Review: Rocky IV

After a supposed USA vs. Soviet Union exhibition match sees former champ Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers, in fine swaggering form) become a human punching bag (partly due to his own ill-preparation and ego), Rocky Balboa (Sly Stallone) agrees to come out of retirement and fight cyborg-like Russian fighter Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren). For revenge. In Russia, no less. Talia Shire and Burt Young reprise their roles as Rocky’s wife Adrian and irascible, curmudgeonly Uncle Paulie. Brigitte Nielsen (the Danish model who was Stallone’s wife for a few years) plays Drago’s wife and spokeswoman. The Godfather of Soul himself turns up in a scene that you simply have to see to believe.

I’ve always liked “Rocky III” best of the sequels by far, as it seemed to reflect where boxing was at and pointing towards where boxing was headed, with the glitziness, the thuggish Mike Tyson’s, and all the media stuff, etc. Even the boxing vs. wrestling match was a sign of things to come in a sense (albeit more for the wrestling world than boxing). I really think it’s an underrated and well-made picture, certainly better than “Rocky II”. Things were starting to smell by 1985 when writer-director-star Sly Stallone gave us this fourth instalment. It starts off well in an exciting, if dopey kind of way. We don’t get the usual title crawl across the screen but do we do get a gloriously stupid collision of two boxing gloves, one representing America, the other Russia, exploding on impact. Bravo, Mr. Stallone. Bravo. Carl Weathers as Apollo Creed is used in a particularly effective manner in this one (so much so that subsequent fight films would steal from this film), and Dolph Lundgren makes for a particularly imposing opponent, even if he’s clearly not in the same weight division as Rocky or Apollo (But then again he’s also Swedish, not Russian). The Apollo vs. Drago fight is easily the film’s highlight, not just because of its shockingly brutal one-sidedness, but also for Apollo’s hilariously over-the-top entrance, including a live appearance by James Brown performing ‘Living in America’. It’s over-the-top (did I mention it takes place in Vegas?) and reminds one more of Stallone’s directorial style on “Staying Alive” than the “Rocky” series, but it sure is memorable and effective.

Unfortunately, it all goes pretty much to hell after Rocky goes to Russia to train. And train. And train. The training montages in this film (yes, there’s more than one) clog up the middle of the film to an interminable degree and features way too many Survivor-wannabe soft rock inspirational songs on the soundtrack (The score is by Vince DiCola, but he barely gets a chance to breathe in between all the songs. I’m sure Bill Conti would not have stood for that). Personally, I think “Rocky III” had the best training sequence anyway, and not just because of ‘Eye of the Tiger’ (though it did help). This time it’s overkill and at the expense of any character development for the Russian characters in particular, who all come off as evil, humourless, and corrupt. Lundgren’s the possible exception, but only because his character is made so imposing and cyborg-like that he’s somewhat interesting. Brigitte Nielsen was never really much of an actress, but she’s acceptable as Mrs. Drago and certainly a lot better than she was in “Red Sonja”.

Tony Burton, as always, is rock-solid as Apollo’s corner man (His one-scene cameo in “Rocky Balboa” was the best thing in that film). Talia Shire appears as Adrian, but Sly (and Rocky for that matter) doesn’t seem remotely interested in her this time out and she’s absent for long stretches. I feel a bit sorry for her, because Adrian probably represents the best character she ever played (aside from maybe Connie Corleone), but eventually, the role got more and more diminished.

The film is watchable, in a brainless kind of way, and made lots of money. But it’s way overblown (it’s all deliberately allegorical, but that’s no excuse), overstylised, extremely sluggish in the midsection, and frankly, racially insensitive (even by 1985 standards). Just look at the ridiculous final couple of minutes where Stallone decides to condescendingly lecture the Russkies (many of whom wouldn’t have a clue what the barely English-speaker was saying anyway). See if you can find the teaser trailer on YouTube, though, it’s one of the all-time best in my view and makes Drago out to be even more intimidating.

Rating: C+