‘I had to be flown into intensive care’: When Sylvester Stallone needed urgent medical care during Rocky IV filming

Legendary actor Sylvester Stallone, in The Making of Rocky vs. Drago by Sylvester Stallone, shared a previously untold incident from his time filming Rocky IV, shedding light on a potentially fatal incident that took place while the legendary boxing movie was being made.

A dangerous on-screen encounter between Sylvester Stallone and Dolph Lundgren 

Stallone disclosed in a video titled The Making of Rocky vs. Drago by Sylvester Stallone on his YouTube channel that a pivotal scene involving Dolph Lundgren, who portrayed Rocky’s adversary Ivan Drago, took a wrong turn. The intense filming of the boxing sequence led to a real-life altercation in which Lundgren went off script and inflicted severe injuries on Stallone. This unexpected incident resulted in Stallone requiring urgent medical attention and being flown to an intensive care unit in California from Canada.

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From intensive Care to the director’s chair for Sylvester Stallone

When asked about the incident, Stallone said that he spent four days in the hospital and that he was surrounded by nuns in the intensive care unit. Despite the fact that his wounds were potentially fatal, Stallone’s willpower won, and he was eventually allowed to leave the hospital and return to finish the movie. He was surprised that the punch, which had sent him to the hospital, was absent from the movie’s final edit. He was inspired by the missed opportunity to create a director’s edit of Rocky IV that showed the punch. He said “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.” He also added “I had to be flown into intensive care to California from Canada.”

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Rocky IV, released in 1985, achieved significant box office success, grossing $300 million worldwide. Stallone’s resilience and dedication to his craft are evident in his decision to not only persevere through a life-threatening ordeal but also to revisit the film’s narrative in a new director’s cut. 

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