In Rocky III, when they arrive at the LA gym, Apollo tells Rocky: "You see that look in their eyes, Rock? When we fought, I trained hard but I didn't have that look. You had it and you won." Isn't this disingenuous? I mean, Apollo had the SERIOUS eye of the tiger look in Rocky II. Rocky, on the other hand, looked almost distracted in the moments before their rematch. Thoughts?
shareYou make a very good observation. I'm a huge Rocky fan and have seen all the movies multiple times but that thought never occurred to me.
I agree with you. Apollo, furious with constantly being criticized, mocked and accused of carrying Rocky for 15 rounds in their first match, was out for blood. He looked dead serious and focused all through the movie.
In contrast, Rocky was initially hesitant, then "forced" to fight due to his financial issues, depressed at Adrian's condition, and finally happy about his son's birth and Adrian's recovery.
During the last match, Rocky looks happy and even cracks jokes with Mickey. Apollo is dead serious. So you are right, Apollo had the real "Eye of the Tiger".
"I'm the dude, playing a dude that's disguised as another dude".
Yep, you put it much better than I did, A-zone. Apollo was "out for blood" and Rocky was cracking jokes: "He's still upset."
shareApollo looked like a man on a mission in the rematch. While Rocky looked like he was there just to take a beating. If he had the "Eye of the Tiger" it wasn't until near the end of the fight when he had Apollo ready to go.
shareI assumed the 'Eye' of the Tiger was the good one after Apollo nearly blinded Rocky with his bad eye
shareNot at all tbh Apollo was fighting for his ego, rocky was fighting for his life, him losing that fight meant he'd be in serious financial trouble and the fact that Adrian inspired him to win
shareThe only thing I can think of is that the eye came during the fight after Rocky said I'm not going down no more.
especially the last round
where creed says "your going down" and Rocky "say no.. no way"..
but before that there was no Tiger in his eyes with creed.
but after Adriane says, "Win, Win" in the hospital and Rocky's workout after that There is the eye which creed would have no idea about
Having the eye of the tiger is about having the right attitude to want to win. Rocky had the right attitude for their rematch whereas Apollo didn't. Apollo just wanted to knock out Rocky for the sake of his ego. Seeing that look in one's eyes is seeing their right determination. Apollo didn't have the eye of the tiger. It has nothing to do with how serious you look.
shareOkay, Pirate_Patch has a great point. The eye of the tiger isn't necessarily something you express with your face - it's an internal thing. So, yeah. Rocky had it. Case: closed! Pirate_Patch for the win.
sharethis is a great thread, but you have to admit that Rocky surely had his head in the game at least for a portion (a few rounds) of the fight. That must've been what Apollo was referring to.
Plus, there's one scene, closeup of Apollo in his corner, and his eyes are big and scared.... Like the opposite of a tiger..... The announcers say, "You have to wonder whats going on in Apollo's mind right now.... score another round for the challenger" or something like that.
You know that "eye of the tiger" isn't a real thing, right? It means whatever Stallone wants it to mean.
shareRocky did train his heart out in ROCKY II (after Adrian came out of her coma) and after the (obligatory) frustrating first 6 minutes of the rematch...Rocky got into the fight (as per usual) at the end of the second round (as with most Rocky movies)
I think that the 'Eye Of The Tiger' that Creed is referring to, is a gritty indifference to keep pushing forward (regardless of how many times you've been put down) Rocky had that 'Look' in both the first and second movies....but it had clearly deserted him by the time of his first fight with Clubber. Creed could see this at ringside?
Creed only trained hard in ROCKY II, because he'd all but lost the first fight as well (due to taking Balboa so lightly in the first movie) The fact that he brought his A-game to their rematch (and lost the decision) is the 'Eye Of The Tiger' he is referring to?