Rocky IV
From Free net encyclopedia
Current revision
Template:Infobox Film Taglines"
- When East Meets West, the Champion remains standing.
- He Could Have Stopped The Fight. He Could Have Saved His Best Friend's Life. But Now, The Only Thing He Can't Do Is Walk Away...
- Get ready for the next world war.
Rocky IV is a 1985 movie that is part of the Rocky franchise. In this one, the main character, Rocky Balboa (played again by Sylvester Stallone), has said he plans to retire from boxing after recovering his title from Clubber Lang in Rocky III. A new sensation from the Soviet Union, Ivan Drago (played by Dolph Lundgren), however, begins to emerge as a top contender.
Although Drago has never had a professional boxing fight and all his achievements came as an amateur, he comes to the United States with an entourage of Soviet government officials and his wife (played by Brigitte Nielsen), convinced that he can beat any American world boxing champion.
At the same time, Apollo Creed (played by Carl Weathers) is throwing balls at his dogs in the pool, and sees about a boxer coming from the Soviet Union under the name Ivan Drago. While watching his portable T.V., he is furious and calls Rocky to tell him about an idea he made up.
Apollo visits Rocky's mansion and the two reminisce while watching their second bout against each other, and the former champion, upon being asked by Balboa why he wanted to step back into the ring, Creed explains that as a fighter, his instincts to fight cannot be suppressed, and that Balboa wouldn't understand because he was still the champion.
Rocky reluctantly agrees to train his friend Apollo for a fight with the Russian, and the fight scheduled to take place in Las Vegas. In the press conference preceding the fight, comments about Apollo's ability to fight the Russian, made by Drago's camp, incite a small shoving match, with Drago's power being shown for the first time as he shoves Apollo back into Rocky's arms, who too is nearly taken off of his feet by the momentum. Apollo vows to finish it in the ring.
The fight arrives. Drago's entrance is simple; he is raised to the ring via a lift. Apollo comes in wearing a variant of the Uncle Sam regalia he wore in his first fight with Balboa while dancing to James Brown's 'Livin in America'. The bout was apparently supposed to be an exhibition. Apollo fights smoothly in the first half of the first round, though he's obviously slowed since his retirement and two bouts with Balboa. But Drago is barely hurt by Creed's punches, and hammers Apollo mercilessly.
In between the two rounds that the fight lasted, Rocky thinks briefly of stopping the fight, and urges Apollo to give up during the break between the first two rounds. Apollo makes Rocky promise not to stop the fight for any reason. During the second round, Apollo lands a single jab out of about 6 punches, and Drago hammers him again. Rocky is about to stop the fight, but decides not to because of the promise he made. Later in the round, Apollo collapses face-first after being hammered by more of Drago's blows; he dies while in the ring, and in Rocky's arms.
After Apollo's death, Rocky starts thinking about fighting Drago, in honor of Apollo, and has a talk with his wife Adrian about it. Adrian (played by Talia Shire) tries to convince her husband not to fight. But Rocky takes a drive and starts thinking about his whole career as a boxer, his fights with Apollo, his friendships with the boxer and the trainer who helped shape his career as a boxer and the way they left this world; when he returns from the drive, he is convinced he wants to go to Russia to challenge Drago and try to avenge his friend Creed.
Rocky and Drago then sign up to meet in Moscow on a special bout to be held on Christmas Day. Rocky flies to Russia with Creed's former trainer and his brother in law Paulie and the three begin severe training for the fight in total isolation in a remote area. (A location close to Jackson Hole, Wyoming was used as the shooting location for the outdoors USSR scenes.) They are constantly spied on by members of the Soviet government and spend their whole days training in the severe Russian winter. Drago, meanwhile, is in a high-tech sports center using every type of machinery imaginable for his training. He is tested daily for all kinds of body reactions and extended to the limits by his trainers, while periodically being administered some form of injection, implied to be anabolic steroids.
After months of intense training for both fighters, the final scene of the fight takes place, and Rocky is pummeled hard in the first round. However, realizing he must take matters into his own hands if he doesn't want to lose or die, he fights back aggressively in round 2, and surprisingly cuts Drago in the middle of the round. This staggers Drago, and the momentum shifts toward Rocky's favor for the first time. The two fighters continue to take turns beating each other up throughout the remaining rounds, but eventually Rocky begins to win over the previously hostile crowd. By round 15, they are both extremely tired, but Rocky has a little more left and is able to drop Drago for the count, avenging Apollo's final defeat.
After the fight, Rocky goes on to deliver an anti-Cold War message where he talks about union and friendship between both countries.
Because of his message in this sequel of Rocky and his characterization of an American military hero in Rambo: First Blood Part II in that same year, Stallone earned an award from President Ronald Reagan that year.
The soundtrack for the movie included Living in America by James Brown, the film's music was composed by Vince Di Cola, and also included songs by John Cafferty, the band Survivor, Kenny Loggins, and Robert Tepper.
U.S. box office gross
- Rocky: US$117.3 million
- Rocky II: US$85 million
- Rocky III: US$120.2 million
- Rocky IV: US$125.4 million
- Rocky V: US$40 million
These figures only reflect movie theater ticket sales in the United States. The most profitable of the films by far was the original Rocky, which only spent a production budget of US$1.1 million.
External link
- {{{2|{{{title|Rocky IV}}}}}} at The Internet Movie Database
- Rocky Fan Forum
- Rocky IV: The Undisputed Highlight Of The Cold War
| Rocky IV, part of the Rocky Series |
|---|
| Rocky | Rocky II | Rocky III | Rocky IV | Rocky V | Rocky Balboa |