Sylvester Stallone Says He Almost Died While Filming Rocky IV

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Sylvester Stallone Says He Almost Died While Filming Rocky IV

It has been a while since Sylvester Stallone first revealed he was putting together a new cut of Rocky IV and now Rocky vs. Drago - The Ultimate Director's Cut has arrived along with a brand new documentary about the making of the iconic sporting movie.

While there are many interesting pieces of information to be pulled from the documentary, one revelation made by Stallone about his brutal face off with Dolph Lungren is that an injury sustained during their fight almost killed him, but that didn't prevent Stallone from using the fight in the final cut of the film.

According to The Expendables star, he was rushed to a Californian hospital intensive care unit from the shoot in Canada, where he spent four days before heading back to complete filming on the movie. During a clip in the Rocky IV documentary, Stallone reveals...

"The first thing we shot [was] my entrance, [Lundgren's] entrance, and the introductions, and then I got really injured during the fight and I had to be flown into intensive care to California from Canada. [Lundgren] pulverized me. And I didn't feel it in the moment but later that night my heart started to swell. My blood pressure went up to 260 and I was going to be talking to angels. Next thing I know I'm on this emergency, low-altitude flight. I'm in intensive care surrounded by nuns and then after that, I had to go back and finish the fight."

Stallone has had plenty to keep him occupied in the last few months, but during lockdown he decided to use the downtime to complete work on a reworking of the 1985 movie, which had been in the planning for some time. The fourth movie in the franchise sees Soviet boxer Ivan Drago announce his desire to take on Rocky in the ring, but instead he ends up fighting Rocky's best friend and former rival Apollo Creed instead. When Drago kills Creed in the ring, Rocky takes on the Soviet powerhouse in a grudge match for the honor of his country and to avenge Creed's death.

The officially titled Rocky vs. Drago - The Ultimate Director's Cut launched in theaters on November 11th for one night only and then went to VOD. Containing over 40 minutes of brand new unseen footage, including a heavily re-cut and extended final fight, and brings the film to life in a new way, something that Stallone alluded to in previously released footage. "If you can go back to recut your film, I guarantee you you would approach it with a sensitivity and a wisdom, and a confidence, 'oh, why didn't I see that before?'" Stallone said. "All of us are entitled to follow our dreams, to stick to our beliefs, because in the end that's all you have and if you keep believing in that eventually your dreams will come true."

Sylvester Stallone has recently been busy completing his final shoot on The Expendables 4, is currently working on his reprisal of Starhawk in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and has already said goodbye to the Rocky franchise by not appearing in the new Creed movie. Perhaps Rocky vs. Drago will be his last interaction with the Rocky franchise, but who knows what other surprises Stallone has up his sleeve in future.