Ivan Drago
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| Иван Драго Ivan Drago |
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| Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Real name | Ivan Drago |
| Nickname(s) | The Siberian Express, The Siberian Bull |
| Rated at | Heavyweight |
| Nationality | Soviet |
| Birth date | |
| Birth place | |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | Amateur – 100
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| Wins | Amateur – 100
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| Wins by KO | {{{KO}}} |
| Losses | Amateur – 0
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| Draws | Amateur – 0
|
Ivan Drago (Russian: Иван Драго;) is a fictional character in the film Rocky IV (1985). He is portrayed by Dolph Lundgren.
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[edit] Fictional Character Biography
Ivan Drago is characterized as a tall (6' 5" or 196 cm) and powerful amateur boxing champion from Russia, as well as a former Olympic gold medalist. He is also a Captain in the Red Army and as seen on his chest, is a recipient of the Hero of the Soviet Union award. He is billed at 261 pounds (118 kg, over 18 ½ stone). Drago's reputation is that of a superman; he wields a super punch from 1850 to 2150 psi whereas the average psi for a boxer is 800psi-1,000psi. Drago is carefully fitted and trained to be the consummate fighter, with his heart rate and punching power constantly measured via computers during his workouts. Drago is seen receiving injections throughout the movie (presumably anabolic steroids, though this is never explicitly stated; Lundgren would state during an episode of VH1's I Love the '80s that Drago was "definitely a juicer").
Drago is married to another athlete, Ludmilla Volvidrago (Brigitte Nielsen) who is mentioned to be a gold medalist in swimming. She is much more social than Ivan and always speaks on his behalf at press conferences and interviews.
Despite being mentioned as Russian, the fact that his name does not exist in Russia and the way the announcer mentions his name in Moscow (as Draga) indicates that he may actually be Belorussian, as Belorussian names are translated Russian with the A at the end to an O (for example: Alexander Lukashenka to Lukashenko in Russian).
[edit] Personality
Unlike Apollo Creed and the brash Clubber Lang (Mr. T), Rocky's opponents in previous movies, Ivan Drago is characterized as a soft-spoken man unconcerned with self-promotion but rather with the honor of victory and most likely his country. Drago generally allows his wife, trainers and promoters to talk on his behalf to the press. The character only speaks six times throughout the film, all terse, short statements.
He only speaks English four times in the movie:
- [To Apollo], "You will Lose"
- [during victory speech], "I defeat all man" (cut) "I have defeated real Champion" (cut) "If he dies, he dies"
- [To Rocky], "I must break you"
- [To Rocky], "To the end"
And Russian twice:
- [To his trainer in Russian], "Он не является Человеческим, Он походит на часть стали" "He is not human [Rocky], he is like a piece of iron"
- [To his Informant and the Russian Crowds], "Я Борюсь, чтобы победить! Я Борюсь за меня! Для меня!", "I fight to win! I fight for me! For Me!"
[edit] Role in Rocky IV
Drago's trainers, Sergei Igor Rimsky (George Rogan) and Manuel Vega (James "Cannoball" Green), along with his wife Ludmilla (Brigitte Nielsen), are convinced that he can defeat any boxer. Former champion Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), now 42 years old, comes out of retirement to challenge Drago to an exhibition match, promoted by Creed's former rival Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone). Creed arrives to the ring wearing his signature Stars & Stripes boxing garb to "Living in America," sung by James Brown, upon a huge stage that is lowered into the ring. Before the match begins, Drago ominously mutters, "You will lose."
During the fight, Creed is no match for the Russian fighter. In Creed's corner, Rocky contemplates whether to throw in the towel and surrender the fight (against Creed's earlier instructions), but instead he decides to hold onto the towel. Defenseless, Creed continues to absorb blows to the head until he is finally killed. Drago exhibits no remorse about what happens to Creed, simply stating in an interview after the fight that "if he dies, he dies."
To avenge Creed's death, Balboa travels to the Soviet Union to fight Drago on his home turf in Moscow. The fight eventually becomes a long, drawn-out war between Balboa and Drago, and to everyone's shock, Rocky manages to severely damage Drago, and the crowd began to cheer for Rocky, whereas at the start of the fight, they were booing him. Drago's promoter - a Soviet official- insults him, claiming that by allowing an American to fight so admirably on Russian soil, Drago is disgracing the Soviet Union. The enraged Drago grabs him by the throat, throws him out of the ring and proclaims he only fights for himself. In the end, Drago is knocked out by Balboa in the fifteenth and final round. After Rocky delivers a speech to the crowd, Drago, his trainers and his wife leave in humiliation.
[edit] In popular culture
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Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (October 2007) |
- Real-life Ukrainian boxing brothers Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko were both nicknamed Ivan Drago due to their Eastern European roots.
- In the Family Guy episode "Brian Goes Back to College", Brian is training in the arctic weather and shouts, "Drago!" This is a reference to the scene in Rocky IV when Rocky climbs a mountain and shouts out Drago's name. The episode also includes the song "Hearts on Fire", from the Rocky IV soundtrack, in the background.
- In the "Stanny Slickers II: The Legend of Ollie's Gold" episode of American Dad!, Stan sings a song about Ollie North and you see Uncle Sam and Ivan Drago from Rocky IV. They represent their respective countries as well.
- In the movie Disaster Movie, before a Juno-type character fights another person, the former says, "I must break you."
- On WWE ECW, wrestler Vladimir Kozlov has been compared to Ivan Drago (both characters are portrayed as powerful, competitive Russians).
- The name of Michigan heavy metal band, If He Dies He Dies was inspired by Drago's famous lines in Rocky IV.[1]
[edit] References
- ^ If He Dies He Dies-Friction Records, http://www.frictionrecords.net/mainmenu/frames.html, retrieved on 15 Jan 2009
| Preceded by James "Clubber" Lang |
Rocky Balboa's Main Opponent | Succeeded by Tommy Gunn |
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