Rather than continue to pollute the Rocky Training Montage thread with my bile, I thought I'd give it its own bucket. There's just so much of it to contain.
I don't get the love. I really, really don't. When I saw this film on its original theatrical run, the audience reactions actually disturbed me. I could almost understand it at the time, as we were being force-fed the Reagan-approved diet of "Boo, Russia, Boo" night and day. But I thought that we as a culture would be smart enough to get over it. I guess not.
I am a huge fan of Rocky. The first film is in my All-Time Top 40. Were I forced to make a top 10, it might be in there. I love it that much, and consequently, I have some degree of fondness for all the Rocky films (even the lamentable Rocky V), except for this one. The Rocky films, at their best, celebrate the common man. They're about the everyday triumph of being a good, decent person in a world that offers few opportunities for triumph. This film isn't interested in any of that.
So, with no further delay, my points:
It's politically boneheaded
I was already sick to death of the "Russians are just plain evil" philosophy by the time this filth came out (did we learn nothing from Sting?). The idea that Russia was full of people who don't value human life was a popular one at the time. It's bad enough that Stallone swallowed this right-wing jingoistic kneejerk bullshit, but I was very disappointed in him for his decision to use his greatest creation to regurgitate it and feed it back to us. I cannot over-stress how sick and moronic I find this to be. The fact that anyone can still watch this movie and stomach its political attitude blows my mind.
It's a Bugs Bunny cartoon
The previous films, though they had given in to the temptation to increase the odds and go over the top in lionizing their hero, still took place in something that was at least on speaking terms with The Real World. Rocky IV doesn't seem to take place in that universe. As near as I can tell, it's a sequel to Death Race 2000 in which Machine Gun Joe Viterbo has risen from the dead, turned to the light, and taken up boxing. Its vision of good and evil is completely untrue to the world of the first three films. Apollo Creed and Clubber Lange, extreme though they were, still came across as human beings. Ivan Drago is a vision of evil on the order of Ming the Merciless. He should be dropping Rocky in a gladiatorial pit with Beast Men and a dragon with can openers for hands.
It's not about Rocky Balboa
The previous films were about Rocky Balboa, human being; a guy who either has to overcome everyone's rock-bottom expectations of what he's capable of, or has lost something that he needs to recapture. Those are universal motivations that just about everybody can relate to. Unfortunately, Rocky Balboa isn't in this movie. Sylvester Stallone is playing a character called AMERICA, a down-to-earth, hardworking man's man who does the right thing because somebody has to, by golly. His opponent is RUSSIA, an evil, sadistic bastard nurtured by machines, unburdened by human emotion, with no concern for the sanctity of human life. This is a Star Trek villain, not a Rocky opponent. Not once in this film did I recognize Stallone's character as the basic, decent guy I'd followed through three previous films. He's a paragon of virtue, a shining hero, a warrior fighting for all that is good and right in the world. And he's boring as hell. He has nothing to overcome except the physical challenge of beating up Darth Vader in shorts. And if he doesn't have to overcome anything in himself, why should I give a shit about him?
None of this even gets into the quality of the writing, which is Sophomore year Creative Writing level. You killed my best friend I will kill you. Wow, that's something we can all relate to.
Look, the Rocky films were never about intelligence or subtlety. But this thing makes John Wayne's World War II films look like My Dinner With Andre. At least people who like Armageddon can expect to be rightly ridiculed. But for some reason, this tower of crap seems to get a free pass. It confuses me.
I don't get the love. I really, really don't. When I saw this film on its original theatrical run, the audience reactions actually disturbed me. I could almost understand it at the time, as we were being force-fed the Reagan-approved diet of "Boo, Russia, Boo" night and day. But I thought that we as a culture would be smart enough to get over it. I guess not.
I am a huge fan of Rocky. The first film is in my All-Time Top 40. Were I forced to make a top 10, it might be in there. I love it that much, and consequently, I have some degree of fondness for all the Rocky films (even the lamentable Rocky V), except for this one. The Rocky films, at their best, celebrate the common man. They're about the everyday triumph of being a good, decent person in a world that offers few opportunities for triumph. This film isn't interested in any of that.
So, with no further delay, my points:
It's politically boneheaded
I was already sick to death of the "Russians are just plain evil" philosophy by the time this filth came out (did we learn nothing from Sting?). The idea that Russia was full of people who don't value human life was a popular one at the time. It's bad enough that Stallone swallowed this right-wing jingoistic kneejerk bullshit, but I was very disappointed in him for his decision to use his greatest creation to regurgitate it and feed it back to us. I cannot over-stress how sick and moronic I find this to be. The fact that anyone can still watch this movie and stomach its political attitude blows my mind.
It's a Bugs Bunny cartoon
The previous films, though they had given in to the temptation to increase the odds and go over the top in lionizing their hero, still took place in something that was at least on speaking terms with The Real World. Rocky IV doesn't seem to take place in that universe. As near as I can tell, it's a sequel to Death Race 2000 in which Machine Gun Joe Viterbo has risen from the dead, turned to the light, and taken up boxing. Its vision of good and evil is completely untrue to the world of the first three films. Apollo Creed and Clubber Lange, extreme though they were, still came across as human beings. Ivan Drago is a vision of evil on the order of Ming the Merciless. He should be dropping Rocky in a gladiatorial pit with Beast Men and a dragon with can openers for hands.
It's not about Rocky Balboa
The previous films were about Rocky Balboa, human being; a guy who either has to overcome everyone's rock-bottom expectations of what he's capable of, or has lost something that he needs to recapture. Those are universal motivations that just about everybody can relate to. Unfortunately, Rocky Balboa isn't in this movie. Sylvester Stallone is playing a character called AMERICA, a down-to-earth, hardworking man's man who does the right thing because somebody has to, by golly. His opponent is RUSSIA, an evil, sadistic bastard nurtured by machines, unburdened by human emotion, with no concern for the sanctity of human life. This is a Star Trek villain, not a Rocky opponent. Not once in this film did I recognize Stallone's character as the basic, decent guy I'd followed through three previous films. He's a paragon of virtue, a shining hero, a warrior fighting for all that is good and right in the world. And he's boring as hell. He has nothing to overcome except the physical challenge of beating up Darth Vader in shorts. And if he doesn't have to overcome anything in himself, why should I give a shit about him?
None of this even gets into the quality of the writing, which is Sophomore year Creative Writing level. You killed my best friend I will kill you. Wow, that's something we can all relate to.
Look, the Rocky films were never about intelligence or subtlety. But this thing makes John Wayne's World War II films look like My Dinner With Andre. At least people who like Armageddon can expect to be rightly ridiculed. But for some reason, this tower of crap seems to get a free pass. It confuses me.
