Warning: SPOILERS for Rocky IV: Rocky vs. Drago Director's Cut.
Sylvester Stallone has released Rocky IV: Rocky vs. Drago but while his director's cut delivers a strong theme about the importance of change, Stallone's tinkering also ends up removing some of the original film's powerful emotional impact. Stallone wrote and directed the original Rocky IV in 1985. With over 35 years of hindsight, the action icon has gone back to fix what he disliked about the previous version, and Stallone also restored many scenes he left on the cutting room floor.
Rocky IV is beloved by longtime fans of the franchise—especially those who were kids when they discovered Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) in the 1980s. The installment continued Stallone's soft reboot of his epic boxing saga that began with Rocky III. The Academy Award-winning original Rocky film and its sequel Rocky II were grounded in realistic, gritty 1970s drama, while Rocky III and IV were products of the hyper-muscular 1980s. The later films were enormously popular precisely because they were more cartoony, with clear-cut bad guys and simplified themes of Good vs. Evil. As such, Rocky Balboa became more of a superhero who beat evil villains like Clubber Lang (Mr. T) and overcame impossible odds thanks to his heart and determination. Rocky IV was the purest example of this as Balboa fought and defeated the seemingly invincible Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) to avenge the death of his best friend, Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers).
Rocky vs. Drago is still the movie fans know and love, although Sylvester Stallone made numerous changes to elements that bothered him for decades. For example, Stallone cut the robot Paulie (Burt Young) received as a birthday present entirely out of his new director's cut. Thankfully, the most important parts of Rocky IV that fans adore remain intact with only minor tweaks. James Brown performing "Living in America" before Apollo's fatal fight with Drago, Rocky training in Russia set to John Cafferty's song "Hearts on Fire," and the climactic final fight are the best parts of the original. Stallone's director's cut doesn't take any of that away, and his new version does make some major thematic and character improvements. And yet, Rocky vs. Drago doesn't quite make the overall experience of Rocky IV significantly better.
Rocky vs. Drago Makes Apollo The Focus
Sylvester Stallone has recently expressed his regrets over killing off Apollo Creed in Rocky IV, which was part of his impetus to crafting this new director's cut. While he can't ever undo his decision to kill off Apollo, Stallone reframed Rocky vs. Drago to be about how important Creed and their friendship were to Balboa. Just as in the original, Rocky vs. Drago's story kicks off because Apollo wanted to fight Ivan Drago. Creed claimed his desire was to defend America's honor against a Russian interloper but the truth was Apollo missed the spotlight and wanted one more shot at glory. Thanks to Adrian (Talia Shire), who saw through Apollo's hubris thanks to new scenes Stallone added to Rocky vs. Drago, Rocky also knew better but he acquiesced to his best friend's wishes to let him fight the steroid-enhanced Soviet fighter. Rocky also honored Apollo's wishes not to stop the fight and he watched his best friend die in the ring.
With his edits and changes to Rocky vs. Drago, Stallone successfully conveyed the brotherhood and deep bond between Rocky and Apollo. One of the best new additions Stallone made was a longer version of Creed's funeral that contained touching eulogies from Apollo's mentor, Duke (Tony Burton), and a tearful goodbye from Balboa. Stallone also changed Rocky's climactic victory speech, reframing the support the Russian crowd showed for him as proof that Apollo was wrong when he claimed that people don't change. Therefore, Rocky learned that "everybody can change," and this turned the original Rocky IV's USA vs. Russia theme into Balboa giving himself absolution for Apollo's death. Even though he's only in the first half of the film, Apollo becomes an even more dominant figure in Rocky vs. Drago than he was in 1985's Rocky IV.
Drago Becomes A (Slightly) Better Character
Ivan Drago may be an even greater beneficiary of Sylvester Stallone's changes to his Rocky IV director's cut. While Drago is an unforgettable villain, the towering Russian was a one-dimensional bad guy who boiled down to a monster Rocky Balboa had to slay to get revenge for Apollo. Rocky vs. Drago restores Ivan's dialogue Stallone cut from the original Rocky IV and the results are striking because this seemingly minor tweak actually somewhat illuminates the mysterious Drago's true character. Whenever Ivan speaks, he reveals his egotism, and Stallone also adds startled reactions from Drago's handler Nicolai Koloff (Michael Pataki) and Ivan's wife, Ludmilla Drago (Brigitte Nielsen), which have a notable effect.
Thanks to Drago getting more dialogue, the fact that Ivan is a prideful man who doesn't listen to his Soviet masters becomes evident. This also pays off during the Rocky vs. Drago fight and it clarifies why Ivan doesn't listen to his trainers' instructions and is defiant, even to Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev, who was watching in the arena. Although Drago still doesn't become a three-dimensional character in Sylvester Stallone's Rocky IV director's cut, when Dolph Lundgren's return as Drago in Creed II is taken into account, a clearer picture of what kind of man Ivan Drago really is finally emerges, at last.
Stallone's New Scenes Don't Always Make The Movie Better
However, not all of Sylvester Stallone's new scenes work to improve Rocky vs. Drago. Although seeing new footage and alternate takes of familiar scenes is a novelty, too often, the additions actually detract from the emotional power of the film. For example, in Apollo's press conference with Drago hyping their fight, Stallone opts to use different versions of the dialogue that's more subdued than what fans remember in 1985's Rocky IV. Stallone also inserts a voice-over during Rocky's fight with Drago so the audience hears Balboa's inner monologue for the first time, yet it doesn't really enhance what fans already know about Rocky's heart and determination.
Perhaps the most pointless new addition is a scene where boxing commissioners admonish Rocky for wanting to fight Drago until Balboa walks out on them. This moment is useless since a simple line of dialogue that Rocky gave up the heavyweight championship in order to fight the Russian suffices. An early new scene of Apollo talking to Rocky in his backyard also doesn't tell the audience who remembers the original Rocky IV anything they didn't already know about Creed and his motivations. Still, some changes do work, and two new scenes focusing on Adrian Balboa give Rocky's wife far more agency than Rocky IV 1985 did.
Rocky vs. Drago's Ending Is More Downbeat And Hurts The Experience
There's no debate among Rocky fans that the song "Hearts on Fire" is Rocky IV's secret weapon. The thrilling track debuts during Rocky's training montage in Russia and it returns to triumphantly close out the film after Balboa's victory over Drago. But in Sylvester Stallone's Rocky IV director's cut, he makes the startling decision to swap out "Hearts on Fire" for Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger" as the song that accompanies Rocky's triumph and it completely changes the tone of the ending, to its detriment. "Eye of the Tiger" was a chart-topping hit but it's also indelibly linked with Rocky III and its lyrics essentially describe the plot of that movie. With "Eye of the Tiger," Rocky's victory speech and the ending of Rocky vs. Drago becomes more downbeat and loses the uplifting emotional high "Hearts on Fire" provides.
Stallone's decision to use "Eye of the Tiger" makes sense in context. He opened Rocky vs. Drago with an extended montage from Rocky III where Apollo urges Balboa to regain the "eye of the tiger." Closing out Rocky vs. Drago with Survivor's hit song thematically brings everything back to Apollo as the heart of Stallone's Rocky IV director's cut. And perhaps Stallone simply prefers the song. Yet the way the song switch undercuts the emotional liftoff of Rocky vs. Drago's ending is palpable, although the new footage Stallone inserts of Balboa showing Drago respect as he leaves the ring is fascinating to see. "Hearts on Fire" does return during the end credits but it's too late to salvage the more somber mood Rocky vs. Drago ends with. Ultimately, Rocky vs. Drago is still very much the Rocky IV fans love but, unfortunately, the revised ending of Sylvester Stallone's director's cut leaves audiences with the strange feeling of having had a lesser experience than the 1985 original.
