Sylvester Stallone on His New Cut of Rocky 4 and What Else He’d Re-Edit

With Rocky IV: Rocky vs. Drago The Ultimate Director’s Cut now available On Demand and Digital, I recently had the chance to speak with writer-director Sylvester Stallone about re-editing the movie thirty-five years later. If you’re not aware, Stallone spent a lot of the pandemic reworking the movie, which included adding forty minutes of never-before-seen footage, re-editing the fight scenes, altering the music, adding a new opening that recaps Rocky III, and removing scenes like Paulie’s robot.

While I prefer the theatrical cut, I really enjoyed getting to see this new version and the way it shows the power of editing. Many people don’t realize how even a small edit can completely change your reaction to a scene. If you’re a Rocky fan it’s definitely worth your time. Rocky IV also stars Brigitte Nielsen, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, Michael Pataki, Robert Doornick, Talia Shire, Stu Nahan, and Tony Burton. Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff produced the feature, with Arthur Chobanian and James D. Brubaker serving as EPs.

During the interview, Stallone talked about why he wanted to re-edit the film, why he wishes he’d used more cutaways of Tony Burton, the hard part of directing yourself, why Rocky means so much to people around the world, how he’d love to take another crack at editing Nighthawks, Paradise Alley, and Rocky V, and more. In addition, I jokingly asked who would win in a fight between Rocky and King Shark. Stallone’s answer made me laugh.

RELATED: ‘Rocky 4: Rocky vs. Drago The Ultimate Director’s Cut’: Sylvester Stallone Discusses Apollo Creed’s Death in New Clip

Watch what Sylvester Stallone had to say in the player above and below is exactly what we talked about.

Sylvester Stallone

• Who wins in a fight between Rocky in his prime and King Shark?
• Why does Rocky mean so much to so many people around the world?
• Was Rocky IV the only film he considered reediting and how did he decide to do it?
• How he would love to take another crack at the editing of Nighthawks, Paradise Alley, and Rocky V.
• Did he ever wish on the recut of Rocky IV he had another shot of a character or another moment to help him tell the story?
• Why he wishes he’d used more cutaways of Tony Burton and shares a story about what happened on set with Burton and a stunt performer.
• The hard part of directing yourself.

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