Nah. RvD. Is terrible. Or that is to say, it is every bit as terrible as Rock IV. The problem is all the "fixes" really don't actually fix anything. They just replace old bad with new bad. The changes do, however, come across as self-indulgent and sentimental but completely miss the point of why the original became a generational icon. Rocky IV was very much a "right place, right time" film. It was the perfect panacea for a nation stumbling out of its post-Lake Placid hangover. The sheer mid-80s cringe of it is like the whole point. It's not unlike Pink Floyd's recent attempt to 'de-80s' Momentary Lapse of Reason. Sure, it may sound more sonically universal, but they completely sucked the heart and soul out of it.
And I have no idea how such a thing would work with Nemesis. Of course, we have no idea just how much footage is available, just what has been released as extras. And I've never been much impressed with what's there -- including the Data/Picard scene people seem to always rave about. So I don't know if there's enough 'good' material to warrant a traditional director's cut.
Because here's the thing: As much blame as people like to throw at Baird, he was never really the problem. The core issue with the film is that Berman decided to hire the biggest hanger-on hack of the early aughts to write the thing. The script is, in a word, awful. Easily the worst of the ten original films. (Remember, Insurrection's original script was actually quite good. As was TFF's.) The film is actually competently directed. * Now obviously Baird didn't want to be there, and it caused a lot of on-set issues. But I don't think they ultimately affected the end-product one way or the other.
*How's this for controversial opinions: Baird's direction of Nemesis is more competent and polished than anything Frakes has done for the franchise (Or ever, really.)
