I was born right after the first Rocky came out. I vaguely remember seeing Rocky III when it was out, but I definitely remember Rocky IV. A true 80s classic. Was it corny and unrealistic? Absolutely! And that's the way we liked it. The exotic cars, 80s power rock montages, James Brown, robots, evil Russians etc etc. This movie has aged perfectly. Sly knew what he was doing and I'm glad he did it.
If you watch the first 4 in order (and I just did) you notice that by Rocky III, things are starting to get redundant (and still with that 70s feel). Some have said IV is just a lazy retread of the previous 3 films, but I don't see that. Sly made a Rocky for the MTV generation and succeeded. My only complaint is the finale fight between Drago and Rocky. I would have liked to have seen more creative fight choreography. Does come off a bit anticlimactic. And maybe a little more dimension to the Drago and wife characters, but you can't have everything. If you're an 80s kid- THIS was your Rocky.
If you watch the first 4 in order (and I just did) you notice that by Rocky III, things are starting to get redundant (and still with that 70s feel). Some have said IV is just a lazy retread of the previous 3 films, but I don't see that. Sly made a Rocky for the MTV generation and succeeded. My only complaint is the finale fight between Drago and Rocky. I would have liked to have seen more creative fight choreography. Does come off a bit anticlimactic. And maybe a little more dimension to the Drago and wife characters, but you can't have everything. If you're an 80s kid- THIS was your Rocky.