--- title: "Rocky IV: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/rocky-iv/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/rocky-iv" critics_score: 44 critics_reviews: 10 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Rocky IV (1985): what the critics said Critics' score 44 from 10 reviews: 1 positive, 4 mixed, 5 negative. Most critics do not think much of Rocky IV, and they agree on why. The reviews call it a Cold War fairy tale in which Rocky fights the Soviet Union rather than a man, with the supporting characters shrunk to shadows and the dialogue witless. What praise there is goes to the fights themselves: even the sharper notices concede that it is hard not to root for the underdog against the bully, and Dolph Lundgren’s Drago is singled out as a vivid new villain. The reservations cluster on the montages, which several critics say replace the human feeling of the earlier films with something closer to a pop video, and on the jingoism. The spread is wide. The one clearly positive review, from The Times, is for Stallone’s 2021 director’s cut, which /Film also finds an improvement; The Guardian, reviewing the same cut, calls it pointless. The original theatrical release has almost no defenders. ## The Times — Kevin Maher Rating ★★★★☆. 19 November 2021. This 35th-anniversary re-release of the political Rocky instalment is ridiculously entertaining and impeccably well constructed, even if preposterous. The critic highlights the extra footage from the Apollo Creed funeral and additional fight scenes in the cleaned-up director’s cut. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/rocky-iv-rocky-vs-drago-review-ridiculously-entertaining-and-preposterous-q2mjxx8sl) ## Variety Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 1985. Stallone sloughs it off shamelessly in Rocky IV but it remains impossible not to root for the underdog to whup the bully one more time. Beyond its visceral appeal the film is truly the worst of the lot with a contrived opponent in Dolph Lundgren, though the fight scenes still pull in fans despite being predictable and preposterous. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1984/film/reviews/rocky-iv-1200426477/) ## The New York Times — Janet Maslin Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 27 November 1985. Rocky IV turns the boxer into an international diplomat battling a Soviet villain in a contest framed as us against them, but the two fights share the same carnival sameness that has become the series' most debilitating feature. The visual style emphasizes slow-motion bodily fluids while Drago stands out as a vivid new villain. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1985/11/27/movies/screen-rocky-iv-vs-the-ussr.html) ## Time Out — CPea Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 10 September 2012. The film is reduced to its barest three-act structure of revenge against a Russian opponent, with other characters diminished to shadows and dialogue that is witless. It delivers raw emotion as battleground cinema despite the political messaging and focus on Rocky. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/rocky-iv) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 27 November 1985. The Rocky series has lost its legs with this predictable last gasp that drains out human emotions in favor of technology and MTV-style montages. The fight scenes and contrived plot points like a chanting Russian crowd feel unbelievable and formulaic. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/rocky-iv-1985) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 12 November 2021. Stallone’s re-edit of his Cold War sequel is a ridiculous and largely pointless undertaking that fails to salvage the film. The critic singles out the persistent goofy Reagan-era fantasy and political saber-rattling, along with the unsettling death of Apollo Creed, as elements that render the redemption arc hollow. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/nov/11/rocky-iv-rocky-vs-drago-review-silly-directors-cut-is-a-losing-battle) ## Empire — Ian Nathan Fi1m's normalised score 20/100 (inferred from the text). 31 July 2006. The critic finds the film ridiculous jingoistic nonsense that threw credibility out the window by turning the story into a Cold War parable. He singles out the excessive focus on bulging physiques in the training sequences and fight for complaint. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/rocky-iv-review/) ## Los Angeles Times — Sheila Benson Fi1m's normalised score 20/100 (inferred from the text). 27 November 1985. Stallone's isolation as a filmmaker who tasted early success leads to the elephantine vacuousness of Rocky IV, which pits Rocky against the Soviet Union in sweaty supercolossal close-ups. The film portrays Soviets as simplistic animals and technology as no match for a pure heart, resulting in grim and witless storytelling. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-11-27-ca-4688-story.html) ## /Film — Chris Evangelista Rating 6.5/10. 12 November 2021. Stallone's director's cut removes the robot and restores character moments, making the film more earnest and honest while humanizing Drago and better explaining Apollo's decision to fight. It remains imperfect due to its montages but is a clear improvement over the original theatrical version. [Read the review](https://www.slashfilm.com/659352/rocky-iv-directors-cut-review-say-bye-to-paulies-robot-say-hello-to-a-mostly-better-movie/) ## HeyUGuys — Cai Ross Fi1m's normalised score 45/100 (inferred from the text). 11 August 2015. The film is a reductive Cold War fairy tale and one-dimensional kids' movie that pads its short runtime with montages and a talking robot, marking a sharp departure from the earlier entries in the series. The critic recalls its energetic appeal and crowd-pleasing excitement as a child in 1985 but notes how dated and simplistic it now seems. [Read the review](https://www.heyuguys.com/rocky-iv-retrospective/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/rocky-iv.md