Our Favorite Montages: Rocky IV
Filed under: Classics, Sports, Fandom, Film Clips, Trailers and Clips
Naturally, when asked to pick a favorite montage I had to be painfully obvious and choose Rocky IV. If I could program Star Trek Holodeck adventures for myself, one of them would totally be set in Hollywood's version of the Cold War, where it was better to be dead than red, and nuclear war was just five minutes away unless Stallone or Schwarzenegger stepped in. This is the culture that spawned characters like Marvel's Black Widow, and I too want to be an agent provocateur for one side or the other. Preferably Russian. They always had the cool black outfits.
That's why I dig the Rocky IV montage. It's steeped in images of what America firmly believed the Soviet Union to be -- a country of superior technology and gigantic athletes that could totally crush us. This is the stuff of my Reagan era childhood, when my teachers told us we would inevitably fall to the hammer and sickle because the Soviets were just so relentlessly ruthless and badass. No one captures this better than Ivan Drago. To gaze on him is to look into Reagan's fear of the Evil Empire. Drago's the poster child for why we needed a lot of nukes in the 1980s. Even better, this montage also captures what we believed pre-Revolutionary Russia to be, which is clearly something out of Doctor Zhivago. Like Leo Tolstoy, Sylvester Stallone obviously believed that Russia lost its way when it strayed from its peasant soul, and he embraces its hearty lifestyle of serfdom in order to achieve true victory.
Watch the video after the jump
That's why I dig the Rocky IV montage. It's steeped in images of what America firmly believed the Soviet Union to be -- a country of superior technology and gigantic athletes that could totally crush us. This is the stuff of my Reagan era childhood, when my teachers told us we would inevitably fall to the hammer and sickle because the Soviets were just so relentlessly ruthless and badass. No one captures this better than Ivan Drago. To gaze on him is to look into Reagan's fear of the Evil Empire. Drago's the poster child for why we needed a lot of nukes in the 1980s. Even better, this montage also captures what we believed pre-Revolutionary Russia to be, which is clearly something out of Doctor Zhivago. Like Leo Tolstoy, Sylvester Stallone obviously believed that Russia lost its way when it strayed from its peasant soul, and he embraces its hearty lifestyle of serfdom in order to achieve true victory.
Watch the video after the jump
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-28-2009 @ 3:23PM
Raichu said...
The Karl and Ellie montage in "UP" is a recent fave, and will definitely be among the great montages in film history.
Reply
8-28-2009 @ 3:39PM
Chet said...
What a perfect and glorious time capsule.
Reply
8-28-2009 @ 3:56PM
Joel said...
Thank you for writing about this montage! From the minute I saw the first entry in this series, Rocky IV was screaming out to be recognized. It is my favorite all-time montage.
P.S. - Are you going to do another Horror Virgin entry soon?
Reply
8-28-2009 @ 4:05PM
villageidjut said...
Probably not, thanks to MTV.
http://tinyurl.com/m47mso
:(
8-28-2009 @ 5:57PM
Elisabeth said...
Unfortunately, it looks like the Horror Virgin is done. Scott and I finally coordinated our schedules and I was supposed to return this week with "Splinter." Unfortunately, as Village pointed out, MTV decided to do something very, very similar. I don't feel comfortable in continuing the feature now, as now it'll simply look like we're ripping them off.
It was fun while it lasted, though, and I'm sorry to leave it behind.
8-28-2009 @ 4:03PM
John said...
Classic Rocky Montage.......OOOH YEEEEA!!
Reply
8-28-2009 @ 4:46PM
Pretty Paula said...
this is classic!! whenever this movie is on I watch...
Reply
8-28-2009 @ 9:03PM
Andy said...
YES! YES! A thousand times yes.
Also see the 'No Easy Way Out' montage in Rocky III...ol Rocky was montage-happy in the 80s.
Reply