U.S. vs Them. 80's style!

Rating: 7/10 (26 June 2012)

Wouldn't it be something if Heavyweight boxing matches were really that entertaining? Most of them I've seen are just two overweight guys that throw a couple punches and then grab a hold of the other man mostly because they are out of shape and exhausted by the end of round one. No wonder UFC has taken over! But in the Rocky movies (especially this one) the two combatants beat the stuffing out of each other. One roundhouse punch lands after the next. Totally unrealistic, but so is just about everything else in Rocky IV.
Stallone is back as usual and apparently comfortably retired after taking out Mr. T in the previous installment. Only after his once rival and now friend Apollo Crede is killed by a seemingly indestructible Russian boxer, Rocky must come back and avenge not only Apollo, but the pride of the United States! It was 1985! The Cold War was as hot as ever, and the only good Russian as far as we were concerned was.... well, those were the days. The Russian, known as Ivan Draggo, is wonderfully played by Swedish "actor" Dolph Lundgren. And boy does he look the part! Genetically engineered by top Soviet scientists, he is perhaps super-human. And his wife is a total icy witch played by Stallone's babe of the moment, Danish model and now reality star Brigitte Nielsen. All she does is look on with pride as Draggo trains, and scowl at Adrian as it appears her husband is destroying Rocky in the ring. And the actors portraying the other Russians are as cold and evil as ever! To top it all off, the final fight will be in Moscow! Does Rocky have a chance??? I wonder.
Despite being a very entertaining movie, there are some really cheesy moments that should have been left out. Paulie's robotic birthday present is probably the worst. The scene where the robot is introduced is so awful, it was even parodied on Family Guy. How about the never-ending music montages whenever Rocky is either training, or just driving around at night in a state of angst? The soundtrack is one lame, slick tune after another. There are some good songs by Survivor on there though! The final fight is quite a spectacle, but some really dumb things happen while it is going on. First of all, the crowd begins to support Rocky! As if! Any hint of support for him in real life would have meant a life-long banishment to the gold mines of Kolyma, or worse! And how about the scene where Draggo throws a Soviet suit out of the ring and declares he fights, "FOR ME!!!!" No chance. And how about the KGB minders who follow Rocky around when he's jogging? I think one of them might have been Vladomir Putin! He was KGB about that time. Still probably is! Anyway, the film made an absolute fortune. Maybe Stallone's most profitable film ever. 7 of 10 stars.
The Hound.