On Amazon Prime, you can see part 4 of Sylvester Stallone’s best film series. During filming, the action star almost lost his life.
Sylvester Stallone has risked his health for many films. But clearly for no film as much as for the sports action of Rocky IV – The Fight of the Century, in which, in his own words, he suffered the worst injury of his career and nearly died. And that’s because of an unposed fight.
On Amazon Prime: Action scene in Rocky IV nearly cost Sylvester Stallone his life
Talking to fans, he explained online at Ain’t It Cool :
“The worst injury I had was in Rocky IV. […] The first 20 seconds [of the fight against Soviet boxer Ivan Drago] are real, and after the third replay with blows to the body I felt pain in my heart but ignored it. “
By evening, however, Stallone could barely breathe and had immensely elevated blood pressure. He was immediately flown out to hospital where he was given a shocking diagnosis:
“[Drago actor Dolph Lundgren] had hit me so hard that my heart beat against my sternum and started to swell. […] Without treatment it would have continued to swell until it stopped. “
In Rocky IV, Rocky Balboa (Stallone) faces off against Russian boxer Ivan Drago (Lundgren) after the latter beat his friend Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) to death in the ring. According to Stallone, the clash between the two was meant to express their rage and ferocity and was therefore filmed with real punches.
