Rocky! Rocky! Rocky! Rocky!

Rating: 7/10 (22 May 2020)

Rocky IV starts off exactly where Rocky III ended. An ultimate challenger has risen to fame, and this time, Rocky just may have met his match. A Russian boxer, with a brutally powerful 4000 pound psi, has made headlines, looking for his next match. Apollo Creed is interested in facing the challenge after hearing all the hype on TV, and fearlessly faces the deadly Ivan Drago. Things do not turn out well for Apollo. He not only loses, he endures a fatal blow to the head, and Rocky ends up losing the man he befriended, even after stepping in the ring with him himself. Now, if you remember the end of Rocky II, the main event with Rocky and Apollo, you remember how these two were a force to be reckoned with, and the battle in the ring was a close match for both of them. If Ivan Drago can take out Apollo with one punch, what does this mean for Rocky, who is already slowly showing signs of slow down, in mental and physical health. Rocky doesn't care. He wants the ultimate challenge against Ivan Drago, choosing to do a match with no royalties, on Christmas Day, in Russia, Ivans own country. Doing a match, for free, a boxing match risking your own life, to repay Apollo with the ultimate Christmas gift, in Dragos own country? Wow! Rocky means BUSINESS here! To take on the incredibly powerful Ivan Drago is going to mean Rocky is going to have to go through some pretty painful training, as he doesn't stand a chance of possessing a 4000 pound psi such as Ivan Drago himself. He's going to have to rebuild himself, from head to toe, before he can step head to toe with Drago in the ring. Rocky IV may or may not be the best in the series, it can be argued, but what cannot be argued, is that this film was by far the most exciting. Through the clever montages, it manages to pump up your own blood, and root more then ever for Rocky. There are a number of reasons why Rocky wants to take down the mighty Drago, all of which Adrian won't be able to understand, feeling as if he's committing suicide just by getting in the ring with him, and declaring to Rocky that he can't win. Rocky is going to do everything he can to prove her and the rest of the world wrong. Rocky 4 gets 7 out of 10 stars!