The best one out of the 5!!!

Rating: 10/10 (19 April 1999)

Rocky 4 was utterly spectacular. I know that the critics would say that Rocky 1 was the best, but for me I did not get nearly as much inspiration from the first one as I did in this film. This movie did such a marvelous job of depicting Drago as some omnipotent, unbeatable adversary. Throughout the movie I was left thinking, ..." How the heck will Rocky beat this monster??"
Well... Rocky knew his challenge at hand and despite all the odds, (including that his best friend Apollo Creed got killed), was able to overcome them all. I thought that Drago clearly had all the advantages.. He was stronger (hitting 1850 psi with each punch!!!) , bigger, used steroids among other things. Rocky surely showed amazing perseverance to be able to come out on top.
I loved the training scenes. They portrayed another huge advantage the Russian had---training with computer technology. On the other hand, Rocky had only nature to assist him in his seemingly impossible challenge. This part of the movie beautifully depicted (more so than the other 4 movies), Rocky's seriousness for this battle. His stern disposition throughout and amazing feats such as climbing that tall mountain illustrate this fact.
And as for the final fight?? Man.. That was spectacular. Gotta see it to believe it. The biggest emotional ride I have ever had in a movie. This movie brought tears to my eyes as I can only sit and wonder.. "How can someone be so extremely perseverant as Rocky Balboa was?" This movie to me, is an icon of inspiration and espouses an unrelenting attitude to achieve any goal you have in life.
For these and many other reasons, Rocky 4 is probably my second favorite movie (A VERY, VERY CLOSE SECOND just behind Return of the Jedi) of all time. I must have seen this thing over 30 times.. minimum. I do not care if the critics thought this movie was lackluster compared to Rocky 1 and 2.... To me, this movie is a classic. Very close to being the best ever.