Headscratchers / Rocky IV

• How long do you think it took Stallone to grow that sweet-ass beard during the Training Montage?
  • Depends on the person. Everyone's hair grows at different rates. It's possible it could have taken just a week to get that long.
  • If I may, human head and facial hair grows at a rate of about six inches a year. Thickness of the hair affects how it looks as it grows, making some seem to grow beards faster than others.

• Remember Paulie's robot which he got from Rocky as a birthday present? It was able to give coherent responses and could process what it saw. How exactly did Rocky's suppliers pull off this level of artificial intelligence?
  • Rule of Cool applies, though it's entirely possible there's a person remote controlling it (perhaps a live-in maid) and it's a glorified RC car.
  • Rocky's also rich, so he could afford high quality technology.

• What led the crowd in Russia to switch sides like that?
  • They were won over by Rocky's endurance and determination.
  • "The crowd switched sides and started rooting for Rocky because of his spirit...or passion or...commitment. I dunno, it never really made sense to me."
  • A Wizard Did It.

• How did Rocky win the fight? He didn't have any strategy or natural advantage over Drago.
  • Drago put it very well, "he is like a piece of iron". And it isn't just physical toughness (which Rocky did posses, the training montage foreshadows that), but mental fortitude and pure will to prevail. The eye of the tiger, if you will.
  • The previous three films made it clear that Rocky's greatest advantage as a boxer is his ability to take a hellacious beating and keep going. The fact that he's able to survive against a man who's punching power is literally lethal might seem like it's taking Rocky's endurance to ridiculous lengths, but it's less so if you consider that every movie after this one makes a point of showing that Rocky was never the same after this match. As Rocky himself says in Creed II, "He [Drago] broke things in me ain't never been fixed."
  • Drago is a Lightning Bruiser but has never been taken to the limit of his endurance. Even then, he lasted an incredible length.

• Why the hell did the ref in Vegas let the second round start? Apollo was clearly outmatched.
  • Movie refs are fucking dumb. 'Nuff said.
  • Rocky didn't throw in the towel and probably got his friend killed.