalry was done, having the latter come back to coach the former serves as an excellent narrative development for the franchise. It also highlights the power of grief as a motivator for Rocky, which later becomes an integral part of the character.
some of the dialogue is outstanding, or perhaps it's the way burgess meredith delivers it "i've seen wrestlers bigger than dinosaurs, you ever fought a dinosaur, kid?" mr.t and hulk hogan, this rocky movie is a circus, definitively the most entertaining of the franchise, but including the loss of mickey which is a major downer, he turns so many lines gold, rocky: "what do you wanna do when all this is over" - mickey: "i don't know.. join up with a circus". i always took for granted they had to kill off mickey cause the actor wouldn't return for yet another sequel, heston made a thing like that in planet of the apes, that was my only explanation for dropping such a legendary actor in a role that seem very popular checking around these boards. i love the spoof of mickey in "family guy", come to think of it meredith actually were in all rocky movies except rocky 4 since he made a special dream appearance in rocky 5, and even in 21st century movies he's in flashbacks. also i didn't like how they handled the loss of mickey in this, sort of like "well mickey was good for that time, now it's time for apollo to set things right". paulie is as usual unbearable, i have to switch off the sound when he starts going about.
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lost in the world,
dont know where to turn,
walls closing in,
castle crumbling,
please dont leave me,
nobody cares alone sinking,
too far to start over,
as my old world going.
It was the 2nd sequel, and Mickey needed to die. They needed to switch to a more serious angle, and it worked perfectly.
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