Rocky IV in a way, feels like a remake/rehash of the third movie

But with a Cold War angle thrown in. Instead of Mickey trying to persuade Rocky into not fighting a hungrier and more vicious opponent in Clubber Lang, we have Rocky and Adrian politely trying to tell Apollo to not to challenge Ivan Drago.

And going further with the roles being reversed, Rocky reluctantly agrees to be in Apollo's corner just like Mickey in Rocky III reluctantly agrees to help Rocky for his bout with Clubber Lang. Of course, disaster strikes as both Mickey and Apollo die at said matches and Clubber and Drago in directly/or directly (in Drago's case) are at fault for said deaths.

The second half of the movies involve Rocky having to go to a foreign land (or in the third movie's case, foreign in the sense of going from Philadelphia to Apollo's home-turf of Los Angles) to train for his next bout.