Sylvester Stallone made his cinematic breakthrough with the first installment of the Rocky franchise helping the actor to gain international fame. Despite his hard work in preparing for Rocky Balboa, it was never easy for the actor.
Stallone candidly revealed the prowess of his co-star Dolph Lundgren and the immense power in his punch that showed the Rocky lead star a door to a hospital. And his injuries looked like a crushed car beyond repair.
Dolph Lundgren’s Hardcore Punch To Sylvester Stallone
Netflix’s 2023 documentary, Sly, based on the legendary action God Sylvester Stallone transformed the fans into the depth of the life of the Oscar-nominated actor, writer, director, and producer. In the documentary, the actor revealed many details of his movies as well which include 6 feet 5 inch Dolph Lundgren’s hard hit that put him in a hospital bed.“Dolph Lundgren… he pulverized me,” Stallone candidly revealed in the documentary (via Deadline).
“Later that night, my heart started to swell—which happens when the heart hits the chest—and then my blood pressure went up to 260, and they thought I was going to be talking to angels. Next thing I know, I’m in intensive care, where I’m surrounded by nuns, and I thought, ‘OK, that’s curtains.’”
The Rocky star had to spend nine days in the hospital and his condition was severe as the doctors could relate it to a devastating car crash. “I did hit a bus, of sorts,” Stallone joked later. Fortunately, the doctors cleared him as he recovered.
Dolph Lundgren On Hitting Sylvester Stallone
Lundgren played Ivan Drago in Rocky IV and he had to fight Stallone’s character. After the incident that kept Stallone for nine days in the intensive care unit, many blamed Lundgren for the hard blow. Now, the Swedish actor has an explanation. “All I did was obey orders,” Lundgren told Men’s Health.
“In 1985, there’s no CGI. Everything has to happen on screen, in-camera. So we both got hit, especially to the body. We shot for two weeks—that last fight—in Vancouver. And then I come back to LA, and the producer calls me and says, ‘Hey Dolph, you got a couple weeks off.’ I go, ‘Great. What’s going on?’ [He says,] ‘Oh, Sly’s in the hospital.’ Then I heard they blamed me for it.”
The actor candidly admitted that he thought “it was like an insurance scam or something. I mean, I did hit him. … And in those days, I was in pretty good shape.” But despite all the quirk, the movie hit well at the box office. Made with $28 million, Rocky IV earned a whopping $300.4 million worldwide.
Rocky IV is available to stream on Max.
