Rocky IV (1985) Dir: Sylvester Stallone
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The fourth film in Sylvester Stallone's iconic boxing saga saw its most, on the surface, typical American patriotism story yet. I must admit, I was less excited for this one, in part because of that notion. I have to say, while I was not entirely wrong, I was also not entirely right.
The film did have a lot of the expected America versus Russia story running through it, but I liked the approach taken; one of peace and change, rather than antagonism - especially in a time where the Cold War was still a very real thing.
There were a lot of montages for such a short film - too many in fact. It got a bit ridiculous, even for a Rocky film. It bordered on filler, which felt very weird to say about a ninety minute film. I thought some of the smaller sub-plot points were also guilty of this, in that they felt unnecessary, or unimportant.
There were some really odd creative choices this time, I must admit. For one, the full length performance of 'Living In America' by James Brown was, quite frankly, bizarre. Additionally, there was the incredibly dumb but typically 80's inclusion of a smart robot character, which was so out of place.
The actual narrative, I enjoyed quite a bit. I love a good underdog story, as my enjoyment of the previous films will attest to. While this one went a bit silly in lots of ways, I didn't mind it too much. I will say though, there certainly wasn't as much story in this as any of the previous films.
Sylvester Stallone gave another solid portrayal of his most famous creation. I do think I preferred his previous two performances to this one, but there wasn't that much to criticise about it either. He clearly knows his character better than anyone, and it shows in his acting.
Talia Shire showed some of the many positives I was pleased with in the last film, but they were a little more toned down this time around. There was one scene where she had a very good outburst of emotion, which I thought was pretty impactful.
Dolph Lundgren definitely had the sweaty, imposing presence and physique befitting his character. He didn't need to do much acting beyond looking super serious, but he did that very well. It's also worth noting that the work both he and Stallone put in to sell their match was very respectable.
Burt Young was the most notable of those in the supporting cast, though he felt like he was purely used for some comedic relief. I also thoroughly enjoyed the performances of the likes of Carl Weathers, Brigitte Nielsen, Tony Burton and Michael Pataki, though all in fairly small roles.
Overall, while I did enjoy this one, I don't think it was anywhere near as strong as the second or third films. It had some excellent drama; mostly involving the actual boxing matches. However, the fluff around the edges was much less refined and not nearly as compelling.
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