The Best Rocky

Rating: Null/10 (3 July 2004)

I am a dire, life-long fan of the Chartoff/Winkler masterpieces known as the Rocky series. I wathced as Rocky Balboa went from a courageous nobody to the world famous underdog in Rocky 1. I watched as Rocky Balboa went from a world famous underdog to a courageous nobody and then to World Heavyweight Champion in Rocky 2. I watched as Rocky Balboa went from the world heavyweight champion to a nobody, and back to the world heavyweight champion. The one thing the above three have in common is an abundance of downtime where very little is happening.
That's what is different about Rocky IV. The only downtime in the movie is at the very beginning when Apollo Creed is convincing the world why he should fight the Russian. From there the pace gradually increases. We see the Rocky highlight reel followed by a pair of intense training sequences to an actual soundtrack. Of all the movies these two training sequences are only outdone by the upbeat and inspirational training sequences of Rocky III. And to cap it all off comes the best fight scene of all the Rocky movies. I still can't help but get goosebumps when you hear the announcer exclaim "He's cut, the Russian is cut." From there it is 13 more rounds of head to head, gut busting action.
The only downside to this movie is the ineffective attempt at trying to make a political statement. The monologue at the end about everyone changing. Come on. If i had just got the s*** beaten out of me for 15 rounds, I would not be thinking about that.
But still, Rocky IV... 5 out of 5.