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Rocky IV
Rocky IV
Directed by	Sylvester Stallone
Produced by	Robert Chartoff Irwin Winkler
Written by	Sylvester Stallone
Starring	Sylvester Stallone Talia Shire Burt Young Carl Weathers Brigitte Nielsen Tony Burton Dolph Lundgren
Music by	Vince DiCola
Cinematography	Bill Butler
Editing by	John W. Wheeler Don Zimmerman
Distributed by	MGM/UA Entertainment Co. United International Pictures (rest of world)
Release date(s)	November 27, 1985
Running time	91 min
Country	United States
Language	English Russian
Budget	$31,000,500
Preceded by	Rocky III
Followed by	Rocky V
IMDb profile

For the soundtrack to the movie, see Rocky IV (album)

Rocky IV is the fourth and most successful movie, in terms of box office gross, of the Rocky franchise. Rocky Balboa (played again by Sylvester Stallone), has said he plans to retire from boxing after recovering his title from Clubber Lang in Rocky III. A new sensation from the Soviet Union, Ivan Drago (played by Dolph Lundgren), however, begins to emerge as a top contender.

Following his win over Clubber Lang in New York City, Rocky returns home to Philadelphia. Ivan Drago (Lundgren), an intimidating, huge, Soviet boxer arrives in America to challenge the best American fighters. Apollo Creed, motivated by patriotism and a desire to prove himself after retirement, quickly jumps at the chance to step back into the ring in an exhibition bout against Drago. Despite apprehension from Rocky, who eventually agrees to help train him, Apollo sets the match between himself and Drago in Las Vegas. With Rocky in his corner, Apollo flamboyantly makes his way to the ring with a bigger show than when he first fought Rocky, which includes fireworks, a concert by James Brown, and a patriotic theme, including a crowd implacably hostile to the visiting Soviet boxer. The match turns into a tragedy, however, as Creed is killed in the second round, after Rocky, implored by Creed, refuses to throw in the towel and stop the match.

Rocky Balboa faces up to Ivan Drago in Rocky IV

Feeling grief over not stopping the fight, and incensed by Drago's cold indifference to killing Apollo, "If he dies, he dies", Rocky decides he must avenge Apollo's death and sets a match with the Russian. The match is set for December 25, in Moscow, but Rocky's title is not on the line because the boxing commission refuses to sanction the fight. Adrian initially cannot understand why Rocky would fight, fearing for his life. Rocky flies to a remote and rustic part of the Soviet Union to train; to help with his training he brings Apollo's former trainer Tony "Duke" Evers and his brother-in-law Paulie. Training runs for several months, with Rocky using more humble methods like chopping wood, running up snowy embankments, and lifting huge rocks; Drago is using the most modern equipment coupled with regular injections of anabolic steroids. During one of his runs, Rocky returns to find Adrian waiting for him. With Adrian providing more reason to succeed, Rocky begins to train even harder.

After intense preparation for both fighters, the two men finally meet in the ring. The match set in Moscow, before the Politburo, and is broadcast throughout the globe. The crowd is strongly against Rocky, booing him fiercely and cheering Drago, as the American crowd cheered Creed and booed Drago in Las Vegas. After a pummeling first round, with the Russian easily winning, Rocky comes back toward the end of the second and cuts Drago just below his eye. With Drago's confidence shaken by the injury and Rocky's apparently limitless endurance and resilience, the fight degenerates into a brutal battle of stamina and will across all fifteen rounds. By the end, the Soviet crowd has been won over by Rocky's determination and endurance, and have begun chanting his name. In the fifteenth and final round, both fighters batter at each other, but Drago's endurance finally runs out, while Rocky finds his last burst of strength and lands one final signature left hook that finally knocks out the Russian.

Following his victory, Rocky gives an impassioned speech to the crowd, acknowledging their initial and mutual disdain for each other, and how they've come to respect and admire each other during the fight. Saying that the brutal battle between him and Drago in the ring was better than war between their two countries, he brings the crowd, including the Politburo, to its feet in applause, by claiming that "if I can change and you can change, then everybody can change!"

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Wyoming doubled for the frozen expanse of the Soviet Union. The small farm where Rocky lived and trained was located in Jackson Hole, and the Grand Teton National Park was used for filming many of the outdoor sequences in Russia.

Sylvester Stallone has stated that the punching between him and Dolph Lundgren in the first portion of the fight is completely authentic. One particularly forceful punch to Stallone's chest slammed his heart against his breastbone, causing the heart to swell and the beating to become labored. Stallone, suffering from labored breathing and a blood pressure over 200, was flown from the set in Canada to St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica and was kept in intensive care for eight days.^[1]

Additionally, Stallone claims that Lundgren nearly forced Carl Weathers to quit in the middle of filming the Apollo versus Drago exhibition fight. Lungdren tossed Weathers into the corner of the boxing ring, prompting Weathers to leave the ring and announce that he was quitting and calling his agent.^[2]

The soundtrack for the movie included "Living in America" by James Brown; the film's music was composed by Vince Di Cola, and also included songs by John Cafferty and The Beaver Brown Band, the band Survivor, Kenny Loggins, Europe "The Final Countdown", and Robert Tepper. Rocky IV is the only film in the series not to feature Bill Conti. Go West wrote "One Way Street" for the movie by request of Sylvester Stallone.

UK Date: 01/02/1986 - Run: 48-18- 8-7-*3*-4-5-5-8-10-12-15-21-33-45-66-81-0-71-91-70-93-0-94 (22-17c/8 wks)

US Date: 16/11/1985 - Run: 147-115-104-79-71-43-37- (7 wsf)

04/01/1986: 37-29-24-19-16-11-11-*10*-11-11-12-13-20-22-28-45-58-60-101-128-152-164-198 (30/1 wks)

When compared to the other Rocky installments, Rocky IV is the most successful in terms of non-adjusted box office gross.^[3]

• Rocky: US$117.3 million
• Rocky II: US$85 million
• Rocky III: US$125 million
• Rocky IV: US$127.8 million
• Rocky V: US$40.9 million
• Rocky Balboa: US$$71.2 million

These figures only reflect movie theater ticket sales in the United States. The most profitable of the films by far was the original Rocky, which only spent a production budget of US$1.1 million.

Rocky IV made US$175 million outside of the U.S. grossing an overall 300 million worldwide, the most out of any Rocky film. Additionally, Rocky IV was until recently the highest-grossing sports movie of all time.^{[citation needed]}

• Artist LeRoy Neiman makes his second appearance in the Rocky series as a ring announcer for the Apollo Creed/Ivan Drago exhibition fight.
• Sportscaster Stu Nahan makes his fourth appearance in the series as commentator for the Apollo/Drago fight. Warner Wolf replaces Bill Baldwin (who had died in 1982) as co-commentator.
• Apollo Creed's wife (Sylvia Meals) make her second of two appearances in the series, the first being in Rocky II.
• The training montage of Rocky training in the snow and climbing up the mountain is parodied in the Family Guy episode "Brian Goes Back to College" with Brian training instead of studying for a test, even with the "Heart's On Fire" song in the background.^[4]
• Paulie shows his ignorance of college football by implying he'll miss the Rose Bowl game, usually played on New Year's Day, although the fight takes place on Christmas Day.
• Only movie of the series not to begin with the moving "Rocky" logo and to not feature a new score by Bill Conti.
• Stallone's then wife, Brigitte Nielsen, appeared as Drago's wife Ludmilla.
• In the 1987 film Spaceballs, the lengthy nature of the Rocky franchise was jokingly referenced (specifically that they had made four films already) when a TV newscaster said, "Next up, Pongo's review of Rocky Five... Thousand!"
• While filming a fight scene, Dolph Lundgren punched Stallone so hard it sent his diaphragm up against his heart, causing it to bruise. Stallone was flown back to Los Angeles and production was temporarily shut down.

• Rocky IV at the Internet Movie Database