Exquisite dreck

Rating: 7/10 (5 May 2005)

This isn't a good film, really. But it's a fascinating, often enthralling piece of glitzy schlock.
With the fourth installment, almost all of the humanity and pathos that defined the first three films (for better or worse) is discarded, in favor of extreme superficiality. But as a result we get some truly beautiful sequences: Rocky's night-time Ferrari ride (which is essentially a music video), Drago's two ring entrances, and the prefight national anthems. Here Stallone uses all sorts of near-comical tones. Dramatic eyelights and strong colors rule the day throughout.
The film is a mess, but it's a thoroughly enjoyable one, and there is a certain art to it.