The current climate of events has forced us all to get pretty creative with what we do to keep busy. In Sylvester Stallone’s case, he not only teased a director’s cut for Rocky IV, he’s actually following through on it! Stallone made the announcement yesterday through his active social media platform, and while we don’t know exactly what’s being added back in, we know what’s going to be taken out of Rocky IV’s director’s cut. If you’re a fan of SICO the robot, you’re about to be a lot sadder, as it's getting ditched.
This news was released to the public once again by Sylvester Stallone himself, as a Rocky IV fan was curious as to whether or not SICO would get some more screen time. Specifically, this question on Instagram was digging for whether or not the relationship between the feminized SICO and Rocky’s friend/trainer, Paulie (Burt Young), would be fleshed out a little more in the new director’s cut. Good old Sly Stallone shut that possibility down in one, simple statement:
I don’t like the robot anymore.
Much like young David in Steven Spielberg’s classic A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, or The Monster in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, yet another creation of humanity has been disowned by those who gave it life. True, more serious fans of Rocky IV weren’t exactly that accepting of SICO the first time around, and that’s to be expected when you take into account the Rocky series has always been more of a serious sports franchise.
However, if you look at some of the feedback that’s made it into conversation about this decision, there’s a good portion of the fandom that has come around on keeping the machine where it stands. If you haven’t seen Rocky IV, or don’t seem to remember how SICO came into the picture, take a look at the quick history lesson through the magic of cinema, below:
Ok, so it’s not exactly a moment that looks relevant to the overall story of Carl Weather’s Apollo Creed taking on, and eventually dying at the hands of Dolph Lundgren’s Ivan Drago. However, there’s one big problem when it comes to cutting SICO out of Rocky IV. As you’ll see in the second clip provided below, the big gag that shows Paulie proclaiming his robot friend really does love him happens to drop at the most inconvenient time: right at the crucial moment where Apollo is trying to convince Rocky and Adrian that he can beat Drago in a fight.
It’s one of those cases where you can never tell where fans will come down on the subject. But the fact that we’re talking about the director’s cut of Rocky IV is something that’s impressive enough on its own merit. With MGM backing Sylvester Stallone’s call, and his vision being the force that will determine what happens, we’ll have to wait until the finished product of Rocky IV’s director’s cut is released to the public. So be sure to keep up with CinemaBlend on a regular basis, as we’ll break any updates in this matter as they develop.
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