Sylvester Stallone says he’s working on an “amazing” director’s cut of Rocky IV. When it was released in 1976, no one could have predicted that the original Rocky would go on to become not only a box office hit but an iconic movie that would launch Stallone as a major star while establishing a franchise that would endure for decades.
But, quintessential underdog movie Rocky did indeed succeed beyond all expectations, picking up an Oscar for Best Picture while catapulting then-unknown writer and star Stallone to fame. As for the franchise established by the first film, it’s now gone on for seven more movies, including Creed and its sequel Creed 2 (which of course feature Stallone as an older Rocky supporting Michael B. Jordan’s Adonis Creed). It remains to be seen if more movies in the Rocky franchise will ever arrive, and if Stallone will have anything more to do with them now that it’s no longer realistic to have Rocky climb back in the ring.
As the world awaits news on the future of Rocky, Stallone is happy to continue revisiting past movies in the franchise, and indeed is working on a director’s cut to Rocky IV. Stallone revealed the news in a response to a fan comment on a recent Instagram post about the new Rambo: Last Blood extended cut that has become available on Apple TV, promising the fan that his new cut of Rocky IV will be “amazing.” In the same post, Stallone says he is not working on a director’s cut of Rocky Balboa, the 2006 film that marked Rocky’s last appearance as a lead character.
Of course, Rocky IV is well remembered by fans of the franchise as the movie that introduced iconic villain Ivan Drago, the hulking Russian boxer who killed Rocky’s friend Apollo Creed in the ring, prompting Rocky to fight a revenge match against Drago. Besides being an entertaining Rocky sequel, featuring some iconic training montages, Rocky IV also stands as a fascinating artifact of the 1980s and the Reagan-era attitudes that dominated action films of the time (and that Stallone himself had no problem embracing).
Obviously, Rocky IV has strong ties to recent Rocky history, as Creed 2 saw Drago’s son climbing into the ring with Adonis Creed while also bringing back Ivan for one last non-boxing showdown with Rocky. No doubt, this connection to the Creed movies makes Rocky IV a little more interesting to younger viewers who may not otherwise be interested in seeing a somewhat cheesy boxing film from the 1980s. That said, it’s fair to ask if Rocky IV is really a film with a big enough footprint in the culture or in film history to warrant a director’s cut. Such revisits are normally reserved for genuine classics, like Blade Runner, or movies that were marred by studio interference (as in the case of Sam Peckinpah’s Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid and others).
Clearly, Stallone feels Rocky IV deserves another look, and with more footage added. Fans of Rocky, and 1980s cinema in general, will no doubt be fascinated to find out how the new version of Rocky IV turns out. Of course, it’s worth mentioning that Stallone has a habit of announcing things that never come to fruition, so perhaps it would be wise to not get too excited about his “amazing” director’s cut of Rocky IV.
Source: Sylvester Stallone/Instagram