There are quite a few changes both big and small. Plus there are alternate takes and shots of scenes from the original cut too. I’ve read that forty minutes were cut and forty-two minutes added. Now, I’m not going to cover every difference between the original and this new cut. After watching the original film… I still think it is a stupidly dumb but fun flick. So I thought it would be best to rewatch the original before the director’s cut. As I said, Rocky IV is my least favourite of the franchise and while I have seen it a few times, I’ve watched it far less than the others. Just to get in the mood and also as a refresher. So yeah, after not being all that interested in this new version, I suddenly had a serious drive to want to see it. I’m not saying that there were no character-driven scenes in the original cut, I’m just saying there weren’t enough of them. This new cut seemed to be far more character-driven and I liked it. The original cut was about being big, loud, brash and bombastic. That is what was missing from the original cut, those human moments. There seemed to be more drama, more dialogue… even from Drago. In that trailer, I saw more of the human factor that I loved about the Rocky franchise. I watched the trailer and my previously piqued interest was piqued further. If Sly was going to cut that, what else was going to be cut and what would replace it? The weeks passed and then, a trailer for this new version was released, along with a new title that’s a hell of a mouthful. That one headline was enough to pique my interest. Then I read a headline of an article covering the new cut that claimed Stallone would be cutting the fucking annoying robot out completely. When Stallone announced he was going to do a director’s cut of Rocky IV, I honestly couldn’t muster up the interest to even give it the time of day. Sure, Rocky IV is a fun movie… it’s s just a very stupid Rocky flick. That human element of the Rocky character was gone, paving the way for ham-fisted Cold War propaganda. The previous film’s heart had been replaced with a huge dose of ‘America is the greatest country in the world’ hyperbole. With Rocky IV though, it was typical eighties cheese. Even when being a bit silly (see the Rocky vs Thunderlips fight in Rocky III), it still always felt relatable and grounded. Every other film in the franchise has been grounded in a level of believable verisimilitude. But I’ve always considered it the black sheep of the franchise because it was so stupidly over the top. I don’t dislike Rocky IV at all, I think it’s a good, stupid, over the top, riot of a film. Yeah, I know that popular fan opinion would be more than happy to get in the ring with me and fight it out over my view. There isn’t a Rocky film I outright dislike but my least favourite, if pushed, is most definitely Rocky IV. That character is one of the most charming, endearing and loveable ever captured on screen. For me, creating Rocky Balboa was the greatest thing that Stallone ever did. See… Christmassy, it counts.Īnyway, I adore the Rocky films. Rocky Balboa gets upset and agrees to fight the Russian boxer man in Russia on Christmas Day. We all know the plot of Rocky IV, don’t we? A big, nasty Russian boxer man comes to America and kills Apollo Creed in the ring. See, during the whole lockdown/covid bollocks of 2020, Sylvester Stallone decided to do something with all the spare time he had, he thought it would be a good idea to go back to his 1985 Rocky IV film and re-edit it on what would’ve been the film’s thirty-fifth anniversary. Still, something Christmassy was released a while back that I could take a look at. I usually plan and write my Christmas article(s) in early November but I’ve been too damn busy this year and I just plain forgot. I forgot to do a Christmas article for this year. Well, it’s only a few days until Christmas now… yeah okay, I admit it.
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