Music That Matters: Top 50 Movie Symphonies (#34 War by Vince Dicola)

At #34 is the second and final song from Vince DiCola from Rocky IV. I've already provided background material on him for his last entry "Training Montage", so I can just focus on the song this time. It's the epic tune heard throughout the grudge match between Rocky Balboa and Ivan Drago at the climatic ending of Rocky IV. Drago is simply murdering Rocky throughout the opening rounds of the fight. But in true Balboa style, Rocky takes a beating and keeps on going. As he makes a comeback for the ages, boom! the song "War" begins to play. As the two behemoths beat the crap out of each other with limited interruption from the refs, this magnificent song plays. Round after round, blow by blow, and the song really makes you feel the drama going on between the boxers. Rocky is able to sway the crowd to his side and earn the praise of Gorbachev which guides him toward defeating Drago. In doing so, Rocky has avenged Apollo's death even if it would cause major brain damage. Rocky not only has won an awesome fight, but is also semi-responsible for ending the Cold War. "Because if he can change, and you can change, then we can all change!" Guess that's true because come Rocky V, his kid has totally changed from an eight year old to a high schooler in one day's time. As the movie ends, DiCola pays homage to Bill Conti's original score with a few notes from Go The Distance at the end of "War". If you happen to own the tune, you might notice that it sounds a little different than what was actually in the movie. Listen to both below if you don't remember! Surprisingly, Dicola was awarded the Razzie award in 1986 for his Rocky IV score. That's just wrong, even if it couldn't compare to a Bill Conti symphony! DiCola would go on to score one more film after Rocky IV. That movie was Transformers: The Movie which happened to made him a saint in the eyes of Transformer aficionados worldwide. He now attends Transformer conventions to appease his loyal fans on an annual basis. No matter how his career turned out, Vince DiCola gave us not only an epic tune but also an outstanding track to work out to.

Ladies and gentlemen... #34 War by Vince DiCola

Album Version!!


Movie Version!!! (More powerful version with more guitars and drums!)