MovieChat Forums > Rocky IV (1985) Discussion > Worst of the Rocky films.

Worst of the Rocky films.

posted 7 years ago by BrickNash
27 replies | jump to latest

I consider this the worst of the Rocky films despite it's iconic status.

It's completely shallow but at an hour and a half it's not exactly time to do much. The propaganda in the film is utterly embarrassing and I can't believe the big headedness of some of it. The part where the Russian crowd started cheering for Rocky had me cringing and when the leaders stood up it was even worse.

Total *beep*

Stallone phones it in something rotten too. He's playing himself with a slight Balboa twang rather than the Rocky character and it's totally half arsed.

Despite all the negatives it's still a great film to watch. Vince DiCola's score almost saves the entire film plus Dolph Lundgren is not only a scary bastard but a great bad guy as well and the training montage is pretty memorable if a bit unrealistic.

Can't help liking it but man, it's like the watching the pub wanker tell a story about how great they are and how everyone loves them.

[–] Inspector81 7 years ago

No, that would be part V

[–] BrickNash 7 years ago

I consider part V to be superior. It didn't have the cringy "Russians bad, USA great" *beep* through it and Rocky felt like Rocky again.

[–] super-joey 7 years ago

It's funny when people bother to type "*beep*"

Anyway, I know patriotism is considered hokey these days and I know there are a lot of people who think the USSR was simply scapegoated by America. But historical facts tend to backup why the U.S. was on the right side of the cold war. I won't get into here but I'd suggest researching what happened to Poland as a good starting point.

As for the "Rocky 4" vs "Rocky 5" debate, I have always felt 5 was worse because it tried so hard to be a good, critically acclaimed film and failed. It added nothing to popular culture. It was a family squabble, punctuated by boxing matches. It was also foolhardy attempt to bring Rocky "full circle"... another thing it failed at. (If you want my brief essay on why I think it failed at that, just ask me.)

Meanwhile, Part 4 was never meant to be more than fun popcorn entertainment and it succeeded in that regard. It also instantly became a part of popular culture.

[–] A-zone 7 years ago

Oh come on, man. You really think Rocky V is superior? It had so much ridiculous nonsense:

- Rocky going completely broke that quickly and going back to the old neighborhood. Just endorsements alone would have returned his fortune.

- Rocky's son growing many years in the time it takes Rocky to fly from Russia to US. That's one damn LONG flight!

- The Don King clone and all his over the top shenanigans

- Union Cane

- And Rocky himself behaving like a completely dumb moron. Throughout the series we have seen Rocky mature as a character. But then in Rocky V he suddenly becomes overly childish and goofy. It was really off putting.

"I'm the dude, playing a dude that's disguised as another dude".

[–] Juschill (779) 6 years ago

Rocky V was horrific. I try to pretend that one does not exist.

[–] newguy33 (318) 6 years ago

It only exists because Rocky had to lose his money somehow. In "Rocky Balboa" he's not rich and lives in his old neighborhood so "Rocky V" had to happen.

[–] Juschill (779) 6 years ago

They could have had Rocky move back to the old neighborhood to be with friends once Adrian died. They didn't have to concoct some looney story about an accountant taking everything they had and they have no way of getting even a portion of it back. Plus the street fight is just cringeworthy.

[–] newguy33 (318) 6 years ago

He still had to lose his fortune, it's not very believable that after "Rocky IV" he only has a restaurant (and don't forget he had Lamborghinis and a weird robot before :D).

[–] Juschill (779) 6 years ago

Losing a fortune over a 25 year period is understandable. Losing it on a flight home from Russia at the peak of your popularity is not.

[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

How do we know how long after 4, 5 was?
If something in the film stiplutes it was a wee kor something , thats just dumb - why couldnt it be 2 years? enough time to lose a fortune.

[–] MaximRecoil (4054) 3 years ago

"How do we know how long after 4, 5 was?"

We know because part V picks up right where IV left off, and when he comes home he still has black eyes from his fight in Russia.

"If something in the film stiplutes it was a wee kor something , thats just dumb - why couldnt it be 2 years? enough time to lose a fortune."

So you think he was in Russia for two years? That's absurd. No one trains for a specific fight for two years. They train for two or three months. Also, at the press conference Rocky said the fight would be on December 25th. When you give a date for an upcoming event and you don't mention the year, it means it's happening in the current year, not two years in the future.

[–] macken74 (613) 5 years ago

Yeah same here .... even stallone thinks its pretty much garbage !

[–] houstonhobby 7 years ago

Rocky IV is probably the most entertaining of all the Rocky films. Sure it was less "dramatic" than the other films but what makes the film so special is that everyone watching the film would get something valuable from it or would get it, very formulaic. The most thought-provoking Rocky film is of course Rocky Balboa.

[–] MaximRecoil (4054) 6 years ago

I think Rocky III and IV are equally entertaining. When I was a kid in the '80s I had both of them on VHS and watched them dozens of times each, maybe hundreds, never having a clear favorite between the two. On the other hand, I didn't care much for the first two Rocky movies.

As an adult, I like the first two Rocky movies a lot better than I used to, especially the first one (the second one is mostly a rehash of the first, and has the annoying, boring, overly long part where Adrian is in a coma). III and IV are still the most entertaining ones, but the first movie is the best on technical merits.

[–] Juschill (779) 5 years ago

I could have written those exact words myself. I must have watched III and IV a couple hundred times as a kid but as an adult I love I and II much more.

[–] arkayenether 7 years ago

A certain cinema going snob on YouTube once said that with the Rocky movies, when you pick what the "best one" is, you actually have to pick two. The one you like the most, and the one that's objectively good. Rocky IV is a very cheesy movie, with some real issues with the editing (example, MONTAGE! Adrian comes back and has a two minute scene. MONTAGE!, and there are several reused shots during the fight). It's also somehow one of the most entertaining as hell movies you'll ever see. Said person and his talking friend also pointed out that it almost seems like Rocky Balboa just disregards movies II-V and acts as the "true" sequel to the first movie. I have to agree with that. Maaaaybe II excluded, and a little reference here and there to the others. I think Clubber is there at the final fight of Balboa.

That all being said, I'm about to watch V, which I haven't seen for probably 20 years. Hopefully the movie gets more hate than it deserves.

I thought I could paint it red, but I couldn't find enough goats.

[–] AnubisRaydeen (7897) 6 years ago

That's a pretty good standard. I think 1 is objectively the best but my favorite is 3 (although 3 cannot be as good without familiarity of 1&2).
I agree that 4 is the worst. Sure, 5 has many layers of bad throughout but 4 makes me cringe the hardest. Right from the start with the pandering to Star Wars fever of the time with that wretched robot. That was the equivalent of your grandparents trying to rap. 4 by a nose.

[–] Moonglum9 (10709) 6 years ago

The OP is obviously a pinko commie! Go back to Moscow comrade and tell Putin his attempt to sway American public opinion against this movie has failed!

[–] strntz (10798) 6 years ago

LOL Glum! We can't forget that this was made during the Cold War, so picking on the commies was fair game.

It actually was more odd about 10 years ago after Gorby and Yeltsin turned Russia towards prosperity. Now that Pute is bringing back old school KGB Commie crap and undoing all the gains that were made, the movie has become a bit relevant again.

[–] Juschill (779) 5 years ago

I think you should reread your history of the Yeltsin years.

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

They went too far with this one. It bordered on sci fi. Also turning boxing matches into international incidents and peace summits.

Part III probably went too far as well, but I like Mr. T so I give it a free pass.

[–] B1cKsurN (14762) 5 years ago

Rocky 4 ended the cold war.

[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

Rocky IV is better than Rocky V because it has James Brown and Apollo Creed, Rocky V does not.

[–] PeterBlues (790) 4 years ago

well, actually i'm ready to agree with this topic about it being the worse in the series even if i didn't get as upset about it, i always used to think of course the fifth is the worse, but re watching them that one has some drama and a real powerful scene with mickey returning in a dream, this fourth is just uncomfortable and the only one i usually don't tune in to, this is the first movie though this far in the franchise when i actually enjoy rocky beating someone, apollo in the first movies was kind of equally likeable as rocky, and mr. t in the third movie was just so far out and hilarious he made the movie entertaining. what was up with the sort of music video in the middle of this movie while rocky driving his car, this has strayed a lot from the first two flicks, it often looks like a different kind of mainstream action flick, i just thought of something, people watching this for the first time in the mid 1980s must have thought rocky might die at the end of this, favorite quote in this comes from paulie hearing the russian "sounds like dracula's cousin" and funniest scenes were the reactions from the russian politicians on the upper row.

🥊

the good times are all behind now,
only got that one clear goal in sight,
my broken vehicle rust,
the track only blowin dust,
no reason to struggle on this road,
since you pulled off.