Rocky IV

Rocky IV (1985)

Runtime: 91 minutes

Directed by: Sly Stallone

Starring: The usual Rocky cast, plus Brigitte Nielsen and Dolph Lundgren... and a robot

From: United Artists

While I now know why the robot was in the film, it's still befuddling... everything revolving around it being given to Paulie as a birthday present.

If you wanted to show someone a few movies from the 1980's that stand as a monument to the decade, this would for sure have to be a selection-in late 2018 the movie is often unintentionally hilarious and it encapsulates how over the top the decade was... not to mention provide a plethora of period ditties, what the hot vehicles of the time were (such as the Lamborghini Countach), the continuing views of the Soviet Union being the enemy because of the Cold War despite America's relationship between them starting to thaw out by this time, the sometimes silly clothing and yes, robots... more on that later.

Rocky IV became like a cartoon as Rocky Balboa is now an American superhero who goes on a Soviet sojourn in order to avenge the death of Apollo Creed by Ivan Drago-now, it's great that this launched Dolph Lundgren's career and all but Dr9ago does not exactly have any depth besides being a large, muscular human being who does not say much, does then-revolutionary training techniques and oh yeah, injects steroids also. Thank goodness the Russians don't do THAT anymore... the story is incredibly rushed as there are all those damn montages and the film is only an hour and a half long. The idea of Apollo not being able to handle being out of the ring is a fine one, but that is rushed too.

Then there is that robot... recently I discovered it was a real life creation that was used and helped out Stallone's son Seargeoh, who has autism. Sly wanting to put that robot in the film is understandable... but not why the robot's role was being a birthday present for Paulie, or how (according to a deleted scene) it was Paulie who somehow took apart that machine and gave it a female voice. Those scenes are the most cartoony in a film that was over the top to the point that Rocky doesn't run up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art but instead randomly climbs up a mountain. The nuance and maturity of the first two is long gone and instead you get what seems like a coke-fueled version of a boxing picture.

Yet I am not surprised this was a huge hit because it was a product of its time and such a bombastic film was perfect for people of the mid 1980's. They even loved that silly, idealistic speech from Balboa in the conclusion... as if Rocky could end The Cold War like that.