Rewatchables Reference

• Winner: The two training montages combined (~9 minutes). Kyle: 'I would put that nine minute sequence against anything in film history for watchability.'
• Creed's entrance – James Brown performing 'Living in America.'
• The entire Drago-Creed fight.
• 'You can't win' leading into 'No Easy Way Out' Lamborghini montage.
• Duke's pep speech.
• Drago-'Rocky' round 2 ('he's cut').
• Rocky's 15th round and final speech.

• Drago's six iconic lines: 'You will lose,' 'I must break you,' 'If he dies, he dies,' 'Until the end,' 'You're dead,' and 'For me.' All endlessly quotable.
• The steroids vs. natural training montage concept – ahead of its time re: sports science.
• Creed having a 'bastard son' not acknowledged in this film, which later led to the 'Creed' franchise.
• James Brown's 'Living in America' – his last Top 40 single.
• Drago as a villain – 'like an incredible bottle of wine from 1986.'
• Rocky's jacket.
• The opening credits (two boxing gloves smashing and exploding).

• The patriotism is harder to identify with in a divided 2020s America vs. the unified Cold War era.
• Re-showing 'Rocky' III's ending at the start of the film.
• SICO the robot – Paulie's creepy relationship with it; the robot had more dialogue than Drago.
• Brigitte Nielsen's Russian accent.
• Adrian initially not going to Russia.
• The hastily done magazine covers of Drago.
• The impact of Apollo's death diminishing on rewatches.
• Brigitte Nielsen and Stallone's marriage (married December 1985, divorced July 1987).

• Peter Cetera wrote 'Glory of Love' for this film but it ended up in 'The Karate Kid' Part II.
• Kyle suggested Arnold Schwarzenegger as Drago (mid-80s, had the accent, Sly vs. Arnold), but their rivalry would have prevented it.

Carl Weathers – 'really dials it up' knowing he's only in the movie for ~35 minutes. 'He looks like he's had a lot of coffee.'

• Sal and Kyle: Marianne 'Creed' – confused/loving look, 'stop the fight' terror.
• Bill: James Brown – 'comes in smoking hot, rips off vintage James Brown.'

Michael Pataki as Nikolai Koloff (Drago's trainer/handler) – classic 'That Guy' actor.

• 'Every part is perfect. I wouldn't recast one piece.' – Bill.
• Kyle's one suggestion: mid-80s Arnold Schwarzenegger as Drago.

• Stallone hospitalized after Lundgren punched him for real – heart swelled, airlifted to hospital.
• Carl Weathers and Lundgren had beef on set; 4-day work stoppage.
• Training scenes in 'Russia' were filmed in Wyoming; the fight in Vancouver.
• Tony Burton defeated Stanley Kubrick at chess on the set of 'The Shining'.
• A deleted scene of 'Rocky' giving up his belt was cut but referenced in the trailer.
• The SICO robot helped Stallone's autistic son in real life.
• James Brown toured with the SICO robot after the movie.

• Sylvester Stallone: Yes – 'Rocky IV' and Rambo II in 1985, biggest movie star in the world.
• Dolph Lundgren: Yes.
• Warner Wolf: Yes – iconic NY sportscaster, 'Let's go to the videotape' guy.
• Vince DiCola: Yes.
• Tony Burton (Duke): Yes.
• 80s movie montages / movie montages overall: Yes – '31.9% of the movie is montages.'
• Wet blanket sports movie wives (Adrian): Yes.
• Cold War: No – Cuban Missile Crisis wins.

• Should Drago have faced murder charges for Apollo's death?
• 'Rocky' offers no boxing advice as a trainer, tries to talk Apollo out of the fight minutes before, then freezes with the towel.
• Soviet heavyweights were not allowed to box professional fighters during the Cold War.
• Timeline inconsistencies across 'Rocky' films – Adrian's 'nearly five years' and Rocky's 'nine years married' don't add up.
• No doctor on site for the Apollo-Drago exhibition fight.
• Drago hit Apollo ~14 times after the bell with no disqualification.
• Apollo had boxing gloves on after dancing, then no gloves when confronting Drago (continuity error noticed after 130+ viewings).

• How long were they in Russia training? (Kyle estimates 6-7 weeks based on Rocky's beard.)
• How does 'Rocky' get down from the mountain he climbed?
• What time is the fight? If 10 PM in Moscow, it's 3 PM in the US – 'Rocky' tells his kid to go to bed.
• Would 'Rocky' have been killed by the KGB after winning?
• What were the Compubox numbers? (Fan calculations: Drago landed 61 of 72 in the first 3 minutes.)

• Kyle: The snake watch/bracelet 'Rocky' gives Adrian, and Rocky's aviator sunglasses.
• Sal and Bill: The bloody towel from 'throw the damn towel.'

All three agreed: Dolph Lundgren / Drago – 'totally unproven newcomer, you leave the movie thinking he's a movie star and some sort of muscle bound alien.'