Rocky IV, which originally released in 1985, is an extremely iconic 80s film. It’s got everything–huge hair, a banging soundtrack, and simmering tensions between the US and the Soviet Union that are ultimately overcome by a boxing match that unites both nations in their mutual love for Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa. And now, Stallone (who also directed) has announced plans for a 35th anniversary director’s cut of the film–but with the film’s single most 80s element cut out.
Stallone, who announced the Director’s Cut on Instagram, has responded to multiple comments asking him if the film’s robot, which is given to Rocky’s brother-in-law for his birthday early in the film, will make the cut. According to Stallone, the robot’s out–and people aren’t happy about it.
🚨 Sylvester Stallone is ELIMINATING Paulie’s Robot from his upcoming “Director’s Cut” of ROCKY IV
DO SOMETHING “FILM TWITTER” 🚨 pic.twitter.com/wLoo17AelM— J. Christopher Arrison (@murderwizard) August 30, 2020
The robot is, in 2020, a wonderful bit of sci-fi ephemera. Thanks to its beep-and-boop synth music introduction, strange alien design, and impossibly advanced A.I. (the robot seems immediately aware of Paulie, and is somehow able to recognize its surroundings), people have grown very fond of it.
Rocky IV also has a bit of a reputation as being a fairly silly movie, so the robot–who Paulie is besotted with by the film’s ending–fits perfectly. Notably, the robot does not return in future sequels.
What else the director’s cut will change remains unclear. The latest film in the long-running franchise, Creed II, revisited the story of Rocky IV by bringing back villain Ivan Drago–who, back in Rocky IV, killed Apollo Creed.
It’s not clear where or when this new version of Rocky IV will release, or whether it will add in previously cut scenes.
