Rocky IV (1985)
Directed by Sylvester Stallone
Rocky Balboa holds the world heavyweight championship, but a new challenger has stepped forward: Drago, a six-foot-four, 261-pound fighter who has the backing of the Soviet Union. This time, Rocky's training regimen takes him to Siberia, where he prepares for a globally televised match in the heart of Moscow. But nothing can truly prepare him for what he's about to face – a fight to the finish, in which he must defend not only himself, but also the honor of his country!
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What critics compared Rocky IV to
The back-to-your-roots squaring off against modern technology theme carries a distinct “Rocky IV” vibe, and older audiences will picture Sylvester Stallone carrying logs up Siberian mountains while Dolph Lundgren runs on treadmills while hooked up to a dazzling array of computers and monitors.
While still not a Pixar classic by any stretch, Lightning McQueen and his four-wheeled bunch at least get in the right lane finally with the surprisingly deep Cars 3 (**½ out of four; rated G; in theaters nationwide Friday), which amounts to Rocky IV with anthropomorphic automobiles.
He’s basically Ivan Drago from “Rocky IV,” only instead of Russia being the bad guys it’s the kids these days, ready to make the olds unemployed.
So “Cars 3” is basically “Rocky IV” — minus the geopolitics and that glorious James Brown production number — with a little of “The Karate Kid” thrown in, along with pretty much every sports movie cliche ever.
The Rocky movies come to mind immediately when watching Lightning train for the big race against Storm, and if you’re a fan of that series (particularly Rocky IV and Creed), you’ll likely connect with Cars 3 in a similar way.
Rourke’s insufferable Russian accent reminds me of Dolph Lundgren’s cartoonish villain Ivan Drago from Rocky IV.
Things kick into high gear with a live 'show' for Stark Expo that recalls the boxing ring theatricality of "Rocky IV" but we soon learn that Tony is keeping a secret - the core which is keeping him alive is poisoning his blood.
That’s all harmless enough, but the film mines some arguably xenophobic Tea Party territory with its portrayal of villainy: a black mechanical warrior named Zeus, the tool of gross ethnic stereotypes Farra Lemkova (Olga Fonda, exuding the chilliest Eastern European visage since Dolph Lundgren’s 'Drago’ in Rocky IV) and the inscrutable Asian, Tak Mashido (a cartoonishly-vile Karl Yune).
In a way, the movie is like Rocky IV minus the Cold War but with the addition of robots.
At first the final fight with Atom looks to be Rocky Balboa vs. Apollo Creed I, but then it’s almost exactly Rocky IV and suddenly, out of nowhere, we find out robots can get tired.
The film’s final fight transports boxing lovers specifically to “Rocky IV” where a street-smart, smaller and scrapier Rocky Balboa wages war against the seemingly unbeatable Russian powerhouse Ivan Drago.
Concentrate on those scenes, try to ignore the schmaltz in between, and the whole experience isn’t really any worse than, say, “Rocky IV.” (Compared to any “Transformers” picture, it’s practically “Raging Bull.”)
Alas, although the acting's uniformly strong, and the film has kitchen-sink grit to spare, it errs more on the side of 1985's Rocky IV than John Avildsen's '76 original, what with its "unstoppable" Russian fighter (Kurt Angle) and a climax that's never in doubt.
When, late in the story, both brothers must defeat an inexpressive and nearly superhuman Russian fighter (pro wrestler Kurt Angle), it's impossible not to think of Dolph Lundgren as the Soviet near-automaton from the affectionately mocked "Rocky IV."
But because we know exactly which two characters will end up in the championship bout (despite the challenge of a hulking Russian straight out of Rocky IV), the home stretch occasionally becomes tedious, with the emphasis shifting from character development to repetitive slugfests.
In “Rocky IV” the same year, Stallone— draped in the flag—gets to pummel a Soviet Superman, giving America some sweet wish fulfillment during the Reagan Cold War.
But there is way, way too much of the TV commentators, who give us the same information ad nauseam (the bouts are almost comically over-explained), and none of the other fighters are given anything beyond a rudimentary sense of personality (O'Connor and co-writers Anthony Tambakis and Cliff Dorman even trot out a Rocky IV-style Russian killing machine, and the characterization is about as subtly drawn).
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He never knew his father, who was killed in the ring in the absurd Rocky IV — a film that’s in a different sphere than this one.
Adonis’ fight scenes are choreographed with both technical fluidity and a palpable intensity: Heads don’t dramatically snap back like they did when the Italian Stallion fought Drago in Rocky IV — instead, the blows land with a realistic force.
Después vendrían cinco películas más de la saga, con resultados bien dispares, siendo tal vez la tercera y la quinta las más bajas, y “Rocky IV” un clásico, pero en otro sentido, muy distinto al de la original.
For those who don’t remember, Apollo Creed died fighting Ivan Drago in "Rocky IV." Twenty years later, though he’s landed what seems to be a nice job with a financial firm, Adonis has been spending time in Mexico, prizefighting.
Creed centers on Adonis Johnson Creed, the son of Rocky's enemy-turned-friend Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), who died in the ring in Rocky IV.
After some character comedy at his brother-in-law Paulie’s depressing birthday party — Rocky and Adrian give Paulie a robot with an A.I. capacity decades ahead of its time, an odd detour into science fiction that apparently inspired Kermit’s “80s robot” in The Muppets — we meet our villain, Drago.
Yet, it is assembled with such love for its central character and his determined mission, its seams held together by an upbeat synthesizer score that sounds like outtakes from the Rocky IV (1986) soundtrack, that you’d have to be pretty cynical yourself not to feel some tingling of excitement when Eddie soars, even if he lands many, many meters behind the competition.
(It would not be surprising to find out that Rocky IV was a major influence here.)
A blond Russian hitman (wrestler Kevin Nash) has a comical throwdown with the Punisher set to Verdi’s “La Donna E Mobile,” and though the scene provides a momentary respite from Carlo Siliotto’s drearily melancholic score, it’s unclear whether this Russkie’s physical similarity to Rocky IV‘s Drago (who was played by Dolph Lundgren, star of the original 1989 B-movie version of The Punisher) is intentional or not.
At this point, when Travolta says "Bring in The Russian," I was hoping that Dolph Lundgren (the original "Punisher") would break down the door and enter as Ivan Drago from "Rocky IV" to liven things up a bit.
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On celluloid-paper, “Godzilla vs. Kong” is the most significant cinematic clash since “Alien vs. Predator” (2004), Rocky Balboa vs. Ivan Drago in “Rocky IV” (1985), “Kramer vs. Kramer” (1979), and hey, “King Kong vs. Godzilla” (1963).
This time, we watch him receive injections like Ivan Drago in “Rocky IV” (1985) and mechanical upgrades like Doc Ock in “Spider-Man 2” (2004).