Rocky IV (1985)
Written by: Mitch "Mister Bones" Reaves
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For
my entry into Yeah! Guns and Shit! it didn’t take me long to come
up with the movie I wanted to write about. Commando, of course. It
was taken. Ok then, Predator. Gone. Aliens it is, then. Nope. FUCK!
Let me think about it... Fast forward a couple days, and I get a text
from Brobocop asking how I felt about Rocky IV. How do I feel about
Rocky IV? It makes me goddamn proud to be an American, that’s how.
But, does it really fit into an 80’s action week theme entitled
“Yeah! Guns and Shit!”? I didn’t think so. Then Brobocop hit me
with some logic that honestly made me embarrassed that I didn’t
think of it right away, have you SEEN Sly’s arms in this shit?
They’re the very definition of Guns. Sign me up. Hold onto your
hats kids, we’re in the middle of the Cold War, and while there may
be no easy way out, we’ve got the eye of the tiger and Rocky on our
side. I like our chances.
I
first saw Rocky IV at the young age of 7. I’m sure I had seen the
previous films in the series, but being totally honest, my earliest
memories of the Italian Stallion are of him lifting nets full of
rocks, in preparation of his battle against a Russian giant on enemy
ground. Inspirational doesn’t even begin to describe it. I can
remember actually being nervous the first time I saw the fight, I
wasn’t sure Rocky could win. That’s huge when you’re 7, the
good guy is supposed to win, right? I’ve spoken on this before, but
the movies that have really stuck with me through the years are the
ones that have elicited some sort of emotional response with me.
Rocky IV scared me, inspired me, motivated me, and eventually made me
cheer out loud. How many movies do we get to say that about in our
lifetime?
When
the film opens, we see Rocky and Apollo as old friends, reminiscing
about their days in the boxing ring. Now, being as I didn’t really
know who Apollo was the first time, the impact of this didn’t
really hit home until later on in my life. When I went back as I got
older, I witnessed everything these characters went through together,
how their relationship formed from what looked like hatred but
eventually turned to friendship through mutual respect, and it made
knowing what was coming for them all the more powerful. But I’m
getting ahead of myself. So Rocky’s living the good life. He’s
got a family, big house, money, cars, and all that jazz. Turns out
while Apollo may have all of that too, he’s not quite as content in
his retirement. He’s feeling the itch to get back into the ring,
and after witnessing the arrival of Russian Ivan Drago into American
boxing, he begins to consider a return. Drago’s camp is initially
interested in Ivan fighting in an exhibition against Rocky, but
before Rock can even say no, Apollo throws his name in the ring.
Of
course Rock tries to talk him out of it, but being the friend that he
is, he ends up in Apollo’s corner for the fight. There’s a press
conference, in which Apollo is all confidence and attitude, and the
Russian appears to be less than interested in any of it. Drago at
this point in the movie is little more than an emotionless machine,
and is scary as hell. At this point, I think it would’ve been nice
to see a bit of Apollo conditioning for the fight, maybe giving a
little look at a boxer who was at one time at the top of the world,
but has aged a little and is now just a step or two behind where he
was, even struggling a little. Instead the movie jumps straight to
the bout, and what can only be described as one of the most
hilariously over the top ring entrances ever put together. Dancers,
lights, pyrotechnics, and the Godfather of Soul himself singing
“Living in America” at the top of his lungs. In the middle of it
all, Apollo descending to the ring from the ceiling on a platform
shaped like a giant, golden bull. Drago watches on, still
emotionless. When the two finally come together in the center of the
ring for introductions, he looks Apollo right in the eye, and simply,
coldly tells him “You will lose.” as if there is no other
possible outcome.
When
the bell rings, Apollo goes on the offensive, dancing around and
throwing jabs most of which land, and appear to be doing absolutely
nothing. Then Drago finally attacks, and I can remember to this day
what it sounded like the first time I heard that first punch land, it
was like a cannon. Apollo barely survives the first round, and even
though Rocky pleads with him to let him throw in the towel, he
refuses. He doesn’t survive round two, as Drago immediately begins
the attack again and mercilessly beats Apollo to death. Looking down
at the carnage, he utters one of the most infamously chilling lines
I’ve ever heard in my life, “If he dies, he dies.”
At
this point, you’re probably thinking, this Drago with a
manslaughter charge pending, this Drago guy will never box again! Not
so fast comrade, first things first, this is a movie and we’re
expected to suspend belief, but allow me to bring to your attention a
few examples of this in pro sports today; Ray Lewis stabbed a guy to
death in a club in Atlanta during the Superbowl and he’s still
playing football, Mike Vick ran illegal dog fighting rings and killed
hundreds of dogs and he’s still playing football, and most
recently, goalie Ilya Bryzgalov murdered any chances my Flyers had at
winning the Stanley Cup last season and he’s still playing hockey.
So see, this shit really happens.
Back
to the movie, after a fairly emotional funeral scene, the boxing
world is abuzz with the announcement that Rocky has stepped down as
US Heavyweight Champion so that he can climb into the ring with
Drago, in Russia, on Christmas Day. Turns out you can’t just beat
his best friend to death and get away with it as far as the Italian
Stallion is concerned. The news is of course met with heavy
resistance from his family, especially his wife, Adrian, but Rock’s
a man, and sometimes a man’s simply got to do what a man’s got to
do. He informs her that he’ll be leaving to train for the fight in
Russia.
Flashback/driving
montage set to music time, oh hell yes baby. Rocky’s got a lot on
his mind, and after a fight with the Mrs. he’s just got to get in
the Lambo, put the pedal on the floor, and drive some stuff out.
Basically backtracking through the entire Rocky film set from the
first to present, the scene is set to Robert Tepper’s “No Easy
Way Out” and is impossible not to rock the fuck out to. Side story
here, I remember driving home from work one day listening to Bullet
for my Valentine’s “Scream, Aim, and Fire” album for the first
time when I got to the bonus tracks, and their cover of this song.
Next thing I knew I was screaming along to it, looked down at my
speedometer and unintentionally had my little Ranger pushing 100.
Let’s just say, this song gets me pumped, no matter who’s
performing it.
After
a touching scene in which we see Rocky attempting to explain to his
young son why he has to leave home, at Christmas no less, to fight
again, we head to Russia. Rock, Paulie, and Apollo’s trainer, Duke,
arrive to find a military escort which takes them to where Rocky will
be doing his training, a small log cabin in the middle of nowhere.
There’s snow everywhere, and not much else. Time for a workout
montage! A staple of the Rocky franchise, and honestly other than the
fights themselves, these are my favorite parts of the films. In IV,
we get to see how polar opposite, yet at the same time very similar,
Rocky and Drago train for the bout. While Ivan has the luxury of a
state of the art facility and equipment, and a small army of personal
trainers, Rocky has only Duke and Paulie, and what he can find around
the cabin. Rock is sawing logs and shit, chopping wood, running
through frozen water, chopping firewood, pulling Paulie’s fat ass
on a sled in knee deep snow, and lifting those aforementioned nets
full of big ass rocks. Basically, he’s making P90X look like it was
designed for pussies.
Remember
when I said that Rocky IV was inspirational? Another side note here,
I haven’t always been the internet sex symbol I am today. Let’s
just say there have been times in my life that I haven’t exactly
been in the best shape I could be in. I can fully remember stopping
this movie at this particular moment, going out into my parent’s
back yard, and throwing a 2x8 across my dad’s saw horses to lift
whatever I could find to lift, or running around the perimeter of the
yard, or picking up rocks and throwing them. Basically just
exercising in any way I could find. The next day? Fuck exercise, I
was back on the couch watching a different movie, or playing
Nintendo, but for that one day I was busting my ass. I was working
out like a champ, ready to beat a giant Russian’s ass.
It’s
at this point in the movie, Rocky returns from a run, with a full-on
“Dos Equis guy” beard, to find Adrian waiting for him on the
front steps of the cabin. Having his lady by his side again, really
gets Rocky motivated, and to the tune of John Cafferty’s “Hearts
on Fire”, we are treated to an unprecedented SECOND work out
montage, this one even more extreme than the last. Seriously,
Insanity hasn’t got SHIT on what Rock’s doing. It’s here that I
finally started to believe that Rocky may be able to defeat the
Russian Juggernaut.
Finally, fight night arrives, and a clean shaven Rocky sits in his dressing room, listening to the thundering “Drago” chants from the almost completely hostile crowd. He makes his way through the crowd, with trash and whatnot being thrown on him, and awaits the entrance of his opponent, Ivan Drago. From the second he steps on to the ramp, Rocky never takes his eyes away from Drago, staring him down the whole way. When the two finally meet face to face for introductions in the middle of the ring, the not oft-spoken Russian mumbles to Rocky, “I must break you”.
The
bell rings on round one. Completely opposite of the fight with
Apollo, it’s the Russian that immediately goes on the attack first,
landing blow after blow, and making Rock look silly. At this point,
it’s looking like this will be a repeat of the exhibition with
Apollo. The first round ends, with Rocky hardly landing any punches
at all. In the second round, things aren’t fairing much better for
him, that is until he lands “the punch”. If you’ve seen it, you
know the one I’m talking about. The first time Rocky really
connects, and I mean really connects. Drago’s head rocks back, and
you hear Duke scream “He’s cut!” from ringside. Oh yeah
motherfucker, this shit is ON now. Pandemonium ensues, and round two
goes to the Stallion.
Right
before round three begins, Drago speaks again, claiming “He’s not
a man. He is like a piece of iron.” That’s right bitch, you’re
scared now. From this point forward, we witness the two combatants
exchange blows as round after round comes and goes. It’s in the
12th brutal round, with both fighters beaten to hell and back, that
the crowd starts to convert, with some people actually cheering for
Rocky. I get that I guess, for the movie, but in real life there’s
no way I would ever turn on my “team” I don’t care who they
were up against. Let the Flyers play a hockey game against a group of
blind nuns, and see if I’m not rocking the hell out of an orange
and black jersey and screaming “Let’s go FLYERS!” the entire
time. Needless to say, the fact that this was supposed to be over
early, coupled with the fact that there’s a very distinct, and
quite loud “Rocky” chant doesn’t sit well with Drago’s
trainers or the Russian diplomat who’s been at his side throughout
the movie. He walks down to Drago’s corner just before the
beginning of the 15th and final round, and begins to chastise the
fighter, calling him an idiot and a disgrace, which of course is a
great idea, especially since the guy’s like 8 feet tall, chiseled
out of stone, and has been in a fucking war for the past two hours or
so. Drago grabs this dumbshit by the throat and lifts him into the
air, screaming at him “I fight to win! For me!”.
The
bell rings on the final round, and both fighters walk toward each
other, barely able to stand. Blows are exchanged, both looking at
times like they were set to land the last, and finally Rocky
unleashes a flurry of jabs and body blows that eventually chop the
Russian down. He hits the mat, makes a couple of attempts to stumble
back to his feet, but is unable to. Rocky has done the impossible, he
defeated the Russian. The absolute elation I felt watching this for
the first time is a feeling that I’ve never forgotten. Witnessing
the Russian crowd holding Rocky up on their shoulders, American flag
draped across him, chanting Rocky is just powerful stuff, especially
to a 7 year old. Rocky’s speech immediately following the bout,
about tolerance, and how people can change, is as inspirational of a
speech as you’re ever going to get from a Rocky flick. It’s
powerful stuff.
I
guess at this point, it goes without saying, I love this movie. I do.
It has stuck with me for the past 27 years, and 27 years from now I
will still love it. I know it’s not every Rocky fan’s favorite
movie, or hell not even everybody’s favorite sequel, but if you ask
me if I want to watch a Rocky movie, and I say “yes” and you ask
me which one, my answer will almost always be “IV”. It’s as
much a part of my childhood as anything else I’ve ever seen. I’m
a big sports fan, and although they’re usually not Academy Award
contenders, I also enjoy sports movies. While football and hockey
movies are usually a safe bet for me, every once in a while a movie
that centers around a sport that I don’t particularly care
for, but I end up watching anyway. Movies like Happy Gilmore,
Hoosiers, Days of Thunder, and yes, even Rocky, get props from me for
making me wish the sport was more like the movies. If boxing were
really like Rocky, I’d be the biggest fight fan in the world.
Performance
wise, most everybody in the cast in on point. Sly is Rocky, we know
what to expect there, and Talia Shire is wonderful as the usually
quiet Adrian, it’s nice to see that she’s come out of her shell
here, even more so than she was in Rocky III. Again, more character
growth shown, which is always a nice touch in sequel heavy franchises
as it keeps things from getting boring. The two standouts in this
movie for me are Carl Weathers and Dolph Lundgren, as Apollo and Ivan
Drago respectively. I just feel so much for Apollo in this movie, he
misses the limelight and feeling of being in the boxing ring, being
on top of the world so much so that he would literally risk his life,
and ultimately pay it, for one more fix. Drago on the other hand is
one of my favorite villains in movie history, as far as the Rocky
franchise goes, I consider him to be the ultimate villain. I
literally hated the guy from the first time I saw him, but at the
same time was terrified of him. Sure, there was Apollo and Clubber
Lang before, but the only threat there was that Rocky might not win.
Drago though? He might be about to beat Rocky to fucking death, and
he’s already done that to Apollo. Dolph Lundgren is a calculated,
stone cold killer. His performance in Rocky IV is the reason that to
this day I will watch anything with Dolph Lundgren in it.
The
soundtrack to Rocky IV is the second movie soundtrack I ever owned,
second only to Ghostbusters. I guess it was that time in my life, but
the synth-heavy rock tunes with vocals being belted out by the likes
of John Cafferty, Kenny Loggins, and Survivor was as good as music
got for me. Not to mention Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” which
is a song that’s been in my life for as long as I can remember. I
suppose it was in Rocky that I first heard it, but my high school
football team mascot as Tigers, and the band played it, and my
favorite college football team, Auburn, is also the Tigers, and their
band plays it as well. These are not only great songs, but I know
exactly in the film where each one of them plays, and of course when
I hear them I immediately go to that scene in my head, for the full
“fist-pumping” experience. There aren't many soundtracks
that I just “get” the way I do this one.
In
closing, if you love Rocky IV the way I do, I hope you’ve enjoyed
my trek down memory lane. Not a lot of films that I would actually
take the time to write like this about. I’m thankful that it was
suggested to me for 80’s Action Week as my movie write-up as I’ve
genuinely enjoyed revisiting it again, and giving it my admittedly
long-winded thoughts. If I absolutely had to pick a top ten movies of
all time, it would most assuredly find a spot on that list. That list
admittedly remains in a state of constant flux, with one or two
movies being added or removed depending on my mood when you ask me,
but I feel safe in proclaiming that if you’re looking at staying
power, Rocky IV has plenty. Anyway, I want to once again thank Eric
for letting me ramble on here at Back Online, Back On Duty. Although
it’s my second time, I still am quite honored to be allowed to
write a post for his blog during 80’s Action Week. I hope you’ve
enjoyed my rambling, and enjoy the rest of “Yeah! Guns and Shit!”.
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| Image by Frank Browning |
