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Rocky IV: Rocky vs Drago – The Ultimate Director’s Cut<\/strong><\/em> (1985\/2021)<\/p>\n Director: Sylvester Stallone<\/strong><\/p>\n Screenplay: Sylvester Stallone<\/strong><\/p>\n Stars:\u00a0 Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, Dolph Lundgren, Tony Burton, Michael Pataki, Brigitte Nielsen,\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0\u00a0James Brown.<\/strong><\/p>\n Tagline: Get ready for the next world war.<\/em><\/p>\n The Overview:\u00a0 Beware of Spoilers\u2026<\/p>\n Rocky feels guilt for the death of his friend, Apollo Creed, who was killed in a boxing match with Russian Champion Ivan Drago.\u00a0 When Rocky is unable to get a fight with Drago sanctioned in the US, he agrees to go to Russia to fight the giant Russian.<\/p>\n Sly Stallone’s new cut doesn’t change the story, but does adjust the pace, increase the drama\/humanity of characters and removes elements of the film that made it such a product of the MTV<\/em> era.\u00a0 This was a bold move on Stallone’s part since Rocky IV<\/em> was the highest grossing of all the Rocky<\/em> films, was one of the top movies of 1985 and is beloved by generations of Rocky<\/em> fans.\u00a0 Still, Sly felt that there was a better movie to be had.<\/p>\n The new cut starts with a deeper dive into Rocky III<\/em>.\u00a0 We see Rocky lose the title to Clubber.\u00a0 At that point he has also lost Mickey who was like a father to Rocky.\u00a0 Apollo shows up and offers to help Rocky win back the title.\u00a0 Rocky, with Apollo training him, regains the title.\u00a0 I like this new extended beginning.\u00a0 It adds (pardon the pun) credence to why Rocky feels an obligation above friendship to train Apollo for his fight against Drago.<\/p>\n We lose the scene of Rocky coming home from his private “rematch” with Apollo.\u00a0 I always enjoyed that scene but like that we instead cut to Apollo in the pool getting the idea to fight Drago.<\/p>\n When Apollo goes to Rocky to ask for his help in preparing for a fight with Drago we get at least 3 scenes with Rocky talking negatively about the idea.\u00a0 I love how these scenes show that Rocky is against Apollo fighting Drago.\u00a0 In the original version they had one conversation at the table and while Rocky had some hesitation, he pretty quickly got on board.\u00a0 By having multiple discussions against the idea (with Rocky slowly coming around) we understand: 1,\u00a0 How dangerous Drago is and 2. When Rocky is talking about Apollo not fighting anymore he is also thinking that maybe his time to retire has arrived or will soon.\u00a0 These conversations also add to Rocky’s guilt since he was unable to convince Apollo not to fight.<\/p>\n We lose the robot and I am fine with that.<\/p>\n Adrian gets more screen time.\u00a0 She is against the Apollo \/ Drago fight and is more adamant.\u00a0 I love the scene where Rocky excuses himself to check on Adrian in the kitchen.<\/p>\n The fight between Apollo and Drago is an improvement.\u00a0 Apollo has more moments to shine.\u00a0 He isn’t just given a beat down and killed.\u00a0 I like that despite Apollo telling Rocky to not stop the fight, Rocky does attempt to throw in the towel, but is less than a second too late.<\/p>\n Duke (Tony Burton) gives a nice eulogy at Apollo’s funeral and Rocky has more to say as well.<\/p>\n One of my favorite additional scenes is between Rocky and Adrian when she asks him not to go to Russia.\u00a0 In the original the focus was on Rocky getting revenge for Apollo’s death with little thought for the ramifications the fight would have on Adrian.<\/p>\n I loved the new cut of Rocky’s fight against Drago.\u00a0 I was shocked (and happily surprised) when Rocky scored early.\u00a0 It made the fight seem more believable that as Rocky continued to fight against overwhelming odds he was able win the crowd over.<\/p>\n Drago was made less robot and more human.\u00a0 There are looks and body language that he displays that show surprise, awe, respect and anger.\u00a0 We better see that he is a pawn being used by his government to show the superiority of their way of life.<\/p>\n Rocky’s “we can all change” speech isn’t as long and better for it.<\/p>\n I love the scene of Rocky, Adrian and Paulie leaving the ring after the fight and the quick display of mutual respect between Rocky and Drago.<\/p>\n Overall I felt this Director’s cut was a major improvement over the original version.\u00a0 It feels more in line with Rocky<\/em> and Rocky Balboa<\/em>.<\/p>\n If you loved the original version then you’ll probably have some problems with the Director’s cut.\u00a0 This is especially true if Rocky IV<\/em> was the movie that made you fall in love with the franchise.\u00a0 If you’re more a fan of the original (and its bookend, Rocky Balboa<\/em>) then you’ll probably love Rocky vs Drago.<\/em>\u00a0 I did.<\/p>\n