Anyone else watch this yet?

The build up to the Drago vs. Apollo fight is quicker. “Eye of the Tiger” was cut from the beginning.

I rented it off of Vudu. It should be available on all major streaming platforms.

Agreed.

I thought the fights were a lot more entertaining and less one-sided than before.

Drago doesn't look as implausible in this cut of the film, and him being a tool of propaganda for the USSR is a lot more evident, rather than him coming across as a stone-cold Terminator in human form.

Apollo also looked a heck of a lot more impressive in the exhibition fight this time around, and the extra dialogue and reasoning from Apollo in this edit makes him come across as a lot more accepting of his existential nature as a fighter who lives and dies in the ring.

He really basically died the best way he thought a fighter could: fighting the very best.

It's a subtle but more pronounced element in the film than from what I remember in the original cut. It's also hammered home a bit more during his funeral sequence, where the focus is more on Apollo choosing to go out on his terms. It makes you feel a lot less rage towards Drago, and a lot more respect for Apollo. It's something I never felt before in having watched the theatrical cut (granted, I haven't seen that version in decades).

Even still, the fight choreography editing looks a lot better in this version and is slightly more realistic than the theatrical cut. Though to be fair, Rocky IV really is a product of the 80s, and it fit the epoch of its release. I can see what Stallone was going for with the director's cut, but it's a little bit like the editing and his vision is fighting against the core nature of how the film was originally produced.

It would be very interesting to see what Stallone could have produced if he could redo the film knowing what he knows now. He would probably make the tone it fit more in line with Rocky I, II, V, and Rocky Balboa.