The film even more than ever looks utterly stunning. The final fight is still jaw dropping and very exciting. The fights and montage have been recut and refined but thankfully still maintain the essence of what made them so great.There’s moments of him revelling in the Russian crowd support and showboating, and more is played out to give him a kind of personal pride and personality. ![]() There were moments in the original (his rebellious tirade against his trainer after Rocky begins turning the tide in the fight), but more so here. We see more of his character slipping through the cracks of his regimental, militaristically controlled demeanour. His demise, whilst still suitably brutal, is a little more subtle and slightly less one sided. Apollo Creed is a more rounded character.There are several noticeable and positive changes to the film: So how does this compare to the MTV styled majesty of the theatrical cut? Was it a worthwhile exercise? I won’t list every change to the minutest detail. Just prior to release, Stallone also released a fascinating, if rough, documentary on his process in moulding the fourth instalment into something more tonally consistent with the first two (and most of three). It’s the cut no fan of the original asked for, but likewise, couldn’t miss. Step forward to the recently departed November and colour me surprised… Rocky IV: Rocky vs Drago – The Ultimate Director’s Cut hit cinemas and streaming. So when he announced to all and sundry that he was contemplating a director’s cut for Rocky IV, I took it with a Dolph Lundgren sized pinch of salt. He teased a number of rough ideas for Rambo V, including something not far removed from a Predator riff, before finally delivering Rambo: Last Blood (I’d have preferred Rambo against the ‘feral beast’ personally). He perpetually rumoured the fourth Expendables film before it eventually went into production. Stallone has long had a tendency to announce things that didn’t come to pass, or spit ball train of thoughts on resurrecting old properties like Demolition Man, Tango and Cash, Cliffhanger and more. With such love all around, one might imagine Stallone would have been perfectly happy with the impact and legacy the fourth film maintains. The ultimate fast food that still manages to be emotionally rousing with one of the all time great fight sequences. So Rocky IV, with its physically astonishing pugilists, in its own style, is cinematic perfection. ![]() Furthermore the Christmas time placement of the final bout with Drago has made this a Christmas time staple for many ( myself included). For myself too, and many, the fact the fourth film is so unabashedly dialled up to eleven on spectacle, and removed of all subtlety (almost) is what made it so great. Whether it was the ferocity of Clubber Lang in Rocky III, or the gargantuan step up in the evolutionary scale in perfect soldier Ivan Drago in IV, those climactic bouts were (and still are) astounding. ![]() Part of this, aside from the continually affable portrayal by Sly, was in upping the odds each time. Increasingly through the first three sequels, this balance between drama and spectacle leaned increasingly to the spectacle side, but at the same time never seemed to effect our will as viewer to see Rocky succeed. Every film, bar the maligned fifth, has those triumphant moments and pulse pounding ring set pieces. As Rocky Balboa on screen, and as the creative driving force of the franchise off it, Sly Stallone has created perhaps the most iconic and endearing underdog there’s ever been.
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