Rocky IV Has The Greatest Training Montage Of All Time
"Rocky IV" held the mantle as the highest-grossing sports movie for decades, solidifying its status as one of the best entries in the storied franchise that has followed Rocky Balboa from the hard streets of Philly to the cold mountain tops of Siberia. The Oscar-winning original, and "Rocky II" to an extent, kept Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) grounded in an inspirational drama about a determined underdog who defied all odds to get a shot at the title. In "Rocky," the Italian Stallion went from a publicity stunt for Apollo Creed to being reevaluated as a serious contender. The public at large and the entire sports world woke up to Rocky Balboa and they were suddenly forced to take him seriously.
The audience watching "Rocky" already knew his true character way before he ever entered the ring, because we saw the struggles of his solitary, lonely life and the internal battles he was already fighting. Most importantly, we saw him scale the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art in a triumphant training montage to the tune of Bill Conti's rousing anthem "Gonna Fly Now." That sequence invented the modern sports training montage and never looked back. Both the "Rocky" and "Creed" formulas are largely crafted around the montage trope. It creates momentum and it tells the audience that Rocky or Adonis is finally mentally and physically ready for whatever's coming next.
Admittedly, the OG "Rocky" montage is a hard one to eclipse. But the montage in "Rocky IV" literally climbs higher than the steps Rocky had already scaled, sending the champion off of American soil to fight the unbeatable Ivan Drago. Rocky may have seemed like a "piece of iron" to Drago, but he was also ready to take down the Iron Curtain.
Two montages in one
Stallone definitely had his finger on the pulse of the nation when "Rocky IV" hit theaters in 1985. The Cold War between Russia and the United States was slowly coming to an end thanks to Gorbachev instituting a series of reforms known as Perestroika ("Restructuring") and Glasnost ("Openness") that helped to ease tensions between the two countries. Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) represented the U.S.S.R. and was portrayed as the embodiment of totalitarianism. Rocky, of course, was a symbol of the American dream and, more importantly, a universal symbol for the little man that always wound up under the boot of the government.
The "Rocky IV" montage should be broken up into two parts, with the first three minutes and 40 seconds focusing on the fierce intercutting between Drago and Rocky's training prep. Rocky is followed by the KGB when he starts cross-training in the Siberian mountains, but the Russian townspeople look on, humanizing Rocky in the eyes of the local farmers. Then, the fast and furious editing begins: Drago uses state-of-the-art equipment for a sidearm bicep curl; Rocky works the same muscles by helping a local man get his horse and buggy back on track. The best edit, by far, comes when Drago knocks down a stand-in practice fighter just as Rocky chops down a tree with an axe.
This intercutting continues showing how Drago has become more man than machine, just as Rocky is finding himself again and mourning the loss of Apollo at the same time.
The underdog's champion
The first training montage ends, and just as composer Vince DiCola's "Training Montage" music subsides, "Hearts on Fire" by John Cafferty starts blasting as if to say, Rocky, you're not quite done with your workout yet (or your therapy). Stallone shows some incredible jump roping skills here as barn dirt kicks up from his Adidas boxing shoes. The intercutting between Rocky and Drago continues but it's slower-paced, showing Rocky more and more, as if he's actually winning the montage itself. Rocky does upside-down crunches while Paulie holds his feet; Drago uses a futuristic abdominal crunch machine with no help at all. Adrienne shows up to check on Rocky's progress as Apollo's trainer Duke looks on, telling Rock two simple words: "No pain."
By the time Rocky outruns the KGB's Mercedes and scales up the mountainside, he has almost become a complete amalgamation of the man he was in the original "Rocky" and the champion he still is. He's just finished a training regiment that Russian former heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko probably couldn't even keep up with. When Rocky reaches the summit, he screams out "Drago!" just as the sun is setting. It's one of the best cinematic moments in the franchise. Getting back down to basics, Rocky uses everything from a wheelbarrow full of rocks to bench-pressing a horse wagon with Paulie, Duke, and Adrienne in tow. He's the embodiment of the common man again, with the over-the-top strength of a superhero.
Why the Rocky IV montage is the best in the series
"Rocky IV" also mainlined directly into the spirit of '80s excess, offering a bombastic cartoon version of Balboa that could be seen as the Reagan era equivalent of Captain America selling war bonds in WWII. The juxtaposition between Rocky and Drago's training styles in the "Rocky IV" montage highlights their differences and visually shows how they represent two entirely different ways of life. It's also the longest montage of the entire franchise at almost eight minutes long, a perfectly acceptable length when you consider everything that's going on.
Drago is and will always be Rocky's most formidable opponent. After the death of Apollo, Rocky had to mourn that loss and still prepare for the fight of his life — a fight that would go on to haunt him physically and mentally in "Rocky V." The double back-to-back montage has to be considered one of, if not the best, of all the training sequences in the series mostly because we, the audience, get to see Rocky start believing again that he can do the impossible. Drago was unbeatable. But when Rocky raises his hands on the top of that mountain, we all know he's going down for the count.
Maybe "Rocky" and "Rocky III" are contenders for best montage, but it's going to be a tall order to beat "Rocky IV."