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Rocky IV (1985)
3 Plays7 minutes ago
This week on the Everything Actioncast, Zach and Chris enter the ring for Rocky IV, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary.
Written and directed by Stallone, Rocky IV sees Rocky Balboa living large as the reigning heavyweight boxing champion. When the Soviet Union introduces its new contender, Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren), they want to have an exhibition match with Rocky. Rocky declines, but Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) accepts instead. The match begins as a joke but ends in tragedy as Apollo is killed in the ring. Rocky travels to the Soviet Union for a grudge match against Drago to avenge Apollo's death. Zach and Chris discuss the movie's killer soundtrack, Paulie reprogramming a sophisticated robot, high-tech vs old-school training, everyone's no-blocking boxing technique, and more.
You can rent Rocky IV on services like Amazon, Google, and Apple. Next week, we're getting ready for Five Nights at Freddy's 2 with one of its knock-offs, 2023's Freddy's Fridays.
We want to hear your comments and feedback. Send them all to contact@everythingaction.com. Also, let us know your suggestions for movies for us to discuss.
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Transcript
Intro
Introduction and Podcast Overview
00:00:19
Zach Sheets
Hello and welcome to the Everything AsherCats podcast week of November 24th, 2025. I'm your host Zach.
00:00:25
Chris Prime
I'm your co-host, Chris.
00:00:26
Zach Sheets
And this week we are stepping in the ring with Rocky and talking about Rocky which came out, something its 40th anniversary came out on November 27th, 1985.
1985: A Big Year for Stallone
00:00:37
Zach Sheets
And a huge year for Stallone, 1985, because Rocky IV and Rambo First Blood Part II, I think it came out in like the summer of 1985, I mean, back-to-back bangers from Stallone that you're...
00:00:50
Chris Prime
Yeah, uh, 80s was definitely like a Salone like hot streak.
Stallone's Role in Rocky Series
00:00:57
Zach Sheets
Did he... Oh, no. I was just... I'm trying to remember if he directed both, but yeah, he he only directed a Rocky IV. It was like George P. Cosmatos directed Rainbow Part II.
00:01:08
Zach Sheets
yeah this But yeah, I think every every movie Rocky movie since the first one, Stallone has wrote and directed each of them. this is like the you the the string of Stallone written and directed Rocky movies.
Character Development in Rocky Series
00:01:21
Zach Sheets
And yeah, three three years after Rocky III, which which i I do appreciate that like they have like a a recap at the beginning of Rocky four to be like, hey, do you do not remember Rocky III?
00:01:35
Chris Prime
I mean, if you didn't rent it it for yet, you know, like...
00:01:35
Zach Sheets
Because it... Yeah, or you saw it on TV? Like, you only saw it the theaters, like, three years ago?
00:01:43
Chris Prime
I do appreciate movies with long kind of histories, but honestly, it's like, you just need to know where certain characters are. Like, what happened to Mick? Dead. What happened to, like, how how rich is Rocky now?
00:01:57
Chris Prime
Very. You know, like, it's a good understanding, because if you went from the first movie to the third movie, you definitely need to know there was a whole, like,
00:01:58
Zach Sheets
yes
00:02:06
Chris Prime
Oh, like, you know, first movie to the fourth movie. That's a giant leap.
00:02:11
Zach Sheets
Oh, yeah. yeah it's like it's Everyone's a completely different character from the first movie to this movie.
00:02:17
Chris Prime
Yeah, I think Rocky's brain injury, like, heals at this point, and he's, like, very coherent, where I think in the first movie, him and Adrian, they all think they're on the spectrum or something.
00:02:27
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm.
00:02:28
Chris Prime
At least Adrian. Adrian, the first two first Rocky movie, it's like, Pauly was always going, Oh, my sister's special and all that. And then by the time the third movie, she's just like a well-to-do, like, dressed modern woman.
00:02:42
Zach Sheets
Yeah. Oh, and and they also, they also like like, they really, like, shaved the edges off Polly, too. Like, by the time, like, in the first one, this one, he's just, like, the pure comedic relief.
00:02:51
Chris Prime
Oh, yeah. It's so funny i think about the first version of Pauly where he's just sort of like a drunkard and he's like, Oh, I want to be a mob enforcer like you, Rocky.
00:02:53
Zach Sheets
Like...
00:03:00
Chris Prime
Yeah.
00:03:01
Zach Sheets
Yeah, like he had like, he had some edge in the first one. Now, in this way he's just, like, oh, I'm, like, eating ice cream, and i'm I'm making jokes, and, like, I don't know what snow is. Like...
00:03:10
Chris Prime
Yeah.
00:03:12
Zach Sheets
But yeah, so I think i think this is like kind of like almost... guess each movie takes place in the year they take place, because Rocky III was 81, so this is three like four years after Rocky III.
00:03:26
Zach Sheets
And Rocky is the undisputed champion. He is absurdly wealthy. He lives in the mansion. He has like two Lamborghinis.
The Soviet Challenge: Ivan Drago Enters
00:03:37
Zach Sheets
and But there's a new like upstart rushed like Soviet Union boxer named Ivan Drago, who is not like it's like kind of like the Soviet Union introducing him as the next like phenomenon and the boxing world, and they want to challenge an American champion. They want him to fight Rocky, but Apollo Creed wants, because he's been a retired, he's like he wants to take the fight and kind of show that he's still like got it. He's still one of the best fighters in the world.
00:04:07
Chris Prime
Yeah, I mean, they just want to prove that they have like the same boxing talent, even though like it seems like they don't box anywhere in their country.
Cold War Tensions in Rocky IV
00:04:19
Chris Prime
you i mean like I bet they do, but in a sense was like, hey, we want to like become internationally famous too, so we want to take on like your American champion.
00:04:28
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:04:29
Chris Prime
very Very funny because we just saw Robot Jocks last week, and we compare it to just sort of like, this is how you settle disputes, but this is still peak tension between America and the real Soviet Union.
00:04:44
Chris Prime
And so this movie is like, okay, what if they don't do wars, but we throw our entertainers at them?
00:04:51
Zach Sheets
yeah like like when was i think I think the Olympics where the US refused to go was like before this movie, probably. Right?
00:04:59
Chris Prime
I forgot. I don't know my Olympic history.
00:05:01
Zach Sheets
and that right that's probably earlier i think it was definitely earlier earlier in the 80s where like the US was like, we're yeah, we're not going to the Olympics in the Soviet Union. I think Paul might have been like encouraged by like like he and Rocky had that secret fight at the end of Rocky three which you find out in Creed that Apollo won that fight.
00:05:23
Zach Sheets
So I think maybe he had like, that like boosts his confidence of like, Oh, if I, if I could, I could beat Rocky still. So maybe maybe I still got it.
00:05:32
Chris Prime
I mean, that kind of makes sense. it's Like, I just beat the world champ, so that means I could take on... I got my my Eye of the Tiger back, which was probably the worst thing he could have done.
00:05:41
Zach Sheets
Yeah. Yeah.
00:05:45
Zach Sheets
yeah which Yeah, this movie kicks off with Eye of the Tiger and like an entire... like It's basically an entire recap of Rocky III, in case you don't remember what it was. And but also, like the title card is like those like it's the classic... like There's like two like boxing gloves rocketing toward each other.
00:05:59
Zach Sheets
like The American glove and the Soviet Union glove, and they explode when they hit each other. probably Probably one of the best like Rocky scenes.
00:06:08
Zach Sheets
but yeah so Yeah, the Soviet Union, the Isra Drago, want to have an exhibition match. So Apollo takes the match instead of Rocky, and then they they're going to have it at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
00:06:22
Zach Sheets
And it's a huge,
Apollo Creed's Tragic Fight
00:06:24
Zach Sheets
insane production. Apollo just goes completely over the top. And like yeah they have James Brown shows up to sing Living in America.
00:06:34
Chris Prime
And it's not even like James Brown playing a fake version of James Brown. It's just James Brown.
00:06:38
Zach Sheets
Yeah. Which I think this is, like, Living in America became, like, his, like, last, like, top 50 hit. Like, it was, like, huge a huge hit It kind of, like, revitalized his career for a little bit.
00:06:48
Chris Prime
It's so funny because I thought like he had more hits after this because you figure this was an insanely popular movie. It's time to maybe make another string of hits, but that was it.
00:07:00
Chris Prime
He rode this until like basically his death.
00:07:04
Zach Sheets
I think he got arrested at, like, a short time after this, too but Like, so, I think
00:07:07
Chris Prime
He got arrested a couple times.
00:07:08
Zach Sheets
Yeah, but i think i think it like I think it was like, oh man, Rocky IV, like, is a very long career. oh I'm
00:07:15
Chris Prime
I think he he also got one where he did that like unhinged interview in 1990-something where like he obviously was on like on drugs and he was just like singing singing to it. like Living in America like unprompted.
00:07:28
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm.
00:07:30
Chris Prime
By today's standard, it's like that PR firm would have been completely like obliterated. But but They were right on the money here. It's like, let's get James Brown. He's going to be James Brown.
00:07:42
Chris Prime
He's going to sing this awesome song. And then we're going to show you something really horrific.
00:07:48
Zach Sheets
Yeah, it allows you to, like, a false sense of security of, like, oh, man, this is so fun. Like, Apollo's dressed like Uncle Sam. He's, like, pointing gloves at Drago and, like, dancing around the showgirls. Everyone's, like, having a blast.
00:08:02
Zach Sheets
And then, yeah, then the actual fight starts, and it's just, like, its it it starts out fun because, like, Apollo's just, dancing around him and, like, doing some punches. then, like, the first time, like, Drago hits him, it's like, oh,
00:08:13
Zach Sheets
No, this is serious. Like, think it's like after like they explain, there's like a press conference where like, like Drago's traitor is just like, they're showing off like, it's like punching power. It's like, it's like however many PSI, it's like 400 PSI or something per punch, some crazy amount.
00:08:32
Zach Sheets
And you get like classes like, whatever he hits, he destroys.
00:08:37
Chris Prime
I mean, they weren't lying.
00:08:39
Zach Sheets
Yeah, so like, he goes like this like kind of like wacky, fun exhibition match, like a fight for survival. Because like, Apollo's just getting like absolutely destroyed.
00:08:50
Chris Prime
then Apollo's like, I can still win. like and
00:08:55
Zach Sheets
can win. He's just like, don't start this don't stop this fight. yeah I gotta stay in here. I gotta to prove myself.
00:09:00
Chris Prime
well, yeah, I guess you just want to see if you can be like Rocky and just tank punches.
00:09:05
Zach Sheets
Well, that's that's everybody's strategy. like I feel like this one, more than any other Rocky movie, is where there's like the boxing the actual boxing strategy is completely out the window. It's just like no blocking, no kind of like like juking. It's just like, yeah, just take punches to the face until you fall down.
00:09:25
Zach Sheets
Like punch someone across the ring in the head with punches.
00:09:25
Chris Prime
and
00:09:29
Chris Prime
So I know in this fight, this upcoming fight, like Apollo doesn't know not to use that strategy because he unfortunately dies from his head wounds.
00:09:43
Chris Prime
Rocky and Drago then just say, hey, we're not going to put any defenses. We're going to do the Apollo Creed method and just take the hits.
00:09:50
Zach Sheets
It's all offense. Boxing in the Rocky universe is just all offense. There's no defense.
00:09:55
Chris Prime
No one's a tentacle fighter.
Boxing Style in Rocky Movies
00:09:57
Chris Prime
That's the beauty of it, is that I think in all the movies...
00:09:57
Zach Sheets
Nope.
00:09:59
Zach Sheets
No rope-a-doping. Yeah, there's no rope-a-doping.
00:10:01
Chris Prime
Oh, yeah
00:10:01
Zach Sheets
It's just like punch and punch and punch until someone falls down dead or knocked out. It's
00:10:07
Chris Prime
yeah. Yeah. Every win is a KO. A TKO.
00:10:14
Chris Prime
Well, actually, I'm thinking like...
00:10:15
Zach Sheets
Well, first one, didn' like they he went to distance, then he but he lost the decision, so that one went all the all the way.
00:10:16
Chris Prime
yeah
00:10:19
Chris Prime
Yeah, that's the only one where it's a real boxing match. Like, it's...
00:10:23
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:10:24
Chris Prime
it's actual like artistry because like Rocky knows he can't win by just outboxing Apollo, but he can win by waiting for the right moment to like gain back the point.
00:10:39
Chris Prime
And then like knocking him out, wasn't the goal, but hitting him really good was like, Hey, i that earned him a good amount.
00:10:47
Zach Sheets
Yeah, I mean, and and and the whole point of the first one is that, yeah, Rocky, just he wanted to go the distance to prove that he was as good as, like, anybody else.
00:10:47
Chris Prime
Uh,
00:10:55
Chris Prime
and then the second movie was can we do it again and he did because somehow
00:10:57
Zach Sheets
Can he win this time? Yep.
00:11:03
Chris Prime
well he did most he did like better training he didn't have like I guess also Rocky wasn't so worried about impressing Adrian in the second movie as much third movie Clubber Lane shows up and it's like I'm like you but I i hit worse than you like I hit like better than you
00:11:13
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
00:11:23
Chris Prime
And I think it was true.
00:11:23
Zach Sheets
Well, he was... yeahs He was hungrier. It's like, he's you you lost jet you lost your hunger, Rock.
00:11:29
Chris Prime
Plus, it was about rhythm. Like, Clubber Lang could definitely outstep Rocky unless Rocky learned better foot training that he couldn't get from just Mick.
00:11:39
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm.
00:11:41
Chris Prime
Because Mick boxed it like a classic Irish boxer.
00:11:44
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm.
00:11:45
Chris Prime
So he had to learn street Philly boxing.
00:11:48
Zach Sheets
You had to get the eye of the tiger.
00:11:50
Chris Prime
Which if I think about it now, is just like it was just like local Philly boxing leagues that weren't mixed gym.
00:11:59
Chris Prime
And then, yeah, and this, it's none of that. like None of that applies. There's no learn a different rhythm. There's no maybe I'll learn a technical boxing move or or a secret punch.
00:12:12
Chris Prime
like you know like There's no gimmick.
00:12:15
Zach Sheets
Nope.
00:12:16
Chris Prime
It's literally I will work out different than you. Not even a boxing working out. Just working out.
00:12:24
Zach Sheets
yeah but but Yeah. Before all the work out though, like, yeah, so, paul yeah, Apollo is just getting like absolutely pounded, but he, he's basically, he tells Rocky like, don't you, like, don't you dare throw that towel in because Rocky's like,
00:12:36
Zach Sheets
Apollo, he's going to kill you. like Stop this fight. He's like, you should do this. Stop this fight. But then, yeah, that you know i proves true because like he gets like one last big punch and then he falls on the ground. and I think were talking like last week like when we were playing Nunez Chris, when Apollo falls on the ground and it starts convulsing, it's just like really disturbing.
00:12:56
Chris Prime
it's too real uh it's something to me as a kid i knew something to see a human act like that is so like oh like you know it's like fantasy deaths and whatever but when it's like seizing carl weathers looks like like a brain injury like it just looks like the the like spasms that you definitely like would witness in real life
00:12:57
Zach Sheets
Yep.
00:13:19
Zach Sheets
And just, and just, and like the slow-mo too of like him being punched and his body just like going completely stiff and it's like falling down and yeah, convulsing. And then like all the, all the chaos afterwards where like everyone swarms the ring and Rocky's just like, give him man. He can't breathe. Give him man. And then like, he's like holding Rocky, like Apollo's like bloody face, like he's like holding him in like his like bloody face to his chest and stuff. It's like, yeah, that's like, it's so disturbing.
00:13:42
Zach Sheets
Which, you know but i guess, makes Rocky's desire for revenge like more powerful. because's like Especially when Drago's going, like, if he dies, he dies.
00:13:54
Zach Sheets
Like, no remorse.
00:13:56
Chris Prime
Yeah, just sh straight up, i'm going like that's what happens when you are a boxer. I'm just thinking, how many people has Drago killed in Russia, like in the Soviet Union boxing?
00:14:05
Zach Sheets
Oh, im I'm sure they probably just threw bunch of dudes at him, just to make him It's like, they're all they're focused on Drago. Everyone's expendable. Just like throw dudes at him.
00:14:16
Zach Sheets
It's like, don't don't hold back your punches. like these guys Don't worry about these these guys. They're in service to their country. They'll die for their country. they just pull guys from the gulag or something.
00:14:29
Chris Prime
You know, I'm just i'm thinking like. They don't lead with. Wait, did they show a training montage before he his fight with Apollo?
00:14:37
Zach Sheets
No, no.
00:14:38
Chris Prime
No, they're just like they showed him punching. It's like Bridget Fonda. Bridget Nielsen was like, was like, look how unstoppable this man is.
00:14:43
Zach Sheets
Brigitte Nielsen,
00:14:47
Zach Sheets
yeah. Yeah, there's a the other the press they say like a press conference, and they're they're like in like the high-tech gym, and he's like, it's that machine that registers like but how strong his punches are, and then it shows like, oh, a normal boxer's like 200, and he punches like 800.
00:15:01
Chris Prime
Like, uh, I feel like even though heat they're all heavyweights, or are they heavyweights considered?
00:15:09
Zach Sheets
I believe so, yeah, I think so.
00:15:11
Chris Prime
It's funny because, like, they don't look like heavyweights in modern standards. Like, in real boxing, they're too lean. Like, they're too cut because, like, you know, like, it's fantasy Hollywood bodies.
00:15:24
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:15:25
Chris Prime
Because heavyweight heavyweights, like, are bulky muscular dudes. They don't look like models.
00:15:30
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm.
00:15:31
Chris Prime
Like, they all look... that's In reality, that's like dehydration to get all that striations and the texture in their muscles. So, like, three rounds in, they'd be like, we need a Gatorade break.
00:15:42
Chris Prime
Like, there's...
00:15:43
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm.
00:15:44
Chris Prime
So, I always confuse that. Like, oh, they're heavyweights. Because some movies where they do, like, fighting, is like, oh, they're not, like, heavyweights. They're, like, the other another division or something. So, it's like, okay. That explains why they look like chiseled models while fighting.
00:15:58
Chris Prime
But... Drago, I guess based on his height, he always classifies as like a heavyweight because he's just 6'5 and 2-something. you like There's no way you can throw... like Imagine you take year one Rocky and throw him against Drago.
00:16:18
Chris Prime
That's how insane the like conditioning would be. of like woe That's an unfair fight for Rocky.
00:16:24
Zach Sheets
I feel like they get around any questions about like class like classes because this this fight's an exhibition fight so it doesn't really matter what weight class they're and then the Rocky-Drago fight is kind of like a grudge match it's not for like a title or anything it's just like Rocky just wants to like fight Drago for revenge so that's also an unofficial like not title fight it doesn't really even matter what class they are
00:16:47
Chris Prime
That's true, but again, there's also this reality of fighters being kind of like a representation of a company or corporation, and Russia, Soviet Union this time, is Drago's their best weapon?
00:16:55
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:17:03
Chris Prime
They should put a bunch of safeguards on them.
00:17:06
Chris Prime
don't let the fight go this long. You should definitely like, you know, call it quits just because like, A, they're, they they're having like a big PR nightmare.
00:17:17
Chris Prime
And then, uh, they, they already like killed an American boxer. Like the American boxing Federation is not to be like, yeah, okay. Why don't you join us? Like you'll be our, like our champion, even though it's like, he didn't fight in any other rounds.
00:17:34
Chris Prime
You know what Like it, It's not like Russia was, the Soviet Union was fighting to be part of the Bakken Federation in America. It was literally just a bragging right that went wrong.
Rocky's Challenge to Drago
00:17:45
Zach Sheets
Yeah, they just want show that like Soviet boxers are the best in the world.
00:17:49
Chris Prime
Yep.
00:17:49
Zach Sheets
Because they have Drago. This freak of nature.
00:17:55
Zach Sheets
steroids.
00:17:56
Chris Prime
Yeah.
00:17:58
Zach Sheets
but and That's also why like the but like the Rocky Drago fights in the Soviet Union, because they they're like, well, we're getting death threats. we we We're not going to have the fight in America. like You have to come to Russia if you want to fight us.
00:18:11
Zach Sheets
so yeah So yeah, which rock you know Rocky agrees to. he's He'll fly to Russia to train and then fight Drago.
00:18:18
Zach Sheets
And then after Apologize, we get the first the first of, i believe, at least three montages of this movie, which according to IMDb, like 33% this movie is montages.
00:18:30
Chris Prime
It makes sense. Like, they really want to utilize the best-selling part of the Rocky franchise at this point.
00:18:36
Zach Sheets
Yeah, if if you're coming to if you're coming to Rocky for boxing, like boxing matches and montages, like this is like, it's just stripped down.
00:18:37
Chris Prime
and po
00:18:44
Zach Sheets
this is all pretty much all Rocky IV is.
00:18:48
Chris Prime
I'm thinking, like, in today's Rocky movies, if you follow the same formula, would people be pissed?
00:18:55
Zach Sheets
yeah mean but Yeah, I mean, yeah, I feel like if if i one of the Creed movies is like like Rocky IV, where it's literally just like but like three training montages and like a fight, it'd be like, people would be like, what the hell is this? like
00:19:07
Zach Sheets
If there's basically no plot.
00:19:10
Chris Prime
Yeah. It's just, hey, we need a train. And even then, it's something i totally forgot that. Rocky doesn't fight anyone else.
00:19:22
Zach Sheets
No.
00:19:22
Chris Prime
In most other movies, Rocky spars with someone.
00:19:23
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:19:25
Chris Prime
He either fights with Apollo or even he's at Mick's gym sort of like watching someone fight.
00:19:35
Chris Prime
Rocky watches Apollo get killed and then it's just like, I need a train right now. I need to get like He doesn't even retire, right? Like it...
00:19:45
Zach Sheets
Well, I think he he has to give up his championship. So, like, he, like, they're, like, whatever, whatever like, boxing federation that he's, like, champion they're, like, if you if if you want to fight Drago, got to give him your championship because we're not going to, like, right like have, like, our our champion go to Russia and, like, lose or, like, get killed like did.
00:19:53
Chris Prime
Okay.
00:20:01
Zach Sheets
Yeah. Yeah. outboed
00:20:05
Chris Prime
Okay, that's the gimmick.
00:20:06
Zach Sheets
yeah
00:20:09
Zach Sheets
The first montage we get is not a training montage, though. It's the Rocky is Sad montage, which is like insane. It's the only time ever happens in the franchise. I'm just like, going to drive around my Lamborghini and remember Apollo.
00:20:24
Zach Sheets
Remember all good times. It's actually kind of like a recap of the entire franchise. cause There's scenes from like every other movie. but They go back all the way back to like Rocky 1. Remember like like like when he met Adrian and like like training with Mick? They use like every other movie. it's like We got get yeah yeah a bunch montages to fill. We need all the footage we can.
00:20:46
Zach Sheets
and This is when we get like the first of like the many like great... I guess yeah we never got to live in America, but the the and another great soundtrack song, No Easy Way Out, is it during this, like, Arakis Ad montage.
00:21:02
Zach Sheets
Which, made this this soundtrack, like, the soundtrack and the score is just, like, absolute, like, non-stop, like, hit after hit. Like, the Vistacola, like, synth score is amazing, and then, like, all the thought like all the tracks on the soundtrack are and amazing.
00:21:18
Chris Prime
Yeah, it's definitely like more memorable. because i Between Rocky 2 and 3, that is like what everyone remembers of a lot of the Rocky songs.
00:21:28
Zach Sheets
Well, I mean, it's it's like each each of those those movies before had like one song. It was like, Gonna Fly Now for like Rocky 2. And then like, Eye the Tiger for Rocky 3. And this was like, oh, here's here's like five songs now.
Impact of Rocky IV Soundtrack
00:21:41
Chris Prime
Wait, wait. I thought Gun of Fly Now was the first movie.
00:21:45
Zach Sheets
Oh, was it? might Well, I think 1 and 2 might be like the only kind of like that the main song for 1 and 2 was like, Gonna Fly Now.
00:21:51
Chris Prime
Hmm. Because once of the Tiger showed up, it it introduced a whole new generation of music. No longer was it orchestral, like, uh, like, almost like band.
00:22:03
Chris Prime
Like, you know, marching band music scores.
00:22:04
Zach Sheets
Yeah, like, yeah, like, score.
00:22:07
Chris Prime
it This became like rock anthems.
00:22:09
Zach Sheets
Yep.
00:22:10
Chris Prime
And ballads.
00:22:11
Zach Sheets
MTV music video music.
00:22:13
Chris Prime
Oh yeah. I'm surprised it didn't follow the trend where there was a retelling of the movie in the score. It's like, Rocky, you're Russia, like, fighting to fight Drago.
00:22:28
Zach Sheets
I mean, Burning Heart is kind of like, all all the lyrics are basically just like, two worlds collide, rival nations, like is it East versus West? like but Like that, that's basically like laying out the entire like premise of the movie.
00:22:43
Chris Prime
Not true.
00:22:45
Zach Sheets
Oh, before we go any further, we, we gotta go back because we forgot to mention like the, but like the best character in this movie, which is, uh, the robot.
The Memorable Robot in Rocky IV
00:22:53
Chris Prime
The robot butler.
00:22:54
Zach Sheets
there Well, the robot, like, yeah, whatever it is. Because like because like one of the one the like earliest scenes is before you know before Apollo like gets killed, like he like it's Rocky's son's... Oh, it's Polly's birthday.
00:23:08
Zach Sheets
So that they for his present, they bought him this crazy robot...
00:23:13
Chris Prime
And they introduced it like a car commercial.
00:23:16
Zach Sheets
Yeah, well, but but one one of the best like Vistakoba pieces is is like this say insane, when the robot's coming in, it's like, but and about ba but yeah by now ba ba ba bo bamper belt and it's like, Birthday,
00:23:29
Zach Sheets
heavy birthday pauly
00:23:31
Chris Prime
Now you think that it would have been cheaper to hire an actual person than to own that robot? In 1995 money?
00:23:39
Zach Sheets
so i guess So the thing about that robot is that it's you know it's an actual thing that existed before the movie. It was is designed to be a therapy robot for like autistic children.
00:23:51
Zach Sheets
And Rocky's... like like Sloan's actual son is autistic, so that's they had it on set so that Sloan's son could be on set. But then they're like...
00:24:01
Chris Prime
That robot looks so aggressive for like a aid.
00:24:05
Zach Sheets
Yeah, and and then they it's got like it's got like a c it's so like a like radio, it's got a phone, which I don't know how that phone's like attached to anything. like Rocky takes like a call on it but it's like, how is that even attached? Because it's not... I guess maybe primitive cell phone service was happening in 85, but it was like a landline.
00:24:25
Zach Sheets
don't know how that's how it's hooked up to a telephone service, but Rocky takes a call from Apollo on it.
00:24:34
Zach Sheets
And then the craziest thing afterwards, like after after they introduce the robot, it comes back later, and somehow Polly has turned it into like a like sultry like lady robot.
00:24:46
Chris Prime
Yeah, they program into... i mean, it's androgynous, but whatever. Pauly's just like, hey, what if I made this robot a chick?
00:24:53
Zach Sheets
Because because like it's it's real, your voice is like, it's like the, happy birthday, Polly. But then it comes over later, it's like, hey, Polly, I got you a beer. if you look you look great baby and he's just like thanks Jugga or whatever it is and then Apollo's just what the hell was that it's like that's my girl
00:25:13
Zach Sheets
is that like a setting on that robot like you just change it to sultry lady yeah
00:25:16
Chris Prime
yeah
00:25:19
Chris Prime
Again, so what you mentioned, it was weird because if it's designed for like an aid or like a humanoid aid, was that built in?
00:25:28
Zach Sheets
yeah
00:25:30
Chris Prime
Like, is that here's the thing. Is that robot designed specifically in this universe as one of those aids? Like in in actuality, he did just buy that aid.
00:25:42
Chris Prime
And then.
00:25:42
Zach Sheets
i
00:25:44
Chris Prime
Yeah.
00:25:45
Zach Sheets
i think I think in the Rocky universe, it's just like a a crazy like assistant robot.
00:25:50
Chris Prime
Like a rich person toy?
00:25:51
Zach Sheets
Yeah, like a toy, basically.
00:25:52
Chris Prime
Okay.
00:25:53
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:25:54
Chris Prime
Because then, you know, having it have a sultry mode is just interesting. But if it's like, oh no, like, as a fun for the adults in the room, like, we turned it into, like, and a very, like, interested romance partner. Like, it's so weird.
00:26:10
Zach Sheets
Yeah, because if it's not something you can just like switch you can just switch like switch the voice on it, Polly somehow had reprogram that robot to be like like like a girlfriend, basically.
00:26:20
Chris Prime
Paulie secretly, like a software engineer, like he designed his own like operating system on the robot because it doesn't seem like he pulled out the manual.
00:26:23
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:26:28
Chris Prime
Like it doesn't look like Paulie reads. So how did he figure out to change the settings?
00:26:31
Zach Sheets
No.
00:26:35
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm. I do, I do, one thing I noticed, like, this time we're watching it, is, like, I feel like they, did like, it kind of feels like they didn't tell Carl Wettis that a robot was going to come in the screen. Because he's talking about, like, he's like, I gotta get in, I gotta back in the ring, dude, like, I gotta to prove myself. then, like, all of sudden, like, the robot comes in, like, Carl Wettis is, like, a double take, just like, what the fuck is this?
00:26:55
Chris Prime
Yeah.
00:26:55
Zach Sheets
And they go, they go, like, and then, like, they go through the whole thing, and the police is like, it's this my girl, and Wettis is like, alright, whatever, and I'm going to go back to what I was talking about, I guess. I forgot what i was talking about.
00:27:07
Zach Sheets
But, yeah, Robot is probably one of the most memorable parts of this movie. But then, Stallone cut it out for his director's cut that he made a couple years ago.
00:27:19
Zach Sheets
So there's no like there's no more Robot in that version.
00:27:23
Zach Sheets
So i think I think we all know what the severe version of this movie is.
00:27:26
Chris Prime
Well, yeah, he wants to keep it very serious because between the first three movies, none of them had a talking robot. And then usually Rocky doesn't get to enjoy his like high life of being like this rich and famous.
00:27:33
Zach Sheets
Nope.
00:27:43
Zach Sheets
I'm
00:27:43
Chris Prime
And I think it does stand out because I think the first act is him just going, yeah, it's so good to be the champ. Paul, you want a robot? Hell yeah. And that you know, like it's
00:27:55
Zach Sheets
i'm out here washing both my Lamborghinis.
00:27:58
Chris Prime
It's a totally different movie. The more I think about I'm like, yeah. And it's funny because I grew up watching this more because Rocky 2 was rarely on TV.
00:28:05
Zach Sheets
Oh, yeah.
00:28:08
Chris Prime
It was like 1, 3, and 4. And 5, maybe.
00:28:16
Chris Prime
Like 5 was like once in a while and it was so like at the tail end of marathons.
00:28:20
Zach Sheets
I mean, I think 4 is like the most easily rewatchable one of the entire series. it's like It just goes down so smooth because it's mostly just like montages. You're just vibing out to the music and it's like why watching training montages.
00:28:32
Chris Prime
Mm-hmm.
00:28:33
Zach Sheets
So it's just like, it's so just like easily, you just put it on the background whenever you want. Or it's just like, mean, it just blows by. It just blows by. It feels like it's like no time at all that goes by when you're watching it.
00:28:47
Zach Sheets
But yeah, after after Rocky drives around sad for a little bit, yeah then he then he flies he fightes to Russia. It's him, Polly, and then Duke, who is Apollo's former trainer, who is now like helping train Rocky.
00:29:00
Zach Sheets
and And so then they end up there in the Soviet Union. They're in like this like rustic cabin in the mountains. And then we get the first actual training montage, which is... it's it's that There's no like license song to it. It's Vistacola's training montage song, which is like great synth song.
00:29:19
Zach Sheets
But we we we get we get like the contrast between Rocky's training and Drago's training, Drago's in like this like insane, high-tech, like almost like sci-fi lab with all this like crazy equipment.
00:29:30
Zach Sheets
And then Rocky's out there doing like lifting logs and like lifting rocks and... like doing like sit-ups in a barn and all this super low-tech training and then Drago's hooked up to machines and getting all sorts of stuff like done to him.
00:29:48
Chris Prime
It's also getting like crazy injections that
00:29:51
Zach Sheets
yeah pop Yeah, lots of steroids.
00:29:54
Chris Prime
I'm pretty sure like you inject steroids mostly in the like lower regions.
00:30:00
Zach Sheets
Lower, like, yeah.
00:30:01
Chris Prime
I've always seen people say like the butt is that to either hide the fact that you're you're injecting steroids because I think the injection site is very like like very ugly because essentially you're injecting into the muscle so it's going to bruise and then leave like an obvious injection mark.
00:30:15
Zach Sheets
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
00:30:17
Chris Prime
But whatever, Sylvia Doctor was just like, anyway, this is like horse tranquilizer. Just droop! I just remember that green vial of steroids.
00:30:25
Zach Sheets
Yep.
00:30:27
Chris Prime
It's such a fantasy because, yeah.
00:30:28
Zach Sheets
It's like read radioactive ooze. They're just like e injecting you into them.
00:30:31
Chris Prime
And then, like, real steroids is, like, clear. Like, they're not gonna waste time putting dyes in it.
00:30:38
Zach Sheets
Special Soviet blend. Special Soviet blend.
00:30:42
Chris Prime
and And is this also implied that, like, Drago was genetically, like, modified as a child or something?
00:30:49
Zach Sheets
i If they they said that, I wouldn't believe it. I mean, because he's just like like, yeah, his look and just like the way, like, it's like, it seems like something that they would make in a lab. but
00:31:00
Chris Prime
Because it looks like he was bred without no emotion.
00:31:03
Zach Sheets
like yeah
00:31:04
Chris Prime
and And he just seems to never have been outside of America, outside the Soviet Union.
00:31:10
Zach Sheets
Yeah, all like, all he does is train and fight. That's all he does. he has't That's all he's been, like, bred for.
00:31:16
Chris Prime
There's only one moment, maybe maybe like two or three moments in this movie, but the first moment is they show some vulnerability where he's in Vegas and he's in the ring before anyone else and he does the like floating platform and he has this look of bewilderment.
00:31:31
Zach Sheets
Yeah, when he when he sees like the full like display of what the hell is going on. It's like American extravagance of James Brown and showgirls and fireworks. No.
00:31:40
Chris Prime
But he doesn't look like he's having fun. He just just deadpan stares at the whole landscape.
00:31:42
Zach Sheets
no
00:31:48
Chris Prime
But there should have been a scene where like he mumbles to his corner and says, like Can you believe these Americans? I can't wait to punch the shit out of Apollo for this.
00:31:59
Zach Sheets
These soft Americans with their extravagant lifestyles.
00:32:01
Chris Prime
And they're like... And they're amazing songs about living here.
00:32:07
Chris Prime
There should have also been like a Soviet Union singer on his end.
00:32:12
Zach Sheets
Like, like, it's like he, his intro is like literally like one person just like singing like the Soviet national anthem. And then like everything goes dark and it cuts all lights come out. It's just like, and it's like the crazy James Brown show.
00:32:23
Chris Prime
Yep. I would have liked that juxtaposition. And it's something like his his his home team, his like cheer team, is just what you think a war movie about the like Russian like war times would be. like It's still that.
00:32:40
Chris Prime
So it's like a child opera singer in rags.
00:32:44
Zach Sheets
Yep. Mm-hmm.
00:32:46
Chris Prime
yeah only time you see like Drago even showing like, uh, kind of like concern is near the end where he's like, Oh no, I've been cut.
Drago: The Inhuman Soviet
00:32:58
Chris Prime
Like I'd never been this injured before.
00:33:03
Chris Prime
And, and Bridget Nielsen just sort of stops by the third act. Like, you know, like you figure she'd do some sabotage. Maybe she tries to like seduce Rocky or, or even she like fights Adrian.
00:33:18
Zach Sheets
Yeah, know she and Adrian don't even talk to... like She like walks past Adrian, they don't have any... They don't say anything.
00:33:25
Chris Prime
It's a, I did read once where it's like none of the women in these Rocky movies ever talk to each other.
00:33:31
Zach Sheets
Well... Bridget Nielsen, like before like the Apollo fight, goes to Apollo's wife and is like, Hey, after this, I hope we make friends out of this. And obviously that did not work out, but...
00:33:43
Chris Prime
But they the only time it's like all cattiness, like no one is like, you're cool. Like, you know what i mean? Like it's.
00:33:49
Zach Sheets
and
00:33:51
Chris Prime
It's all like double entendres or like it's all like mind games.
00:33:56
Zach Sheets
Yep.
00:34:00
Zach Sheets
But yeah. so so yeah lots Lots of training. i do I do love how they cut they they kind of they cut between Rocky and Drago, and you kind of see how each of them are working out like these specific muscles. like It's like, oh, Drago's working out his forearms, and they're like it's like this like crazy machine that cut like Rocky, he's like cutting down a tree, or like like like rifting rocks.
00:34:23
Zach Sheets
So you kind of get contrast between what they're doing. Yeah. howler How they're each doing like similar things, but but in like completely different ways.
00:34:34
Zach Sheets
And then, after the first montage, Adrian shows up, because she was like against Rocky going to the Soviet Union, so she stayed home. But then, she decided, like, I i couldn't stay away any longer, so I had to fly out and see you, and I'll i'll be here now for you.
00:34:51
Zach Sheets
Which raises the question, like, what who's watching their son? which we we have to, hopefully, is, like, the housekeeper they have, but we don't know. because all Because all the other adults are in Russia.
00:35:03
Zach Sheets
Pauly and his parents are in Russia.
00:35:07
Zach Sheets
so it's like, is is the robot watching them? Is the robot just like, like, all right, kids, I'm in charge now.
00:35:14
Chris Prime
Yeah, like, then the robot suddenly turns on to some killer mode and becomes, like, Westworld.
00:35:18
Zach Sheets
like Like, Rocky Jr.'s just, like, living like, his, like, it's, like, chopping mall.
00:35:24
Chris Prime
That's why in the third movie in the fifth movie it's, like, not there.
00:35:28
Zach Sheets
<unk> Yeah, I hit Destroy It. It went crazy on me.
00:35:32
Zach Sheets
Yeah,
Rocky's Training in Russia
00:35:32
Zach Sheets
so... yeah yes so second It's like literally it's it's like literally like i mid like two minutes, not even, between montages, it's just like, first one ends, AJ shows up, they have a scene, cut to like second montage.
00:35:47
Zach Sheets
But now it's now it's a it's Hearts on Fire.
00:35:50
Chris Prime
yeah
00:35:50
Zach Sheets
is but Just Yeah.
00:35:50
Chris Prime
this whole sequence is like 10 straight minutes of things, have of like work, yeah, montages, but there's only one break when Adrian shows up and like, okay, and Rocky's just like, oh, you okay with this?
00:36:03
Chris Prime
And Adrian's just like, yeah, like, I've always been, like, it's the fourth movie, even though like, we always have like hesitations, it's always like, go fight.
00:36:05
Zach Sheets
I'm here for you now.
00:36:14
Chris Prime
You figure by like, The fourth incident, like, she would be, okay, hey, like, I can't stop you. You're a bored fighter.
00:36:22
Zach Sheets
Well, think i mean the difference obviously was like, Apollo got killed by the guy who's like, Rocky's fighting.
00:36:26
Chris Prime
That's true.
00:36:28
Chris Prime
That's true. It's like a different thing.
00:36:31
Zach Sheets
And then, like, before he leaves, like, he has, like, Rocky has that like crazy, like, he's just like, it's like, but got to win the ring. It's like, I'm willing to die. i don't know if he's willing to die, though.
00:36:42
Zach Sheets
It's like, really? You're willing to die, Rocky? yeah but Like, leave your family?
00:36:48
Chris Prime
but we just Again, he's been a man that's been hit so many times, he probably doesn't understand like the consequences of things. Even when he sees it like in Apollo. like Apollo could have been his future.
00:37:01
Chris Prime
He does fear it, though. There are montages where it's like he does think about Apollo and he's like, oh god, that could be me.
00:37:12
Zach Sheets
but yeah this but this the second montage i mean it's a lot a of the same stuff as the first one but now adrian's here so there's a little bit more of like she's like watching and like and then kind gets involved like this is the part where like they're all like rock it's like adrian polly and duke are in like a cart and that's like how like rocky's doing like lifts like weight lifting and then but then you cut to drago he's like lifting like like some insane amount of weights over his head.
00:37:33
Chris Prime
Weights?
00:37:35
Chris Prime
Oh, at least like 400 pounds.
00:37:38
Zach Sheets
Yeah, I think someone on IMDb said like like going off of like kind of like estimating how much weight that was but it was like 455 pounds. Yeah.
00:37:48
Zach Sheets
But, yeah, but yeah there and we we we also get, at the end of that montage, the second montage, we get the classic, like, Rocky runs up the mountain, and like he, like, leaves, like, his, like, Soviet handlers behind, and then runs up the mountain yells Drago.
00:38:00
Chris Prime
So those were his handlers that just watched over him, right?
00:38:04
Zach Sheets
they They were...
00:38:05
Chris Prime
like They were reporting back to the like the union what Rocky was up to.
00:38:05
Zach Sheets
Yeah, they're... Yeah, it's not...
00:38:11
Zach Sheets
Yeah, they want to make sure... like it's like We have these Americans our country, we want to make sure we're watching them at all times. So there's like two guys kind of in a car like assigned to like watch them.
00:38:19
Chris Prime
They don't really interact with them. I think after that montage, like they just sort of leave.
00:38:21
Zach Sheets
No. Yeah.
00:38:26
Zach Sheets
yeah, we we we get yeah like the classic scene where Rocky has like the photo of Drago in the mirror and like rips it grabs it crumbles it up and then it runs up to the mountain and yells Drago. Drago! then it's finally, it's actually time for the fight.
00:38:44
Zach Sheets
Which, i do I do love that it's like, it's the opposite, it's like the opposite of, like, you kind of get the mirror, because it's like, now Rocky's the people that, the one everyone hates. Cause like when the in the Apollo fight, like Drago was the one that everyone hated because he's like this, like, so you know, Soviet invader coming to America.
The Climactic Fight
00:39:00
Zach Sheets
Apollo was like the patriotic American champion or a hero. and now Rocky's like the one is like the invader now. Cause he's like, he's like the hated American.
00:39:09
Chris Prime
So again, there should have been the James Brown version in this fight.
00:39:13
Zach Sheets
Yes. Hmm. Hmm.
00:39:15
Chris Prime
But it starts out with like very like, okay, let's get the fight. like it No fanfare.
00:39:20
Zach Sheets
I think they play like the Soviet national anthem and there's like kind of like, they have a little bit of fireworks display. There's like giant, like murals of Drago on the wall. And then it's like the entire kind of like Russian government, like the Politburo is there. Including, I think, Mikhail Gorbachev.
00:39:38
Zach Sheets
And so, yes, so then they have, like, the intros, and then it's, you know, and the fight's on, and then it's pretty much immediately, Rocky's just, like, is, like, getting, like, pounded by Drago.
00:39:49
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:39:51
Chris Prime
Not in the way, not not in the fun way, but like the boxing way.
00:39:55
Zach Sheets
yeah and again And again, like you mentioned, like, no defense, just, like, just, like, tanking shots to the head. Just, like, even, like, leaning his head into the punches to take it, like, the top of his head.
00:40:07
Chris Prime
and think it'd be funny if like Drago's hand is like, ow. Well, he goes like, this man is not human because of how many times he's getting hit in the face and standing.
00:40:14
Zach Sheets
yeah yeah rock Yeah, Rocky has the will. Yeah, and I think it's after like the second third round, Rocky was just like, he is like iron.
00:40:25
Chris Prime
But is that like secretly we're watching like a super superhero story where Rocky's just like kind of indestructible?
00:40:34
Zach Sheets
his power. He just like tanks take shots, no matter how powerful they are.
00:40:40
Chris Prime
If his heart's really into it, his like his bones are like hard.
00:40:46
Zach Sheets
as long As long as Duke says no pain, then he has no pain. No pain!
00:40:49
Chris Prime
Oh yeah, that was like a big thing where
00:40:51
Zach Sheets
No pain! No pain!
00:40:53
Chris Prime
Somehow that was the training. just It hurts. It doesn't hurt.
00:40:58
Zach Sheets
And so, like, and then even even, like, this fight is a montage because they they do, like the like, you see, like, the first, I think you see, like, the first round or first two rounds and then, like, it goes into a montage of, like, all, it's, like, a 15-round fight so you you kind of get, like, glimpses of like, all 15 rounds or, like, all, at least, like, 14 rounds and then it's,
00:41:16
Chris Prime
Yeah, like a really quick montage within it or already.
00:41:20
Zach Sheets
Yes. And there's there's some's some great like like kind of like iconic shots of like like Rocky getting punched in the face in slow motion and Drago getting punched in the face in slow motion. And like intercut with like you know the the like the time and the the round number and then like them in the corner staring at each other.
00:41:39
Zach Sheets
and then but then then again it gets to the like the final round. And the crazy thing about this time is that some of the, like a lot of the Russian crowd is like to actually cheering for Rocky now. Like he's changing their minds. He's changing hearts and minds.
00:41:54
Chris Prime
Yeah, just because an American will is so strong, guess.
00:41:57
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:41:59
Zach Sheets
And then I think at this point it's like Drago's manager or like his trainer or whatever. The guy's just like, you idiot! What are you doing? you're making us look bad! And then Drago just like throws him out of the ring and is like, I fight for me, not for you!
00:42:12
Zach Sheets
then...
00:42:14
Chris Prime
You made him Arnold?
00:42:16
Zach Sheets
Yeah, yeah.
00:42:18
Zach Sheets
And then i think i think that's when he like... like Before the final round he kind of like is like shows Rocky respect finally. He's just like, we go to the end.
00:42:27
Chris Prime
Yeah, it's it's a different tone when when that happens, because, well, right at this point, Drago is just sort of like, he understands what it is to like fight this long, because it doesn't seem that this is like Drago's first, second official fight.
00:42:28
Zach Sheets
and and yeah it's It's like the first time he's ever been like cut.
00:42:46
Zach Sheets
like He's never even got like like probably never even like got punched at all. Because he's just like destroyed people. So this is his first like major test. Endurance test.
00:42:57
Zach Sheets
And then, yeah, then like you know classic Rocky fashion, you could like he like it's the final round, he he he comes back, he's able to finally like knock Drago out and wins it all.
00:43:10
Zach Sheets
And then he gives like his like his like his classic speech of like, there's two guys in here killing each other, but I guess it's better than 20 million.
Rocky's Symbolic Speech and Victory
00:43:18
Zach Sheets
It's like, if I could change, you could change.
00:43:22
Chris Prime
It's so crazy that he says that in their country.
00:43:25
Zach Sheets
And the interpreter guy is really into it. His Soviet interpreter is going like, yeah! Go Rocky! go rock Yeah, I agree with you, Rocky!
00:43:35
Chris Prime
I'm pretty sure that guy's going to the gulag.
00:43:36
Zach Sheets
And everyone cheers. Probably, yeah. But, I mean, Gorbachev stands up and applauds him. All the the all this Soviet like leadership applauds him.
00:43:47
Zach Sheets
it's a It's a very like they like naive Stallone thing. You're just like, this is going to solve the so the Cold War. One really good speech.
00:43:55
Chris Prime
Yeah, I'm pretty sure, like, Stallone's not exactly, like, a political scientist, where he's like, it's what they the Soviet Union really needed to see was two guys boxing, and then they would put away their difference.
00:44:00
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm.
00:44:07
Zach Sheets
it's also It's hilarious, too, because like like that message is like it's like the complete opposite of him in Rainbow Part II, where he's just like blowing up, like like like at like rew basically redoing the the Vietnam War, where like America wins now and destroys the Soviet Union. union
00:44:22
Chris Prime
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
00:44:24
Zach Sheets
so just like two complete opposite like ideas in the Stallone movies.
00:44:32
Zach Sheets
And then pretty much pre after the speech, it pretty much just ends. it is like so He just throws his hand in the air in victory and then cut cut the you know cut the credits.
00:44:42
Chris Prime
Yeah, there's no like, okay, Soviet Union's are really not gonna take that fight lying down.
00:44:48
Zach Sheets
there should have been like
00:44:48
Chris Prime
go Good luck leaving this country now.
00:44:51
Zach Sheets
I wish there'd been like like text at the that were like, after that fight, the Soviet Union is solved. it took They took Rocky's words to heart and it ended the Cold War. It's
00:45:02
Chris Prime
Or it's like, at the end the fight, the American ambassadors had to like negotiate Rocky's release the country.
00:45:11
Zach Sheets
like, right this way, Bubbo. Right this locked room. like locked room
00:45:18
Chris Prime
like During this time, i think ballerina dancers and whatnot, like a lot of these like Russian entertainers who didn't want to be stuck in the Soviet Union because of the harsh regulations, they were just leaving and running away.
00:45:34
Chris Prime
i think a yeah a year or two...
00:45:34
Zach Sheets
Yeah, like Baristakov?
00:45:36
Chris Prime
Yeah, yeah. I was thinking, like what's that... There's this Robin Williams movie that came out, I think, a few years after this, where he was a... like Yakov Smirnoff knockoff comedian who visits New York and then declares that he doesn't want to go back.
00:45:54
Zach Sheets
Hmm...
00:45:55
Chris Prime
I'm going to find it. but like You know what I mean? like
00:45:57
Zach Sheets
yeah
00:45:57
Chris Prime
This didn't start the revolution.
00:46:01
Zach Sheets
No, I mean, I'm sure there's i think there's definitely like a more there's stuffy a couple more years after this until the cold like like the yeah Berlin Wall fault fell and everything. not not quite Rocky didn't quite end the Cold War in Rocky IV.
00:46:15
Chris Prime
I mean, it started it because then it made a lot of people are kind of conscious about what's going on. Also, I think, like, it's kind of a big deal that this American, like, athlete went to into the Soviet Union during the peak Soviet Union time just to box.
00:46:29
Zach Sheets
And defeated their undefeatable champion and like kind of like madete made like the Russian government respect him.
00:46:37
Chris Prime
Uh-huh. Okay, yeah. year before this, it is the movie Robin Williams was in called Moscow on the Hudson.
00:46:45
Zach Sheets
Okay.
00:46:46
Chris Prime
And it was about a Soviet circus musician who defects and stays in America.
00:46:53
Chris Prime
And Robin Williams was the circus musician.
00:46:56
Chris Prime
And it literally was just him trying to like get a lawyer to say, I want to stay here. Don't send me back to Moscow, please.
00:47:06
Zach Sheets
<unk> it's also It's also crazy how in Rocky V it
The Decline in Rocky V
00:47:12
Zach Sheets
just undoes everything. everything Rocky IV did. like it's just like it like absolutely like destroys everything rocky for did
00:47:21
Chris Prime
oh Oh, it's like five, I think, is hated because people thought this is the next level. Like Rocky's going to box other countries or whatnot, like not just be about being in Philly.
00:47:34
Zach Sheets
But no, it's like he comes back from Russia. he's got like He's got brain damage. he's Pauly gave their accountant power of attorney and he embezzled all their monies. He has no mansion anymore. They have to move back to their old neighborhood in Philadelphia. has to take over Mick's gym.
00:47:55
Zach Sheets
everything everything we Everything Rocky had in this one is like, nope, it's gone.
00:48:01
Chris Prime
I mean, that's the sad reality that some some people just don't know how to manage wealth.
00:48:06
Zach Sheets
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
00:48:08
Chris Prime
And even then, it's like, whatever accountant had the power of attorney, there's no justice about that guy. There's not like a creed where it's like they bump into that guy the creed boxes that dude. you know there's It sort of just happens. You're like, what? and the like Anyway...
00:48:26
Chris Prime
But it's like, you can't sue. There's nothing nothing you do protect yourself. Like, nope, you lost all saw your money.
00:48:34
Chris Prime
feel like there should be laws against that. and they're like, you'd think there would.
00:48:41
Zach Sheets
And I think, and I think 5 is also the one, like, there's not really, there's not really like a, I mean, Rocky doesn't have like a, a boxing match. Like he has like a street fight. Yeah. That's like the big, like, that's like the big Rocky fight.
00:48:51
Chris Prime
Yeah, it's it's just... He trained a champion and he's just like, I'm evil, Rocky. Oh, okay. And then, yeah, then it just like insults him.
00:49:00
Zach Sheets
I'll show you how we do things to Philly on the streets.
00:49:04
Chris Prime
but Isn't Tommy Gunn from Philly?
00:49:06
Zach Sheets
Probably, yeah, because he monitors Rick's gym and is is like, hey, anyone want to trade me? And Rocky's like, sure, I'll trade you.
00:49:13
Chris Prime
But then the the knockoff Don King.
00:49:17
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:49:20
Chris Prime
But it's funny because that it does kind of evolve with modern day boxing trends. Because around this time, I think Mike Tyson started getting popular. Like little bit after this movie.
00:49:31
Zach Sheets
but Yeah, I think, yeah, probably around, like, because he was, he was, like, early, early to mid-90s, right? It was, like, his, like, big, like,
00:49:42
Chris Prime
The Iron Mike reign.
00:49:44
Zach Sheets
like, but he started, like, 85, yeah, like, but like my test, like, started, like, in, like, when this movie came out, like, 85, it was, like, when he started, like, actually professionally boxing, so. Mm-hmm.
00:49:51
Chris Prime
I mean, that changed the sport, because longer was it just, like, Rocky-style boxing. It was just, okay, check out this, like, hammer of a boxer. Like, everyone started boxing like Drago.
00:50:00
Zach Sheets
Yeah. creep Yeah, like, yeah. and might test but Yeah, my test i had was, like, and the actual Drago just, like, destroying people.
00:50:07
Chris Prime
Yep. And, again, Mike Tyson was a good technical boxer, but damn, he packed a punch.
00:50:15
Chris Prime
mean, there are all other boxers that I'm not familiar with, but that they're like good boxing artists because they know how to like duck they know how to like bait they know how to wear them out mentally and physically uh and then this movie's just like you don't need any of that just start wild punching every punch is a haymaker a jab lightly but then always haymaker punches
00:50:40
Zach Sheets
You... lean your Lean your forehead and it's a punch, because that's the hardest part of your skull.
00:50:46
Chris Prime
Don't worry about the ref. He's not going to call the fight, even though I feel like he should call the fight.
00:50:49
Zach Sheets
No, yeah.
00:50:51
Chris Prime
A lot of this is like the whatever ref they're staff, they're just like, whatever.
00:50:56
Zach Sheets
Yeah, there's a lot of, like create like like, them, like, throwing each other, like, across the ring, and then, like, also, like, tons of punches after the bell. that The rest is just, like, I'll try to get in there and stop it, but I can't, because there's like to to like yeah like two giant men I can't stop.
00:51:13
Zach Sheets
Especially Drago. Drago throws the ref away starts punching Rocky after the bell.
00:51:19
Zach Sheets
But yeah, no no de cut no like no points taken away, nothing like that.
00:51:23
Zach Sheets
guess i guess scoring in the Rocky universe is like totally different than real life.
00:51:29
Zach Sheets
yeah where Where would you rank this as in like the as far as like your the Rocky movies, Chris?
00:51:34
Chris Prime
Uh, like my, I think my second favorite, like in terms of just like, I can watch this easily. i can also throw it on the background or noise. I think,
00:51:46
Chris Prime
Rocky III is my favorite just because I watched that like also like as much as Rocky IV and I'm a big Mr. T fan.
00:51:55
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm.
00:51:57
Chris Prime
One I like just because like one is definitely like a good movie. Like it's a good movie.
00:52:03
Zach Sheets
Yeah, I think one is the best movie, but then four, I think four is probably like the most fun.
00:52:08
Chris Prime
Yeah.
00:52:09
Zach Sheets
Rocky.
00:52:10
Chris Prime
It's like, you want to feel like an intelligent person talking about a a good sports movie? Rocky, of course. But if you want to say, hey, do you just want to put those on while you like you drink?
00:52:18
Zach Sheets
Like, you want to inject the 80s into your eyeballs?
00:52:18
Chris Prime
like or Or just like, what Rocky movie do you want to throw on and Laugh Friends? 4.
00:52:26
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm.
00:52:26
Chris Prime
Rocky 4.
00:52:28
Chris Prime
Maybe Rocky 3. three You can do it at times, but it's just because it's got insane quotes by Mr. T. A lot of it's like him just grunting and pointing at Adrian.
00:52:40
Chris Prime
Hey, woman.
00:52:40
Zach Sheets
I'll
00:52:42
Chris Prime
going to be woman. Like, it's no other.
00:52:44
Zach Sheets
show you rear band.
00:52:45
Chris Prime
Yeah, it's like Drago doesn't do that. Like Apollo doesn't do that. Like they keep it very professional. Even even, you know, like. Even in five, Tommy Pistol doesn't even go like, hey, like Tommy Gunn doesn't just like hit on Adrian or anything.
00:52:59
Zach Sheets
Tommy Gunn, yeah.
00:53:04
Zach Sheets
And it it is kind of it is kind of crazy, too, how like important Rocky IV became for the later... like Especially like the Creed franchise, because the Creed franchise is basically like built on like everything that like happened in Rocky four
00:53:16
Chris Prime
Right, right.
00:53:18
Zach Sheets
it's like the first It's like the first one and Rocky IV are the two most important and movies going forward.
00:53:26
Zach Sheets
But yeah, this is yeah but Rocky IV is just like... yeah it's like
00:53:30
Zach Sheets
kind of like constant, like you can just rewatch this whenever. It's always fun. It's always great. like Listen to all the awesome music. watch Watch all the crazy training montages.
00:53:41
Chris Prime
it's It's definitely like a rewatch of movie. It's not a deep movie, but I think it's a great encapsulation of Rocky things. Because, God help you, this is your first Rocky movie.
00:53:54
Chris Prime
There's so much like you just don't get about Rocky.
00:53:58
Zach Sheets
Yeah, this is just yeah this is like just pure stripped down, like bare barely any character scene. There's no barely any like outside of the montage scenes of building up characters or anything. It's just a scene to like two lines of people explaining something and then jumping into a montage or a fight.
00:54:18
Zach Sheets
But I mean, you do you do get like two montages that like i give you like recaps of like previous movies though. or like at least scenes from previous movies. So you can yeah it can be like, oh, okay. I guess that happened before.
00:54:31
Zach Sheets
i well I remember that from that from Rocky 2, Rocky 3.
00:54:38
Zach Sheets
But yeah, so I think that'll do it for this week's episode. Yeah. Head over to the site, we've got all of our usual stuff there. We actually get, you if you're listening to this on the day this is coming out, it's Black Friday.
00:54:49
Zach Sheets
And we actually have our kind of Thanksgiving Black Friday commentary up. It's Paul Blart Mall Cop. So if you want to watch that movie with us, that's something so you can watch that. Download that, sync it up to the movie and watch along with us.
00:55:02
Zach Sheets
Which, Chris, that was the first time you ever saw Paul Blart, so that was that experience.
00:55:06
Chris Prime
I was not ready for all that.
00:55:09
Zach Sheets
And all all our usual stuff is is up there as well. all you know Trailers, reviews, like everything. Check all that stuff out. And yes, for Chris, I'm Zach, and we will see you next week.