Watched the Rocky vs Drago cut to compare to the original. An interesting attempt to slot a ridiculous movie back into the relative grounded tone of the earlier films, it holds the most value as an educational tool on editing and how much changes as small as a line and as big as new or removed scenes change a film than as a story in of itself.

The first act is the most interesting for how it centers Apollo, jettisoning most of the Balboa family and hijinks to focus instead on his desperate need to return to the world he thrives in. They recontexualize his drive from jingoistic bluster and arrogance to a compulsion he can’t stop even if he wanted to. The fight is what’s given him meaning all his life, and it’s how he’ll end it, something he seems to know deep down. There’s a sort of dread hanging overhead of the inevitable ending. Weathers kills it, especially in his final plea to Rocky, raw and close to tears.

After his death, the film snaps back to Rocky and the film it always was. It can’t escape the jingoism for long. It can drop hints of characterization for Drago, but not enough to overcome it. It still devolves into a string of montages and a campy speech. Black and white flashbacks don’t suddenly lend the proceedings gravitas. Some characters, like Adrian, are better served by changes. Others, like Drago’s wife, are left with less. But at least there’s no robot. Rocky IV still ultimately has the most value as a Creed prologue, and in that sense, this cut delivers that better. But it’s still the same movie at heart. People can change, but this movie can’t.

Rocky Vs Drago: 2.5
Original cut: 2