Keep going year, somewhat early on in quarantine, Sylvester Stallone uncovered that he had been assembling a new cut of Rocky IV to pay tribute to the film’s 35th anniversary. He labeled MGM in the post and said the studio was ready, however at that point, it appeared as though there was some possibility that MGM was simply going along with him and had no expectation of truly allowing him to put out a new version of the film—particularly since, by then, it seemed like the pandemic may never end.
Since we’ve all become used to the possibility of the pandemic never ending, however, it’s the ideal opportunity for more Rocky IV! Indeed, there’s no compelling reason to throw around any hashtags this time, on the grounds that MGM will release the Stallone cut of Rocky IV as a one-night-only theatrical event on November 11 (and on digital the day after).
The new version of the film is reciprocally named either Rocky IV: Rocky Vs. Drago or—and this one is enraging—Rocky V. Drago: The Ultimate Director’s Cut, with MGM itself being reluctant to stick to either.
At any rate, Rocky IV: Rocky V. Drago—The Ultimate Director’s Cut in some way or another contains 40 minutes of beforehand unreleased footage, which is a lot, and the live screenings will include a Q&A with Stallone. We don’t have the foggiest idea what occurs in those 40 minutes (the smart cash’s on “a whole lotta boxing”), yet we do realize that they will not include the robot that Paulie gets in the original film. Stallone said last year that he doesn’t care for the robot and that it would be “going to the junkyard forever.”
It could be bizarre to remove the emotional center of the film, yet that is the reason this is the Ultimate Director’s Cut and not the Significantly More Robot Cut.