“Rocky IV” by Sylvester Stallone is a remarkable film. Released in theater two years after the classic of the Cold War of Nicholas Meyer in Nicholas Meyer, “The Day After” was broadcast on ABC, he gave the moviegoers hoping that enmity between the United States and the Soviet Union could be resolved by two big legs that strike the crate of each other in a box of boxing. It was a lost conclusion that Philadelphia Paloka from Stallone would go out in the lead, but with glasnost Unexpectedly on the world menu thanks to the newly elected secretary general Mikhail Gorbachev, that looked like a just victory. And here, in six years, the murderous dream of “Rocky IV” would be realized, and the Soviet Union would be divided into democratic republics. It was fun while it lasted.
“Rocky IV” was a film shot forward in another way. Domestic computers increasing, everyone thought it was just a matter of time before each house made a cleaning lady. Rosie de “The Jetsons” seemed to become a reality. Thus, when Rocky Balboa gave his payabout, a depressed brother-in-law in a depressed manner Paulie (Burt Young) a robot for his birthday at the beginning of “Rocky IV”, we thought that the future had arrived. Soon, we could all allow ourselves to give our loved ones and unwanted depressing a robot companion.
Alas, “Rocky IV” dreamed too big. We now have robots that clean our floors and panic our cats, but it is about as far as possible. In the defense of Stallone, however, he did not try to make our hopes heard. When he wrote the robot in “Rocky IV”, he did not think of revolutionizing our way of life; He sought to make the world more accessible to his autistic son, Seargeoh.
Paulie’s robot was a benevolent creation that is too pure for this world
In a 2014 interview with Trivia HappyThe founder of international robotics, Robert Doornick, revealed that Stallone was interested in the robot named Sico when he saw a television story about the way she interacts with autistic children. According to Doornick, “we received a call from the Stallone family. They were very interested in the way the robot could work with his son. One thing led to another and Stallone is completely exhausted with Sico, this particular character.”
It’s adorable. If I had known 40 years ago, I would probably not have spent the next 40 years of my life to make fun of the Paulie robot. Unfortunately, because it was not a public notoriety, the robot became such a punchline with the fans that Stallone completely excised it from “Rocky IV” when he counted the film as “Rocky IV: Rocky vs. Drago” in 2021. “The robot goes to The Junkyard Forever”, he said at the time. “More robot.”
Doornick did not take the disappearance of Sico too strong. Indeed, he had an alternative theory to explain why Stallone removed the robot. As he said in 2020::
“I was in my office when I discovered. I was flooded with messages:” How can Stallone do this? “But I know why he does it because I know he likes the robot.
The good news is that the version of “Rocky IV” which is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video is the 87 -minute version which is published theatrically in 1985. Sico still lives. Hopefully Stallone finally gave in and reintegrates the robot into the film which, for a brief period, helped in the fall of authoritarianism in Eastern Europe.
