Sylvester Stallone Is Cutting This Beloved Character Out of ‘Rocky IV’ Director’s Cut
Sylvester Stallone confirmed he is making a director’s cut of Rocky IV. Rocky IV came out Nov. 27, 1985 so Stallony says he plans to release the director’s cut in time for the movie’s 35th anniversary. Initially, the prospect of more Rocky IV excited fans. However, the news that Stallone planned to eliminate one character made many sad.
There’s more ‘Rocky IV’ in Sylvester Stallone’s archives
Stallone wrote the screenplay for the original Rocky and insisted he play the title character. John G. Avildsen directed the original film. Stallone took the director’s reigns for Rocky II, III and IV. IV was the top grossing film in the series and captured a certain zeitgeist. At the height of Cold War fears, Rocky Balboa (Stallone) battled Russian Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren).
Rocky IV also clocks in as the shortest Rocky movie at a tight 90 minutes. When you factor in end credits and scenes replayed from Rocky III and previous films, it’s even shorter. A longer Rocky IV, more comparable in tone to the original or Rocky Balboa could be great. Over the summer, Stallone has been sharing videos of outtakes from Rocky IV. On Aug. 30, Stallone confirmed he is working on a new edit he describes as more “soulful.”
This beloved character didn’t make the ‘Rocky IV’ director’s cut
In addition to the political slant of Rocky IV, the sequel also represented the height of ‘80s movie cheese. The Balboas were quite wealthy by this point in Rocky’s boxing career, so they had all the toys they could want. Rocky’s brother-in-law Paulie (Burt Young) had a robot butler.
Fans asked Stallone if the director’s cut would include more scenes of Paulie and the Robot. They were quite dismayed when Stallone replied, “The robot is going to the junkyard forever. No more robot.”
Fans beg Sylvester Stallone not to cut the robot
Many fans commented on Stallone’s director’s cut announcement begging him not to cut the robot. Despite many fans telling him they loved the robot and wanted more of the robot, Stallone replied, “I don’t like the robot anymore” and even “HATE the robot.”
One fan did say he wouldn’t miss the robot, but he was far outweighed by people pleading with Stallone for more robot, or at least not to eliminate her from the film. Can they convince Stallone? If not, at least the theatrical cut of Rocky IV will still exist. This isn’t George Lucas here.
More ‘Rocky IV’ outtakes
Ivan Drago’s famous lines from Rocky IV include “I must break you” and “If he dies, he dies.” Had he said, “I cannot be defeated,” that might have been quoted too. Stallone even asked himself why they didn’t use that?
More outtakes show variations on the line and Rocky’s reaction to Drago.
Lundgren himself commented, “To even get one film made in Hollywood is close to impossible. To write, direct, produce and star in a film that people all over the world still love 35 years later – that’s what you call a supreme achievement. Sly, you’re amazing. That’s the truth 👊”
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