Rocky IV (1985)
Although Stallone insisted that the series would end with Rocky III, its massive success had MGM/UA’s struggling financiers demanding Rocky IV. But fast approaching 40 years old, and without any other inspirational personal story to explore, Stallone couldn’t see further steps in Rocky’s boxing career except retirement.
United Artists continued to offer Stallone a fortune to get Rocky in the ring once more: $15 million, then $20 million, then $24 million. Stallone was unmoved by the money. It was the public outcry that began chipping away at his resolve. Stallone was constantly reading news stories about real-life people who were inspired by Rocky. Rocky transcended being just a movie character; he had become a symbol that anyone could achieve the American dream. Perhaps it was selfish to extinguish a symbol of hope for so many people.
From the beginning, Stallone entertained the idea of continuing Rocky’s journey of the little guy overcoming overwhelming odds beyond the ring by going into politics. A new Rocky Trilogy could involve Rocky becoming the mayor of Philadelphia at the end of the first film, and the trilogy would end with him becoming a world diplomat.
As Stallone contemplated this, a new idea formulated in his mind about what it would take for Rocky not to retire – he would need to fight for something bigger than himself. News stories abounded as the Soviet Union retaliated against the United States boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics by boycotting the 1984 Olympics held in Los Angeles. The public was disappointed yet again that they wouldn’t see the world’s two biggest superpowers competing on the world stage, purely for political reasons.
These boycotts seemed contrary to the old days when countries at war still competed in sports as another arena to show dominance and national pride. Stallone recalled the two bouts between Black American Joe Louis and white German Max Schmeling in 1936 and 1938, America’s best vs. Nazi Germany’s best. Schmeling won the first fight with a knockout of Louis in the 12th round. Though he was no Nazi himself, the Germans began using him as a propaganda tool, a national hero to promote their notions of racial and genetic superiority.
In the mix of ideas he’d had for Rocky III was Rocky fighting Russia’s best boxer, a goliath, in the Roman Coliseum. The Coliseum was impractical for many reasons, but he liked the idea of Rocky fighting in foreign territory and having the crowd turn and root for him. A better place to do this would be in the Soviet Union itself. He envisioned everything red in the arena except for Rocky, who would wear America’s stars and stripes. Rocky’s victory would symbolize to the downtrodden Russian populace the little guy who could take down giants.
Stallone viewed Rocky as the ultimate capitalist story. He’d risen from poverty and earned his way to fortune through grit and determination. As Stallone had always envisioned Rocky turning to politics, a literal fight for the American way was apropos. There wasn’t much growth for Rocky as a boxer except to take the story to an international sphere.
MGM/UA offered a generous deal to Stallone in January 1983, even he couldn’t pass up. He forgo any upfront salary in favor of half of the gross after MGM/UA recouped its negative production costs. If Rocky IV earned the same as Rocky III, that would be a $45 million payday, making him the highest paid actor in Hollywood. Stallone re-negotiated the deal bexause he didn’t want to leave his financial fate to the calculator of a studio bean counter. He would receive $15 million up front and 15% of the gross instead, with a promise to keep production costs under $12.5 million. Once again, he told the press it was the final Rocky film.
Warner hoped for a 1984 release, but Stallone had commitments that pushed it to late 1985. He was directing the Saturday Night Fever sequel, Staying Alive, co-starring in the Dolly Parton comedy Rhinestone, he was slated to lead the Joe Eszterhas-scripted comedy/drama about a guy who sticks it to the IRS called Pluck the Eagle, and possibly star, direct, and produce Godfather III, alongside John Travolta. Plus, he was negotiating to produce a boxing movie biopic for television about real-life boxer Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini, starring Mancini himself.
In Stallone’s early story ideas, Rocky is in retirement, living with Adrian in their mansion location in Philadelphia’s Main Line. As he was contructing the script, Stallone put autobiographical elements he and wife Sasha were dealing with having in raising their second son, Seargeoh, who was diagnosed with autism. In discovering Rocky Jr. was autistic, Stallone wanted to show audiences something they rarely see in movies, which is what loving parents of autistic children do out of love for their children. They’re visited by former United States Secretary of State Henry Kissinger (Stallone hoped Kissinger would play himself). Kissinger urges Rocky to represent America in a fight against the behemoth Russian heavyweight champion, Drago, a lab-created brute who they’ve been using as a propaganda tool for developing biochemically enhanced supersoldiers. Stallone envisioned Drago at this point as an emotionally stunted Neanderthal with a towering stature, rippling with muscles.
The sci-fi enhanced pitch was that America needs Rocky to stave off Russian techniques to develop more supersoldiers and show that freedom and democracy is better than iron-fisted communism. The bout hearkens back to when rival tribes picked their best warrior to do battle against each other in lieu of armies. Although vastly physically outmatched, Rocky would prevail because of his belief in his cause, and the Russian fighter disbelieving in his.
Stallone continued making changes through early versions of the script. The Russians proactively challenge Rocky to fight Drago because he’s the current heavyweight champion, not yet retired, but Rocky doesn’t think it’s the right thing to do. Meanwhile, Apollo Creed, Rocky’s friend and former champ, longs for his chance at the spotlight again and accepts their challenge in Rocky’s place. Drago pulverizes Apollo, leaving him unable to walk again. For his wheelchair-bound friend, and for American pride, Rocky accepts the challenge to fight Drago. On the way to Moscow, Rocky stops in Rome and visits the Vatican to get blessed by the Pope. Stallone patterned the ups and downs of the Rocky/Drago after the 1975 bout between Muhammad Ali and George Frazier dubbed “The Thrilla in Manila”, with Rocky cracking Drago’s resolve by showing he isn’t as invincible as he was led to believe, and the Russian people turning against their corrupt regime to root Rocky on to win the fight of his life.
As Stallone continued to work on other projects, he asked wife Sasha find well-built European-looking blonde men 6’3″ or taller, preferably with the ability to speak any Slavic language, in all parts of America to participate in auditions held in Los Angeles, New York, and Toronto. Many tall men from boxing, wrestling, football, and other athletic sports auditioned, but finding ones with the right look, ability to act and handle a Slavic accent convincingly were all too few.
Sasha’s mission didn’t last long, as she sued Sly again for divorce, this time asking for $25 million due to his infidelity and inability to be around to care for their autistic son full-time. Stallone had a year-long affair with 20-year-old Vancouver stripper Loree Menton. After their separation, Stallone briefly dated Mary Hart of “Entertainment Tonight” fame before moving on to 21-year-old Danish model Brigitte Nielsen, who was about to make her acting debut as an actress in Red Sonja. Nielsen had a huge crush on Stallone since seeing him in Rocky when she was 13 years old and tried unsuccessfuly to call him as he was staying at the Essex House in New York City. After three days of no response, she left an envelope containing her picture at the lobby to give to him, a provocative shot of her in a bikini, along with her phone number. She soon received a call from Stallone for a meet up.
Things grew serious quickly with Nielsen, with Stallone asking her to move in with him, leaving her husband and baby back in Denmark. Stallone began managing her acting career, telling her how to promote herself through press interviews for Red Sonja and then casting her in a small part in Rocky IV as Drago’s Olympics swimming champ wife, Ludmilla, so they could continue to spend time together.
In mid-December 1984, Stallone announced he’d found his Drago, 6’5″, 240 lb. Swede Dolph Lundgren, former chemical engineering scholar, karate black belt, and professional kickboxer in Europe who’d worked as a club bouncer and also fiancee to avante-garde singer/actress/model Grace Jones. Lundgren had caught the acting bug after inadvertently getting drafted by John Glen, director of the James Bond flick A View to a Kill, into fill in for a bit part in while he was there watching Grace Jones. Glen was impressed with Lundgren’s screen presence and ability to follow cues and suggested he could do well as an actor.
Over the next year, Lundgren began taking acting lessons with Warren Robertson, and secured an agent who sent around his pictures and pushed him to attend casting calls. Lundgren attended a casting call for a boxing movie and was immediately deemed too tall. He noticed a sign in the area that said “Rocky IV” and, being a fan of the Rocky films, he wanted to be in it. Robertson knew Stallone, who he once roomed with, and offered to send him publicity photos for a direct look. That look finally came six months later, when Stallone was growing desperate to get someone who had the looks, the acting talent, and the accent who could play Drago. Lundgren was finally called in.
Although not Russian himself, Lundgren learned to speak in a Russian accent through coaching from Robertson and having known many Russians living in the Brighton Beach area he resided in. Lundgren spoke four languages, and was familiar with adapting to dialects. On the day that Lundgren auditioned, Stallone was also looking at two professional wrestlers. One was 6’3″ 285 lb. Nikita Koloff (aka “The Russian Nightmare’), who could fake a Russian accent (Koloff stayed in character throughout the audition) but was deemed too large in muscular bulk compared to Stallone, who claims to be 5’10” but many feel is shorter (Koloff cites Stallone as 5’6″ at best). The other wrestler was 6’2″ 250 lb. Kerry Von Erich (aka “The Texas Tornado”), who came recommended by Stallone’s good friend in the wrestling business (and the recommender of Hulk Hogan for Rocky III), and was a favorite or Mr. T and his wrestling-loving mother, but Kerry couldn’t memorize the lines, never mind try to speak Russian.
Unlike the wrestlers, who seemed to wildly overacting like Slavic versions of Clubber Lang, Lundgren stuck with Robertson’s advice to play Drago without much emotion. Drago is an unbeaten champion boxer who felt invincible. His confidence meant he didn’t need to oversell his intimidation. To give a layered performance, Lundgren did extensive research on what kind of person Drago would be. He didn’t see Drago as an evil person, but someone who is a tool manipulated by an evil regime. Stallone was impressed with Lundgren, who he compared to a giant Kurt Russell.
Lundgren was so impressive that, unbeknownst to Stallone, the casting department immediately hired Lundgren for a secondary role in Rambo: First Blood Part II as a Russian henchman named Sergeant Yushin. A couple of weeks later, Lundgren got the call from Stallone that he was Drago and to start training and putting on at least ten pounds of muscle. Stallone learned that Lundgren was about to fly to Mexico to fight him in Rambo II. Stallone wanted Rocky IV to be his debut so he bought out Lundgren’s $6,000 contract and gave the part of Yushin to his personal bodyguard, Voyo Goric.
For Drago, Lundgren received $100,000 plus a small percentage for merchandise featuring his image. Hetrained with Stallone under the tutelage of Larry Holmes’ trainer, Richard Giachatti, for seven months. Training consisted of working out moves for four hours in the ring, then weights for two, followed by watching tapes of boxing matches at Sly’s house in the evenings. Lundgren wound up rooming in Stallone’s guest house for a while because Grace Jones would often keep him out all night partying with her entourage and he’d show up for training with little to no sleep, which he thought would either him fired or killed if he kept up too long.
Drago was originally written to be primitive and brutish, but Lundgren was intelligent and well-spoken in a way that caused Stallone to rework the character. To the Russians, Drago would represent the future, the peak of perfection due to genetics testing, science, and advanced training and conditioning. A theme was born of humanity vs. technology, of nature vs. science, which bears itself throughout the training montages. Stallone agreed with Lundgren’s assertion that someone like Drago wouldn’t say much. Early scripts originally contained significantly more dialogue for Drago but Stallone observed that Drago’s mystique created fear, and the fear was another reason he easily won. To make Drago seem more machine than man, Stallone reduced Drago’s lines as much as possible, shot most of his footage through film mechanics like montage and music.
As for what country would substitute for Russia, Stallone considered Yugoslavia, Norway, Austria, and several areas of Canada and the United States. It ultimately came down to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, for the emulated Russian exteriors in which to build a barn and cabin. Disappointingly, when it came down to shoot there, it was unseasonably warm and sunny, so the freshly fallen snow had to be created artificially with snow machines.
Vancouver’s 5,000-seat sports arena, the Agrodome, served as the spot for the interiors of the Russian boxing arena. The production worked with local foodbanks to offer “Slavic-looking people” $3 plus a box lunch and unlimited snacks to play extras for the all-Russian crowd. Extras were instructed to appear as Russian commoners, with dark clothes, babushkas, and fur hats, but many still showed in designer jeans, expensive sneakers, and sporting trendy hairstyles. Heat, boredom, and occasional fighting caused hundreds to leave early, so cash and door prizes like TVs, stereos, and food processors were offered for those willing to stay and move around the remaining seats.
Stallone wanted everything in Russia to look futuristic and advanced, with the funds for the entire state behind the promotion of Drago as a symbol of Russian might to the rest of the world. They would afford Rocky no such luxury to train. He’s all on his own, with only his personal attributes and his desire to defeat this evil empire to fuel his fire. The fight arena would not resemble a traditional boxing match so much as a political convention, one celebrating Russian might to the world. Even Drago begins to believe he is invincible because he’s never been hurt. Only when Rocky is able to get is a few punches that Drago feels does he realize he’s human and vulnerable, and the facade of a well-oiled and powerful machine falls apart and he realizes he’s just a lab-created machine built to promote the regime and they don’t care about him at all as a person. He loses because he no longer believes in what he’s fighting for, while Rocky is fully invested in his path to honor his friend, himself, and his country.
On April 15, 1985, Stallone watched the middleweight championship bout between Marvin Hagler and Tommy Hearns, billed as “The Fight” but afterward referred to as “The War”. The two boxers hated each other so much that they seemingly threw out the traditional strategy and just went at each other amateurishly, like a dogfight. The fight changed Stallone’s strategy, feeling like Rocky and Drago should at some point cut away from the fight choreography and add realism by letting contact punches fly during the final bout. The only instruction was not to hit too hard to the head but not to hold back on body shots. Lundgren said Stallone wanted close-ups of the hits to be played in slow-motion so audiences would know the punches were real. Stallone wouldn’t telegraph when he was going for the hit so his reation would be authentic. For the montage of Drago beating up on sparring partners, stunt men and clubfighters were hired to take real, full-power punches for $500.
Carl Weathers wasn’t enamored of the realism, especially when in the ring with Lundgren, who stayed in character on and off-screen. All Weathers knew about Lundgren was that he was a former kickboxing champ and had no acting experience. Things grew especially tense after the Lundgren threw Weathers into the air three feet into the corner of the ring. Weathers clambered out of the ring threatening to call his agent and quit, leaving the set for several days to calm down and returning. Though testy at the time, Lundgren and Weathers had a better rapport years later when they began appearing on Comicon fan panels together.
As for Apollo’s fate in the storyline, Stallone went from Apollo’s disability into a wheelchair to Apollo’s death because he thought he needed that to drive the drama. Years later, he felt remorse about the decision, feeling like the loss of Apollo denied him a more interesting character arc of what it’s like to know there is no comeback, and Rocky V, Stallone’s biggest regret in the series, would have been a much different film.
Perhaps Weathers had good reason to fear. Lundgren’s roughness also resulted in multiple hospital visits for Stallone with diagnoses of bruised ribs, pulled muscles (from pulling up on punches), exhaustion, a separated shoulder, and the flu. One visit was after he saw three Lundgrens at once, jokingly claiming he kept going by hitting the one in the middle (a line Paulie uses in the film).
The worst came when Stallone took a massive hit to his abdomen that resulted in his chest continuing to pound at night. Girlfriend Nielsen grew weary of Sly keeping her up with constant complaints of chest pain and insisted he go to the hospital, where they discovered the pericardial sac around his heart was swelling and bleeding due to a punch that pushed his diaphram into his heart until it slammed into his breastbone. Had he not visited, the doctor says his heart might have continued to swell until it stopped beating altogether, akin to car accident victims who take a steering wheel to their chest on impact (Stallone joked that he was hit by “A Streetcar Named Drago”). Stallone suspended filming for two weeks, and was unable to train except for below-the-waist calisthenics. He credited Nielsen for saving his life, and though both of them were still married at the time, Stallone and Nielsen became engaged during the filming of Rocky IV and married soon after its release when their divorces finalized.
As director, once Stallone saw that Rambo-mania was taking hold in the United States, he went “all in” on the wave of Reagan-era patriotism that had Americans who’d been holding back throughout most of the 1960s and 1970s that they yearned to cheer for themselves again. Symbolism would replace dialogue, with much of the story told through flag-waving images married to a hot soundtrack.
Bill Conti doesn’t do the score for the only time in the series. Stallone didn’t ask for unknown reasons, though speculation was that Stallone had a falling out with Conti after financial disagreements due to Stallone’s sparser use of Conti’s scoring for Rocky III in favor of pop soundtrack selections. Conti is replaced by Vince DiCola, a musician friend of Sly’s brother Frank who composed his biggest hit, “Far from Over”, the Staying Alive soundtrack. DiCola mixed Conti’s fanfare style with his roots in 1970s progressive rock. The original title for Survivor’s “Burning Heart” was “The Unmistakable Fire”, but Stallone didn’t like it until they changed the lyric, “human heart” to “burning heart”, as well as the title. It became a #1 hit. Another soundtrack hit was James Brown’s “Living in America” (originally titled, “Only in America”, after Don King’s catchphrase), which is featured in the movie with a lipsynched performance by Brown himself. Brown’s performance recalls the one he did in 1975 prior to the bout between Muhammad Ali and Chuck Wepner, which was the inspiration for the original Rocky. The song was Brown’s highest-charting single in twenty years, and was spoofed the following year by Weird Al Yankovic as, “Living with a Hernia”.
It broke the record for highest-grossing film released on a three-day weekend with $20 million, and it would become the highest-grossing box-office entry in the Rocky series. It fared the worst when it came to critical acclaim, however. It received a whopping Razzie nominations, winning five: Stallone won for Worst Actor and Worst Director, Nielsen for Worst Supporting Actress and Worst New Star, and Vince DiCola for Worst Musical Score. Worst Picture and Worst Screenplay also went to Stallone for Rambo II.
The Rocky films had always paralleled elements of Stallone’s acting career and perhaps Rocky IV can be seen as a subconscious examination of what Stallone had become. Like Drago, he was saying less and flexing his muscles more, expected to deliver the hard-hitting action and formula mechanics at the expense of emotional drama and dialogue.
The only new addition to Rocky’s entourage is another artificial construct, a talking robot named Sico trotted out for comic relief, showing just how Stallone had run out of fresh ideas. Reportedly, Stallone had gotten the robot on the belief that it would connect with his autistic son Seargeoh to help him speak and he grew enamored of the robot, deciding to put him in the picture, despite dropping the original story idea of having Rocky Jr. be diagnosed as autistic. Stallone did have more robot scenes in mind for the film’s middle but chopped many out during the editing phase because their comedic tone was detracting from the dramatic momentum.
At a meager 91 minutes, by far the shortest of the Rocky series, this is a lean film, with long stretches containing little or no dialogue. As was the case with Rocky III, the antagonist seemingly comes out of nowhere, with little mention of his past or motivation for doing whatever he does. We root for Rocky mostly because, after three previous films, we already have grown to like him, and without any redeeming features at all in his opponent, our interest in the final battle is secure.
Rocky IV isn’t without its entertainment value, as the formula still manages to work, and it is slickly produced and edited for maximum impact. Once again, the fight scenes are played out like professional wrestling matches, complete with body slams. No defensinve boxing strategy is employed, as the only time Rocky ever blocks an incoming punch is with his face. Luckily, Drago seems to share the same masochistic technique.
Despite being the series’ arguably weakest entry, there is a formidable screen presence by newcomers Lundgren and Nielsen and a definite watchability. Any resemblance to the spirit of the original Rocky of 1976 is tangential at best. Stallone’s one fresh idea is to inject, in the final moments, Rocky delivering a message to the world about putting aside differences and prejudices. Given the fact that the resolution came through an all-out violent conflict, the message rings quite hollow to most discerning audiences, although Ronald Reagan would openly applaud Stallone’s efforts with this film (and Rambo II) for showing true American spirit (i.e., overcoming all obstacles by eviscerating them).
They say that for every aging boxer, the legs are the first thing to go. Rocky III disproved this adage — the brain was the first to go. The heart went next with Rocky IV. Nevertheless, this entry proved Rocky still had legs at the box office, tapping into the public consumption of pro wrestling/MTV-caliber fare. Despite the success, the bar was set too high for Stallone to conceive of another greater foe, saying that the only way to continue would be to reset the series by returning Rocky to his Philadelphia roots. Rocky may have emerged victorious in the ring and at the box office, but he’d become too big to maintain the underdog formula, so the series was officially broken by its success.
- The 35th anniversary “director’s cut” dubbed Rocky IV: Rocky vs. Drago, re-edited by Stallone during the COVID pandemic to keep himself busy, gives more scenes for Apollo to shine, gives Drago more dialogue and expressive vulnerability, notably reduces the appearance of his ex-wife as Ludmilla, and removes the superfluous goofiness, inane jokes, and the moronic robot.
Qwipster’s rating: C+
MPAA Rated: PG for violence and language
Running Time: 91 min.
Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, Carl Weathers, Burt Young, Talia Shire, Tony Burton, Brigitte Nielsen, Michael Pataki, Rocky Krakoff, Sylvia Meals, James Brown
Director: Sylvester Stallone
Screenplay: Sylvester Stallone