| Adrian: "Where have you been?" Rocky: "Getting punched." |
The Unofficial Rocky movies fan page
Rocky IV
|
|
|
Rocky IV starts right from where
Rocky III left off. The Itallion Stallion returns home from his friendly
bout with Apollo Creed. Its Paulie's birthday, and the Balboa family
is all present. Adrian and Rocky get Paulie an expensive robot that
Paulie at first dislikes, but later accepts due to the robot being able
to act like a female. Later that evening, Rocky brings a special cake
up to the bedroom to celebrate his early anniversary to Adrian. He
gives her a really nice watch and then brings up their past. Rocky states
that after all of the time they have spent together, everything in their
lives still feels pretty new. Both of the Balboa's feel very comfortable
in their life at this point, but something very scary is about to change
all of that. |
| Ivan Drago: "If he dies, he dies." |
| A new breed of boxer arrives in the U.S.A.,
and his name is Ivan Drago. He is Russian and is an undefeated amateur
champion. Apollo, being very patriotic, feels that he has to defend
the honor of the United States. He wants to come out of retirement
and face the Russian champion. While watching their 2nd fight together,
Rocky and Apollo argue about change. Rocky says that they can't box
like they used to, and Apollo says that you can't change what they are.
Apollo feels a need to prove himself, and Rocky reluctantly agrees
to stand in his corner. Rocky knows that it is an exhabition fight,
but Apollo states that it's "us against them". At the fight, Apollo
goes all out, creating an American style arena and getting James Brown to
sing "Live'n in America". As the fight starts, Apollo does well. But
the first punch from Drago sends him reeling across the ring. Creed
is beaten badly, and Rocky wants to throw in the towel. Apollo is very
clear that Rocky should not throw in the towel "NO MATTER WHAT". In
the second round, Apollo is pummeled by Drago, and one powerful blow knocks
the former heavy weight champ to the ground. The match is stopped and
Rocky holds the dying Apollo in the middle of the ring. The punishment
Apollo received was too much, and he later dies. |
|
| Adrian: "You've seen him. You know how strong he is. You can't win!!!" |
|
After Apollo's death, Rocky decides to take on Ivan Drago in an unsanctioned match on Christmas in Russia. Adrian is against Rocky fighting, and says even if he wins Apollo is still gone. Rocky now feels as Apollo did and believes everyone has to just go with what they are. Along with Paulie and Tony (Apollo's trainer), Rocky heads to Russia to start training. Rocky knows that he has to train alone this time, thinking of nothing but Drago. The cold, icy conditions of Russia make it one of the hardest places to train. After some time, Adrian travels to Russia to see Rocky and lets him know that she is behind him "no matter what". With this, Rocky starts to train even harder. |
| Paulie: "If I could unzip myself, step out, and be someone else, I'd want to be you." |
| As Rocky uses the harsh weather of Russia
to train, Drago uses the latest technology in fitness. Drago uses weights,
and Rocky lifts boulders. Drago sparrs with opponents, while Rocky
chops down trees. Drago runs on a treadmill, as Rocky runs up a huge
mountain. No one ever finds out that the massive Russian is using steroids
to help his training. Before the fight, Rocky realizes that he will
not be cheered, and tries to block everything out of his head. The
only way Rocky will lose is if Drago kills him. Rocky enters the arena
to a crowd of boos. Drago enters to a great reception, and even mocks
his last bout with Apollo by having the Russian national anthem played. The
fight of Rocky's life was about to begin. |
|
| Ivan Drago: "I must break you." |
|
As the fight begins, Rocky is hit
with earth shattering blows. The strengh of the Russian is incredible.
Rocky tries his best to hit Drago, but has trouble succeeding because
of the long jab of the Russian. Rocky finally gets inside, but has
no effect on Drago. During the second round, Rocky finally gets a
hit on the Russians face, cutting him over the eye. Drago is stunned,
and Rocky throws a fury of punches. The round ends with the two boxers
brawling on the ground like wrestlers. The next 12 rounds sees a huge
battle between the two. Rocky is constantly knocked down to the mat,
but gets up everytime. The Russian crowd begins to be pro-Rocky, chanting
for the underdog. Drago is furious, and tells the world that he fights
for himself, and himself only. Rocky knows he has to knock him out
to win, so the 15th round becomes his last hope. With his extremely
hard head, Rocky wears the Russian down, and finally beats him. After
the match, Rocky gets on a mic and tells everyone that he had changed,
and that everyone can change if they want to. He wishes his son a
merry Christmas, and knows that even two countries struggling for power
can change if the want to. |
| Thoughts: |
|||||||
Home page Main page Rocky VI news Rocky Rocky II Rocky III Rocky IV Rocky V Rocky the game 
View My Guestbook Sign My Guestbook |
Rocky IV is probably the most
popular sequel in the series. It has the least amount of character
development, but is an all out great action/drama movie. There is a
great Rocky montage in the movie, where we see old clips from the whole series.
It is also interesting to note that the classic rocky themes from the
other films are not used, but the music heard in the film is great! Bill
Conti's Rocky scores return in Rocky V, but the 4th installment's music was
a breath of fresh air. As far as characters, Paulie is again used as
some comic relief. Adrian is about the same, as is Rocky who at this
point has the brawling skills as well as the technical skills to box. We
see Apollo try and have one more match, as he is killed in this installment.
Drago is a great villian. He was definitely the biggest, strongest
opponent in the series. I thought it was great how Rocky ran up the
mountain, symbolizing his running up the Philadelphia steps those many times
before. One of the most emotional films is still to come. |
||||||
Click below for the synopsis of each Rocky movie.
|
