It works for the fourth time. Unbelievable!

Rating: 7/10 (8 April 2007)

In most respects the Rocky series reached full camp value with the fourth entry. This time The Italian Stallion goes up against a superhuman Russian fighter who, with the aid of steroids apparently, seems to be invincible.
Russian boxer Ivan Drago fights with former champ Apollo Creed and literally kills him in the ring. Rocky then decides to battle the Russian in his home country on Christmas Day in an ultimate fight between East and West.
The clichés come fast and furiously. Once again Rocky must cope with the loss of a loved one and step up to the plate. Now matter how much he's accomplished, Rocky always ends up as the underdog and must face his greatest challenge yet. The film comes complete with trips down memory lane, Adrian once again bringing him down and then up and, my favorite part, the Russian crowd starting to cheer on Rocky in the boxing match. And of course there's an overblown speech Rocky makes in the end about how everybody can change.
But, in the face of all the odds and clichés, Rocky 4 is mostly a winner. It's a huge credit for Stallone how he can make the same formula successful 4 times in a row. Rocky 4 boasts some of the coolest training montages ever and with the help of a knockout music score the film is simply cool. The film clocks in at under 90 minutes so the dramatic parts are handled with speed and viewers don't have to wait long for the action to kick in. There are two training sequences where he's in the snow either running or training furiously with just about everything in sight. Then there's the epic battle between Rocky and Drago in the ring which still today looks smashing.
The cast is always right on the money and Dolph Lundgren is still a childhood favorite of mine after playing Drago. Rocky looks quite a bit different but he's still appealing.
Rocky 4 is a formula but it's got great set pieces, cool training scenes and a killer soundtrack (No Easy Way Out is probably my favorite ever song). It doesn't move viewers like the first one did but it kills 90 minutes very easily.