Question: Why and who were the guys following Rocky in the car when he was training?
Chosen answer: People who worked for the Soviet government assigned to spy on Rocky.
Question: To elaborate on the question regarding Drago facing criminal charges for killing Apollo: when he pushes the ref aside you say that in real life the fight would have been stopped, however, he almost lands the fatal blow right afterwards so he didn't give anyone time to stop it, wouldn't he be charged with criminally negligent manslaughter or something similar? I can understand him not facing charges if it had happened during the normal course of the fight, but the fact that he didn't allow the ref to stop the fight leads me to believe that he was negligent and thus responsible for Apollo's death.
Answer: Unless Drago did something deliberately illegal to increase damage (altering his gloves or wraps like Luis Resto), then no. Risk of severe injury is a standard for contact sports and boxing especially.
Answer: Yes. Not only would Drago have been suspended from boxing indefinitely for pushing the ref aside, but, he also would have been charged with manslaughter considering that Drago landed the blow that killed Apollo immediately after the official stopped the fight. If the blow that killed Apollo had occurred during the fight however, Drago wouldn't have faced any charges.
In reality, Rocky was responsible for Apollo's death because he would not throw the towel when begged to. Furthermore, had this been a real fight, Apollo's entire corner would have flooded the ring since it got so out of hand. So, there wouldn't have been a fatal blow; it would have been total chaos with one corner coming to the defense of their fighter.
Question: I recently purchased the soundtrack to Rocky IV and one of the songs is called Man Against The World. The small pamphlet that came with the CD stated that this song was originally going to be in the movie but was eventually left out. Had this song been in the movie, what scene would this song have appeared in?
Answer: Presumably it would have been used in the scene where Rocky and company arrive in Russia. Burning Heart (also by Survivor) was chosen to be used in this scene instead.
Question: During the press conferences, Is there any reason why Drago remained quiet? My best guesses are a) He's shy during Q and A's, b) Just a pride thing, or c) he's simply been ordered by his superiors not to speak. Anyone know for sure?
Answer: To make him appear more menacing and machine like.
Answer: There are many theories and claims, but there seem to be no definitive answer. My take is that Drago was shy and pretty much a puppet of his wife and nation, both obsessed with creating a "stone cold iron machine" in where a human personality is only in the way This theory is supported by the fact that when Rocky starts winning over Drago's respect, Drago (instead of his seemingly shy and yet cold demeanor) starts shouting something like "I AM NOT FIGHTING FOR ANY OF YOU ANYMORE! THIS FIGHT IS FOR ME! I AM FIGHTING FOR ME!" Ignoring the boos of the crowd and garnering a slight smile from Rocky Drago seemingly regains a bit of himself, his own identity during the fight of his life.
Question: After the first round of the Drago-Apollo fight, shouldn't the ref have checked on Apollo? He should have seen that Apollo was very weak and battered, and in real life, the fight would have possibly been stopped right there.
Answer: Yes, definitely. The fights in this film have little in common with actual bouts, save the gloves themselves. In the film punches are rarely blocked, every blow has the force of a sledge hammer, and the fighters constantly talk to one another. In reality two fighters would not speak and most of the punches would be blocked.
Question: In real life, would Drago have faced criminal charges after killing Apollo in the ring? After all he did it on purpose.
Chosen answer: Not really because he only intended on physically punishing Apollo, as do most fighters do when they are in a fight. In real life if Drago had pushed the ref aside like he did in the fight, it would have been stopped right then and there, and maybe Apollo would have lived.
Question: How is it that Apollo is killed after just two rounds with Drago, but Rocky is able to survive fifteen whole rounds against him?
Answer: Rocky is well-known to have a very strong ability to take punches, which is how he is able to keep his hands in punching position rather than a defensive position. In addition to heavily training for this fight, he also hurts Drago, which reduces his ability to fight.
Answer: There would be multiple factors involved, not just how many rounds were fought. Drago may just have hit Apollo in an unexpected fatal way. Apollo could have had some unknown physical weakness or condition making him more susceptible to the constant, hard blows. Also, it wasn't expected that Drago was so vicious, sociopathic, and unconcerned whether an opponent was seriously hurt or killed, nor did he hold back on the force of the punches. Rocky, knowing what Drago was capable of, was able to strategize and fend off Drago. Apollo was unaware and unprepared. Rocky was also motivated by revenge and fury.
Answer: Apollo was much older and had retired as a boxer, despite his training (he was in good shape) he also had no fights in a long time, as a result his ability to shrug off blows were inferior to Rocky's Also if you focus well on the fight, he spends way too much time yelling for Rocky to NOT stop the fight, not only wasting lots of energy, neglecting to position himself well, focus or even block To me it seemed like Apollo wanted to die, his "Apollo Pride" simply wouldn't let him quit. I once had and wrote a "Creepypasta theory" in where the reader is believed that Apollo instead had been shouting "Help me Rocky! Throw the towel! Help me!" but Rocky was so sure his buddy would win that he heard what he wanted to hear (my theory was widely supported by the fact that the chance that Rocky would have heard anything at all during all the screaming and shouting is but impossible, also the fact that Rocky feels guilt and has signs of PTSD would support this).
Question: When Rocky says "Come on" before a round Drago says something angrily, was he cussing in Russian? Also, Rocky and Drago both kept pummeling each other after the bell, Rocky slams Drago, shouldn't they have been disqualified for this stuff?
Answer: I think he says "Da", which is yes in Russian, so he's just responding to Rocky's challenge.
Answer: He is telling his coach "My hands hurt, it's like hitting a slab of iron" referring to Rocky's seemingly superhuman endurance.
Question: Why was Vince Dicola chosen to score this film instead of the usual Bill Conti?
Answer: According to Wikipedia: "Rocky IV is the only film in the series not to feature original music by Bill Conti, who was replaced by DiCola; however, it does feature arrangements of themes composed by Conti from previous films in the series, such as "The Final Bell." Conti, who was too busy with the first two Karate Kid films at the time, would return for Rocky V and Rocky Balboa. Conti's famous piece of music from the Rocky series, "Gonna Fly Now", does not appear at all in Rocky IV (the first time in the series this happened), though a few bars of it are incorporated into DiCola's training montage instrumental."
Answer: They were Rocky's chaperones. They were even seen in the cabin Rocky was staying in and playing chess with Duke.