Rocky IV: How Rocky Punched his way to American Cinema's Greatest Flag-Bearer by Dan
And why this movie rocks
Of the Rocky franchise, the one in the series that probably measures up the most to the original movie is that of Rocky 4, when things escalate to a level that one didn’t think possible. Rocky overcame his own self-confidence and low-class background, fought hard to bring the best out of those around him, fought the champion, fought him again and claimed the title, lost and earned back his title… And now he has to fight the biggest challenge yet.
The USSR, and their champion, a man who was so pumped full of steroids, they wouldn’t need to do the bloodwork, he’d just walk into the room, and the alarms would be blaring.
Ivan Drago is a major rising star in the USSR, a nation that was also a rival to the US at the time, during the Cold War. They wished to challenge the US to a boxing match on American soil in order to humiliate their enemy on live television.
In the meantime, Apollo Creed was by this time retired, and in his 40s, being considered too old to truly participate in tournaments anymore. Creed finds himself incensed by the gall of the Soviets challenging the States, and him specifically, to a match of the ages, something he wishes to make a comeback for not just his nation, but because he wanted to come back to his former glory, as he was also going through a midlife.
This was something Rocky warned Apollo, that he had a bad feeling and that it was no longer their fight, and that there was more to life than simply boxing. Unfortunately, Apollo didn’t heed his friend’s advice.
Coming back with his flair, flamboyance and showmanship, Creed accepted the challenge between the two superpowers, but during the match with Ivan Drago, Apollo Creed was hit so hard, he fell to the ground dead, his body still twitching, for the nation to see, with Ivan’s words being “If he dies, he dies.”
This causes a national crisis, and one that makes the US look weak, and humiliated. The death of a rags-to-riches hero that was so beloved across the western world, murdered on national television for everyone to see, made them look like a joke, and it was a PR disaster, one which the nation had to reply to in order to save face.
Therefore, the only solution was to send another boxer, the number 2 boxer in the US to confront Ivan Drago in the ring, to return the favour. This was a choice that Rocky, this time, volunteered to go, despite his doubts.
For Rocky, it wasn’t just about national pride or patriotism. That was part of it, but it was more about revenge. Revenge for the brother that he loved and lost, and one he couldn’t shy away from.
However, he couldn’t have the luxury of doubt, as he knew Adrianna was correct that if he went into the ring against Drago, he would die, and a part of the challenge was that he had to break through his limits, with it almost costing his marriage, and the relationship with his wife. The only person who truly wished to push Rocky and who was on the same page as him, was Apollo’s trainer, Duke. Therefore, putting everything on the line, not just his life, but his marriage, his body, his relationship with his son, his championship title… even his home.
Arriving in Russia with Duke and Paulie, and under armed guard, he goes into the mountains to train the way he thinks Drago trained, breaking his limits, with an obsessive need for revenge fueling him. Eventually, he is surprised by Adrian’s arrival at the cabin, which he is pleased by. She doesn’t agree with the match, but she supports him, hoping that he can survive the next match. The last thing she wants is for her husband to die horribly in the ring on Christmas.
When the match begins, the crowd is rather belligerent towards Rocky, to a point that if they decided to rush the 4 Americans present, they would not be able to survive. But there was no need for that. There was Ivan Drago that would put them in line. Just like Apollo had an elaborate entrance, Drago had his own entrance on the scene. And then, we have the boxing match. One where there is more offense on both sides, more than anything else, with Dragon pushing forth his Herculean strength, and Rocky his tenacious stubbornness.
As the match progresses, Rocky continuously pounds at Drago’s ribs, and lets rage take its course, but eventually, revenge is no longer a factor, but it is the willpower not to lose. To Rocky, losing was not a concept. It wasn’t a matter of a game, or a championship title. It was a war. A war that was changing him, one that helped the Russians realize that they didn’t need to be subject to the oppression of the Soviet government.
Their howls and jeers towards Rocky would soon turn to hails and cheers for him, as he was standing against their champion, like he was iron, unable to stay down, and finally, he breaks Ivan’s willpower, then Ivan’s body. Then he shouts his famous cheer about change, and how an individual can change, just like a nation, for the better, this new victory over the Soviet machine, on international television. This hulking machine, with more artificial drugs and ingredients than 50 Hollywood superstars put together, was taken down by this man with sheer willpower. It also ends with the Soviet government representatives leaving out the back door, seeing as the entire audience were starting to cheer for the enemy, the American champion.
This movie is known to be a patriotic movie for Americans, and for excellent reasons, and one that is popular with Russians, as they felt the same thing as the Russians did at the end of the movie. They cheered at the American Dream, and how they could have a better home, and a better nation.
He became a symbol of hope in their eyes, and a movie that was well loved by Reagan, and one that he joked about with Gorbachev. The Soviet and Russian governments went on a rampage over the movie, denying it and accusing it of every anti-soviet argument in the book, calling the portrayal of Russia and Ivan Drago “inaccurate” (or shall we say, triggered.) This showed that the Soviet government was scared of this portrayal, because they were ignoring what the movie was doing. It was actually separating the Russia that Drago represented, and the Russians in the crowd.
This was a national movie for both the Russians and the Americans, one well loved by both audiences. (Don’t let the official news sources tell you otherwise. They are journalists, therefore propagandists.) For the Soviet machine to kill the traditional dream of America, embodied by Apollo Creed, then for the man from humble blue collar beginnings, Rocky Balboa to conquer it is an impressive image, and for him to tell the Russians that they can change themselves and their nation, is something that teaches everyone about what makes a nation, and that is the people. Not the wealthy, but the people in that audience.
When I was watching the movie, I couldn’t help thinking that the audience was booing Rocky because they were obligated to, and told to by the government, else they die. But for all of them to soon cheer the humble American that came from a very identical living situation as them, they realized they were not at all different from this stranger who came to challenge their hero, artificially created in a lab, and came to avenge not just the honour of his nation, but his friend.
There is also the story of Adrian who came to support her husband, expecting to become a widow, but who told Rocky that losing was no longer an option when she joined him in enemy territory, an incredible risk she never should have taken. And Rocky admitted that he also couldn’t have won without her, and that he might have died taking down Ivan Drago because of his obsession with avenging Apollo. His last words of the movie, wishing his son Merry Christmas as well, tells us that eventually in the match, it became about his family, and how it goes back to his humble beginnings, how he fell in love with Adrian.
In the end, Duke was the embodiment of national pride and honour, and Adrian was the embodiment of American love for Rocky, and vice-versa. He couldn’t have defeated the artificial Soviet Union that imposed itself on the people without the pride and honour Duke brought, reminding him that Drago was still just a man, and couldn’t have found the resolve to come back alive, without the pure love that is found in traditional America. And where does Rocky stand? He is the American Spirit reborn.
Not the fake one with more plastic than a Barbie doll, with all her trigger warnings and euphemisms, (That would be Adonis “Creed”, or Michael B. “Narcissist” Jordan) but the spirit of the common man, who wishes to get back up after their spirit is crushed and murdered when the old spirit in the form of Apollo Creed died. That means that the True Spirit of America is not complete without the Love and Honour that made the United States what it became, and that there is no need for trigger warnings, cause the moment Rocky punched back hard, with Drago whimpering away when he doubted, and when he turned on one of the Russian handlers, showed what Drago truly was. The fragile form of the Soviet government, and the truth behind the Communist Soviet Union.
And to show how much Drago embodied the Soviet spirit, we see where the Pride, Honour and Love goes. The handlers didn’t treat Drago as a human. He was a weapon. They were scientists and government agents, therefore their Pride was superficial, and more about the government, not the people.
The way he fought was without Honour. And what happened when he lost, with his wife? She ditched him. His nation did not love him, like he loved her. During the match, you had Drago that became, if momentarily, the Russian spirit, but it was so far separated from the “Love” and “Honour” that the Russians have lost when the Tsars were killed by the Bolsheviks, that he was abandoned, and therefore, he was crushed and never recovered. In a way, he may have failed Russia, but the Soviet Union failed him. And that was a hell of his own making, because he was also nothing more than a machine put together by the government.
The love Rocky had for everyone, especially his wife, helped him achieve his victory, and there would be no Rocky movie series without Adrian and Duke. As much as Clubber Lang was amusing, Drago was intimidating as a figure, but nothing daunted Rocky and his love for Adrian, as he never forgot her, and couldn’t help but cling to her when she came to support him, every day in the cold making sure he could sleep well. After all, the all-American heroes wouldn’t be able to sleep well, without their lady loves to nurture them.
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