ROCKY IV

'''Rocky IV''' is the fourth and most successful movie, in terms of box office gross, of the ''Rocky'' franchise.[[1]] Rocky Balboa (played again by Sylvester Stallone), has said he plans to retire from boxing after recovering his title from Clubber Lang in ''Rocky III''. A new sensation from the Soviet Union, Ivan Drago (played by Dolph Lundgren), however, begins to emerge as a top contender.

Contents

Plot

Production

Music

U.K & U.S charts for the soundtrack

U.S. Box Office

Worldwide reception

Trivia

References

External links

Plot

The year is 1985 and following another friendly sparring match with Apollo Creed, Rocky returns to his home in Philadelphia to celebrate Paulie's birthday. Its also Rocky and Adrian's (almost) 9 year anniversary. Ivan Drago(Dolph Lundgren), a highly intimidating 261 pound Soviet boxer, arrives in America to challenge the best American fighters. Apollo Creed, motivated by patriotism and a desire to prove himself after retirement, quickly jumps at the chance to step back into the ring in an exhibition bout against Drago. Despite apprehension from Rocky, who eventually agrees to help train him, Apollo sets the match between himself and Drago in Las Vegas. With Rocky in his corner, Apollo flamboyantly makes his way to the ring with a bigger show than when he first fought Rocky, which includes fireworks, James Brown performing "Living in America," and a patriotic theme, including a crowd implacably hostile to the visiting Soviet boxer. The match, which apparently was supposed to be for fun, ends in tragedy in the second round as Apollo, who took an unmerciful beating from Drago and refused to allow Rocky to throw in the towel, is killed in the ring by one final hard shot from Drago.

After Apollo's funeral, feeling grief over not stopping the fight, and incensed by Drago's cold indifference to killing Apollo, ("If he dies, he dies.") Rocky decides he must avenge Apollo's death and sets a match with the Russian. The match is set for Christmas Day, in Moscow, but Rocky's title is not on the line because the boxing commission refuses to sanction the fight. Adrian initially cannot understand why Rocky would fight, fearing for his life. Rocky flies to a remote and rustic part of the Soviet Union to train; to help with his training he brings Apollo's former trainer Tony "Duke" Evers and his brother-in-law Paulie. Training runs for several months, with Rocky using more humble methods like chopping wood, running up snowy embankments, and lifting huge rocks; Drago is using the most modern equipment coupled with regular injections of what is implied to be anabolic steroids. During one of his runs, Rocky returns to find Adrian waiting for him. With Adrian providing more reason to succeed, Rocky begins to train even harder.

After intense preparation for both fighters, the two men finally meet in the ring. The match set in Moscow, before the Politburo, and is broadcast throughout the globe. The crowd is strongly against Rocky, booing him fiercely and cheering Drago, as the American crowd cheered Creed and booed Drago in Las Vegas. After the ring introductions, an impassive Drago tells Rocky, "I must break you." After a pummeling first round, with the Russian easily winning, Rocky comes back toward the end of the second and cuts Drago just below his eye. With Drago's confidence shaken by the injury and Rocky's apparently limitless endurance and resilience, this is a turning point as Rocky and his trainers see that Drago is not superhuman as he appears, conversely while Drago describes Rocky as non-human and a "piece of iron."
The fight degenerates into a brutal battle of stamina and will across all fifteen rounds. By the end, the Soviet crowd has been won over by Rocky's determination and endurance, and have begun chanting his name. One Politburo member is angered by the crowd's change in mood and gets up to the ring to berate Drago's performance; Drago then throttles the official and tosses him aside, saying "I fight for me...FOR ME....!" In the fifteenth and final round, both fighters batter at each other, but Drago's endurance finally runs out, while Rocky finds his last burst of strength and lands one final signature left hook that finally knocks out the Russian.
Following his victory, Rocky gives an impassioned speech to the crowd, acknowledging their initial and mutual disdain for each other, and how they've come to respect and admire each other during the fight. Saying that the brutal battle between him and Drago in the ring was better than war between their two countries, he brings the crowd, including the Politburo, to its feet in applause, by claiming that "if I can change and you can change, then everybody can change!"

Production

Wyoming doubled for the frozen expanse of the Soviet Union. The small farm where Rocky lived and trained was located in Jackson Hole, and the Grand Teton National Park was used for filming many of the outdoor sequences in Russia. The PNE Forum at Hastings Park in Vancouver, British Columbia, served as the location of Rocky's Soviet bout. Ironically, the site would later house production of another U.S.-Soviet sports film, '' Miracle''.
Sylvester Stallone has stated that the punching between him and Dolph Lundgren in the first portion of the fight is completely authentic. One particularly forceful punch to Stallone's chest slammed his heart against his breastbone, causing the heart to swell and his breathing to become labored. Stallone, suffering from labored breathing and a blood pressure over 200, was flown from the set in Canada to St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica and was kept in intensive care for eight days.^[1]
Additionally, Stallone claims that Lundgren nearly forced Carl Weathers to quit in the middle of filming the Apollo versus Drago exhibition fight. Lungdren tossed Weathers into the corner of the boxing ring, prompting Weathers to leave the ring and announce that he was quitting and calling his agent.^[1]

Music

The soundtrack for the movie included "Living in America" by James Brown; the film's music was composed by Vince DiCola, and also included songs by John Cafferty and The Beaver Brown Band, the band Survivor, Kenny Loggins, and Robert Tepper. ''Rocky IV'' is the only film in the series not to feature Bill Conti. Go West wrote "One Way Street" for the movie by request of Sylvester Stallone.

U.K & U.S charts for the soundtrack

UK Date: ''01/02/1986'' - Run: 48-18- 8-7-'
★ 3
★ '-4-5-5-8-10-12-15-21-33-45-66-81-0-71-91-70-93-0-94 (22-17c/8 wks)
US Date: ''16/11/1985'' - Run: 147-115-104-79-71-43-37- (7 wsf)
04/01/1986: 37-29-24-19-16-11-11-'
★ 10
★ '-11-11-12-13-20-22-28-45-58-60-101-128-152-164-198 (30/1 wks)

U.S. Box Office

When compared to the other ''Rocky'' installments, ''Rocky IV'' is the most successful in terms of non-adjusted box office gross.^[3]

★ ''Rocky'': US $117.3 million

★ ''Rocky II'': US $85 million

★ ''Rocky III'': US $125 million

★ '''Rocky IV'': US $127.8 million'

★ ''Rocky V'': US $40.9 million

★ ''Rocky Balboa'': US $70.3 million
These figures only reflect movie theater ticket sales in the United States. The most profitable of the films by far was the original ''Rocky'', which only spent a production budget of US$1.1 million.

Worldwide reception

''Rocky IV'' made US$175 million outside of the U.S. grossing an overall US$300 million worldwide, the most out of any ''Rocky'' film. Additionally, ''Rocky IV'' is the most successful sports film of all time in terms of Box Office Adjusted for Inflation.

Trivia

★ Artist LeRoy Neiman makes his second appearance in the ''Rocky'' series as a ring announcer for the Apollo Creed/Ivan Drago exhibition fight.

★ Sportscaster Stu Nahan makes his fourth appearance in the series as commentator for the Apollo/Drago fight. Warner Wolf replaces Bill Baldwin (who had died in 1982) as co-commentator.

★ Apollo Creed's wife (Sylvia Meals) make her second of two appearances in the series, the first being in ''Rocky II''.

★ Paulie shows his ignorance of college football by implying he'll miss the Rose Bowl game, usually played on New Year's Day, although the fight takes place on Christmas Day.

★ It is the only movie of the series not to begin with the moving "Rocky" logo and not to feature a new score by Bill Conti.

★ Stallone's then-wife, Brigitte Nielsen, appeared as Drago's wife, Ludmilla.

★ Two Scandinavian actors (Danish Brigitte Nielsen and Swedish Dolph Lundgren) play Russian characters in the film.

★ In the 1987 film ''Spaceballs'', the lengthy nature of the Rocky franchise was jokingly referenced (specifically that they had made four films already) when a TV newscaster said, ''"Next up, Pongo's review of Rocky Five... Thousand!"''

★ The addition of a lengthy flashback to Rocky's previous films during the famous "car drive" sequence marks the only time in the franchise that the movie has two montages as opposed to just the lengthy training sequences.

★ The original ending was supposed to have Rocky being killed during his fight with Drago.

References

1. Stallone Interview With Ain't It Cool News
2. Stallone Interview With Ain't It Cool News
3. Box Office gross

External links

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