Rocky Balboa proudly holds the world heavyweight boxing championship, but a new challenger has stepped forward: Drago, a six-foot-four, 261-pound fighter who has the backing of the Soviet Union.
Rocky struggles in family life after his bout with Apollo Creed, while the embarrassed champ insistently goads him to accept a challenge for a rematch.
Director:
Sylvester Stallone
Stars:
Sylvester Stallone,
Talia Shire,
Burt Young
Thirty years after the ring of the first bell, Rocky Balboa comes out of retirement and dons his gloves for his final fight; against the reigning heavyweight champ Mason 'The Line' Dixon.
Director:
Sylvester Stallone
Stars:
Sylvester Stallone,
Antonio Tarver,
Milo Ventimiglia
Reluctantly retired from boxing, and back from riches to rags, Rocky takes on a new protege who betrays him, as the champ's son must adjust to his family's new life after bankruptcy.
Director:
John G. Avildsen
Stars:
Sylvester Stallone,
Talia Shire,
Burt Young
A small-time boxer gets a supremely rare chance to fight a heavy-weight champion in a bout in which he strives to go the distance for his self-respect.
Director:
John G. Avildsen
Stars:
Sylvester Stallone,
Talia Shire,
Burt Young
The former World Heavyweight Champion Rocky Balboa serves as a trainer and mentor to Adonis Johnson, the son of his late friend and former rival Apollo Creed.
Director:
Ryan Coogler
Stars:
Michael B. Jordan,
Sylvester Stallone,
Tessa Thompson
John Rambo is released from prison by the government for a top-secret covert mission to the last place on Earth he'd want to return - the jungles of Vietnam.
Director:
George P. Cosmatos
Stars:
Sylvester Stallone,
Richard Crenna,
Charles Napier
Former Green Beret John Rambo is pursued into the mountains surrounding a small town by a tyrannical sheriff and his deputies, forcing him to survive using his combat skills.
Director:
Ted Kotcheff
Stars:
Sylvester Stallone,
Brian Dennehy,
Richard Crenna
In Thailand, John Rambo joins a group of mercenaries to venture into war-torn Burma, and rescue a group of Christian aid workers who were kidnapped by the ruthless local infantry unit.
Director:
Sylvester Stallone
Stars:
Sylvester Stallone,
Julie Benz,
Matthew Marsden
Rocky Balboa accompanies his friend Apollo Creed to the rings in a boxing match against a Russian Boxer named Ivan Drago. Drago is too strong for Creed, and unfortunately kills him in his match. Balboa blames himself for Creed's death and is determined to defeat Drago in a boxing match. He gains the help of Creed's former manager, Duke and travels to U.S.S.R to take on Drago.Written by
Film_Fan
The Soviet Premier in the sky box during the Rocky-Drago match strongly resembles contemporary Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Actor David Lloyd Austin later played Gorbachev in The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988) and played Russian characters in other films. See more »
Goofs
When Drago is training, the Thermo-graphic computer monitor repeatedly plays the same clip of him throwing a punch over and over, even when Drago is not throwing a punch. See more »
Quotes
Ludmilla:
Good Luck. I hope, we can be friends.
Mrs. Creed:
I hope so.
Ludmilla:
Of course, they're sportsmen, not soldiers.
[Shakes, Mrs. Creed's hand]
Igor Rimsky:
Enjoy the fight
[shakes hands with Mrs. Creed]
See more »
Crazy Credits
Only Rocky film that doesn't start with the "scrolling Rocky" logo. See more »
Alternate Versions
On the USA Network version of the film, a shot of Drago taking steroids is reframed to edit out a needle piercing his shoulder. To keep time with the song "Heart's On Fire" playing in the background, previous shots of the needle full of steroids are slowed down. See more »
This was the movie which put me off seeing Stallone movies for years. I was a huge fan of his first three Rocky movies (which I consider to be great/classic) and "First Blood" (the first of the "Rambo" movies).
In Rocky IV, Stallone turns the inspiring story of a no-name boxer who becomes world champion into part of the Cold War culture battle between the USA and USSR. Every opportunity is taken to portray Russians in an unflattering light...as drug taking cheats or what not (ironic, seeing as how the US Olympic team is now so heavily tainted by the "drug cheats" smear).
Stallone really embraced President Reagan's Cold War views on Russia. After reading some plot details of the sequel to "First blood", I thought I'd give that movie a miss. I'm still yet to see that movie. Sounds like another Cold War, anti-Russian piece of propaganda. If you are a fan of President Reagan and loved his characterisation of the USSR as an Evil Empire, deserving nuclear annihilation (personally, I didn't find that 'joke' of Reagan's funny, as it smeared an entire people with the muddy term "evil"), then I think you will have a lot to like in this film. It will confirm all your views about the US and USSR.
It wasn't until a couple of years ago, I think, that I finally saw the next installment in this franchise...it was on commercial TV and on very late at night...might have even been the premier of Rocky V! In that film, Stallone, via Rocky Balboa, seems to backtrack from the excesses of Rocky IV. He seems to retract what he was saying in that movie. It was still a very silly movie (no doubt the next worst film in this series), but I'm curious now to see the latest in the franchise, "Rocky Balboa". Could be fun.
Really, this movie is part of the Stallone oeuvre where you could bill his movies as "Produced by the Pentagon. Directed by the CIA". In other words, pure political propaganda, which played a part in Reagan's Cold War against the USSR.
The nadir of the series.
26 of 61 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
| Report this
This was the movie which put me off seeing Stallone movies for years. I was a huge fan of his first three Rocky movies (which I consider to be great/classic) and "First Blood" (the first of the "Rambo" movies).
In Rocky IV, Stallone turns the inspiring story of a no-name boxer who becomes world champion into part of the Cold War culture battle between the USA and USSR. Every opportunity is taken to portray Russians in an unflattering light...as drug taking cheats or what not (ironic, seeing as how the US Olympic team is now so heavily tainted by the "drug cheats" smear).
Stallone really embraced President Reagan's Cold War views on Russia. After reading some plot details of the sequel to "First blood", I thought I'd give that movie a miss. I'm still yet to see that movie. Sounds like another Cold War, anti-Russian piece of propaganda. If you are a fan of President Reagan and loved his characterisation of the USSR as an Evil Empire, deserving nuclear annihilation (personally, I didn't find that 'joke' of Reagan's funny, as it smeared an entire people with the muddy term "evil"), then I think you will have a lot to like in this film. It will confirm all your views about the US and USSR.
It wasn't until a couple of years ago, I think, that I finally saw the next installment in this franchise...it was on commercial TV and on very late at night...might have even been the premier of Rocky V! In that film, Stallone, via Rocky Balboa, seems to backtrack from the excesses of Rocky IV. He seems to retract what he was saying in that movie. It was still a very silly movie (no doubt the next worst film in this series), but I'm curious now to see the latest in the franchise, "Rocky Balboa". Could be fun.
Really, this movie is part of the Stallone oeuvre where you could bill his movies as "Produced by the Pentagon. Directed by the CIA". In other words, pure political propaganda, which played a part in Reagan's Cold War against the USSR.
The nadir of the series.