Wannabe writer/critic currently selling PCs - and my soul - at PC World. Spent a lot of time crashi...
Wannabe writer/critic currently selling PCs - and my soul - at PC World. Spent a lot of time crashing intellectual parties in Prague. Now being nice on Ciao! UK.
Member since:13.12.2000
Reviews:116
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Would cinema icons such as Humphrey Bogart, Marlon Brando or James Dean be able to give so little to lines such as, "Adrienne! ADRIENNE!", "I am the Law." or "You're gonna regret this for the rest of your life...both seconds of it." Stallone - the man, the actor.
Rocky IV has a curious place in world cinema. A friend from the formerly Communist Czech Republic has seen virtually none of the milestones of Western cinema. No Citizen Kane, no Godfather, no Schindler's List. But she has seen Rocky IV, and can quote virtually every line.
The most ludicrously enjoyable episode in the comic book boxing franchise, chumpy slugger Rocky Balboa faces an almost invincible foe. Monolithic Soviet boxer Ivan Drago can pack a punch of 2000lbs per square inch, and kills showboating former champ (and Rocky's buddy) Apollo Creed in an exhibition match. The Italian Stallion wants revenge, but things look beyond him - while Rocky works out in a tool shed, Drago trains in what seems to be a space station. Then, in front of a slightly partisan Russian crowd, the two heavy weights face off...
Once it comes down to the final showdown, it won't matter to you that the boxing on display here bares as much resemblance to real boxing as Celebrity Death Match. In real life, boxers dance cagily around each other, guard up, probing for openings in the other's defence. In Rocky IV, they wade in with arms by their sides, taking turns in whacking each other as hard as possible in the face. When Drago packs a punch like that, Balboa ought to look like a Picasso self portrait...after one hit.
"If he dies, he dies.", "I will break you." the robotic Drago speaks totally in bad guy lines, and makes himself even more invincible by spiking up on steroids before the fight. Brigitte Nielsen bristles icily from the ringside, looking great in the days before drunken appearances on Baddiel and Skinner.
The bombastic, jingoistic, flag-waving soundtrack will have you running up steps and celebrating at the top, as well as cheering Rocky on to another inevitable-yet-gripping underdog victory. Go on - you know you want to! Things get a bit stretched when the Russian crowd turn against their own man, and Rocky makes a heartfelt speech begging for world peace. Which would be okay, if the man could even speak.
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Action/Adventure - Director: Peter Jackson - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring:Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Liv Tyler, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Andy Serkis
Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green
Production Year: 2002 - Action/Adventure - Director: Vincenzo Natali - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp, Jeremy Northam
East meets West when Rocky takes on a vicious Soviet fighter who literally killed his last ... more
opponent! Sylvester Stallone writes, directs and stars in this war between nations, in which the only battle is fought in a boxing ring. Rocky Balboa (Stallone) ...