"To beat me he's gonna have to kill me..."

Rating: 7/10 (6 July 2015)

Probably my favorite Rocky movie behind the original and easily the one I've re-watched the most. It's just sheer '80s goodness that perhaps can only best be appreciated by a child of that decade. The story this time has the Russians introducing a new fighter, drug-enhanced giant Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren), to challenge Rocky. But instead of Rocky, they get Apollo. After Drago kills Apollo in what was supposed to be an exhibition match, Rocky travels to Russia to avenge his friend in a match televised across the world on Christmas.
Such a fun movie with great characters, memorable lines, and wonderful scenes. Sylvester Stallone stars, as well as writing and directing. Carl Weathers, Talia Shire, and Burt Young all return. All are great. Career-defining role for Dolph Lundgren. Brigitte Nielsen is good as his wife (she would marry Stallone the same year this was released). Vince DiCola steps in to do the score this time and does an excellent job, along with a fantastic soundtrack featuring James Brown, John Cafferty, and Robert Tepper, among others. The fight scenes are among the best of the series. Also some of the best montages you'll ever see. A fantastic fist-pumper of a movie with action, drama, humor, tragedy, and thought-provoking ideas about world peace. Okay, that last part was a stretch but I'm not someone who rolls their eyes at '80s Cold War movies -- I love 'em! Really a terrific piece of entertainment. Nowhere near the artistry of the first film but much more enjoyable than any others in the series.