Absolutley Horrible

Rating: Null/10 (26 November 2000)

After two decent films, Rocky III was released and was a resounding failure. But although the films lost quality with each sequel, they continued to get more and more popular at the box-office. After Rocky III raked in over $120 million, there would be no doubt that Stallone would churn out another installment of the Philadelphia pugilist. Using his huge success with Rambo: First Blood Part II the same year as a spring board, he gives us Rocky IV, undoubtedly one of the worst films of the 1980s (right down there with the Rambo series).
After Rocky defeats Clubber Lang (Mr. T) and regains the heavyweight title, a new boxer arrives. He is Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren), a cold, steel-like man who has been trained to perfection by the Soviet sports machine. Rocky's cocky friend Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) thinks he can take Drago in an exhibition match but the Russian's power goes on full display when Creed dies in the ring. Fueled by hate and the need for revenge, Rocky agrees to fight the unbeatable Drago in Moscow, where the world awaits a climatic showdown of east-versus-west.
If the Cold War ever turned hot, Russian POWs would be herded into theatres to see Rocky IV ten times a day. The movie is so blantantly stupid and hyper-patriotic, stone-cold Drago seems like the only sane one. Of course, while Rocky pulls logs and climbs mountains, Drago is being trained in high-tech gyms and being pumped up with steroids. His wife Ludmilla (Brigette Nielsen) seems nice and caring to the outside world, but inside she craves destruction just like her husband. Drago's trainer screams about how corrupt and backwards the culture of the United States is. He is right: corrupt, stupid, and offensive enough to release Rocky IV.
Stallone has no right to comment on situations he obviously knows nothing about. Making Communists the enemy is simply a way to lock a high-profit for the film. Rambo had the same pathetic political outlook: that America is the great country fighting against the "evil empire" that Ronal Reagan envisioned. Stallone is just as stupid as Reagan and takes pride in scenes where Rocky, the uneducated but lovable boxer from Philadelphia, wraps himself in the American flag and then gives a speech to the Moscow crowd, who cheer him on!
If you can put all this behind you, you can still see that the intangibles of the movie are pretty bad. Adrian and Paulie's characters become more and more useless as the films continue: this time Adrian only covers her face when Rocky is losing and Paulie simply talks with a life-size robot he gets for his birthday (!). Stallone himself has obviously overtaken his Rocky persona and is throughly stupid. As usual, Carl Weathers is the only bright spot in the production.
When it does come time for Rocky to face Drago in the ring, we don't see the underdog that just barely managed to stay up to win in Rocky II or the guy who went the distance with the heavyweight champ in Rocky. Now, Balboa is a huge, ripped machine who has no strategy but to pummell his enemy to death with non-stop hits. The fight is so cartoonish, completly with Drago giving Rocky the "death-stare," it feels like video game propaganda.
Rocky IV is completly unlike anything seen in the first movie. How much our hero has changed! At first, he was a tough boxer with a will to win against all odds. Now, he is an oversize poster boy for the US, preaching against the Soviet EVIL. The champ was knocked out in Rocky III. This time listen to your corner, Rock, and stay down.