Rocky IV

Top 10 Fun Facts

1. Dolph Lundgren nabbed the role of Ivan Drago from more than 8,000 (yes, THOUSAND) other people who auditioned for the part. That's nearly four times the population of Eureka Springs, Arkansas.
2. Lundgren may have had a competitive advantage when auditioning. He'd previously met Sylvester Stallone, who suggested that Lundgren would be great for the part if he put on twenty pounds of muscle (which is a lot less fun than putting on twenty pounds of hot fudge sundae, for the record).
3. That extra 20 pounds of muscle came back to haunt Stallone - he wound up in intensive care for eight days after deciding that he and Lundgren should hit each other "for real" during their fight sequence.
4. Lundgren also pummeled Carl Weathers during filming, knocking him out cold while shooting the Ivan Drago-Apollo Creed exhibition match. Stallone claims he had to calm Weathers down (after he regained consciousness, of course) and convince him not to quit the movie.
5. Lots of moviegoers remember Europe's synthesizer-filled rock anthem "The Final Countdown" from Rocky IV. Only problem is, it wasn't actually in the movie - but the score does sound remarkably similar.
6. In Soviet Russia, Grand Tetons climb YOU: Wyoming filled in as Russia for the training scenes, including locations in Grand Teton National Park.
7. The Gorbachev lookalike who appears during the final fight sequence went on to play the Russian president in The Naked Gun. We're guessing that actor was super bummed when the Cold War ended.
8. Wife swap: Ivan Drago's wife Ludmilla was played by actress Brigitte Nielsen - who just so happened to be married to Sylvester Stallone at the time.
9. Subliminal message? In the opening scenes when the American and Russian boxing gloves collide, if you look closely you'll spot the Russian glove breaking in half and falling to the ground.
10. Rocky IV holds the title of highest-grossing film in the Rocky series, bringing in some $300 million worldwide. Apparently U.S. patriotism even sells internationally if you do it right.

Cast

Crew