Sylvester Stallone is one of the hardest-working stars in Hollywood. He doesn’t just act; he writes, he directs, he produces – he does it all. And although his ‘80s action movies aren’t all timeless classics, he does take a lot of pride in his work. Remember this is the man behind Rocky Balboa and John Rambo – two of cinema’s most recognizable icons – and he became the third person in Oscar history to be nominated for both writing and acting in a movie after Charlie Chaplin and Orson Welles. Stallone is an incredible talent, but the critics don’t always agree.
Rocky II (73%)
It’s tough to make sequels work, especially sequels to critically acclaimed movies that were showered with Oscars and inspired countless imitators. And so was the challenge faced by Sylvester Stallone when his producers asked for Rocky II. The first of what would become many sequels isn’t necessarily considered to be the best by the fan base – Rocky getting trained by his old rival Apollo in the third one and avenging him in the fourth one are more popular for their ‘80s-ishness – but from a technical standpoint, it might be the most well-crafted. It continues the love story shared by Rocky and Adrian, keeping the focus on their romance and off the boxing for the second and last time in the series, while the rematch with Apollo is a great fight.
TIE: Nighthawks (74%)
Nighthawks was initially developed as a third movie in The French Connection series, with Gene Hackman’s “Popeye” Doyle teaming up with a wisecracking detective the producers intended to be played by Richard Pryor. However, after Hackman decided he didn’t want to play Popeye again, another studio picked up the script, Popeye’s role in the plot was renamed Deke DaSilva, and Sylvester Stallone was cast to play him. Billy Dee Williams came in as the sidekick and Rutger Hauer was cast as the villain. For a retooled threequel, Nighthawks is a masterfully crafted thriller. It’s not perfect, sure, but it’s a slick action movie.
TIE: Cop Land (74%)
Moviegoers were shocked to see Sylvester Stallone’s weight gain in James Mangold’s modern-day film noir Cop Land. After spending a decade as an oiled-up, muscle-bound action man, he suddenly gave audiences an uncharacteristically dramatic turn as a pudgy, small-town police officer.
Surrounding by a supporting cast of such gangster movie greats as Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, and Ray Liotta, Stallone anchored a complex crime story in a way that remained edge-of-your-seat engaging, even in the unwieldly story development scenes. His performance was surprisingly subtle and understated, dropping his usual persona in favor of playing a more nuanced, three-dimensional character.
Rocky Balboa (77%)
Sylvester Stallone did a reboot way before it was cool to do reboots. Years before we would check back in with older versions of Luke Skywalker, Indiana Jones, and Spock, Stallone played an older version of Rocky Balboa. The movie sees Rocky come out of retirement for one last fight, taking on the current heavyweight champion. It’s thematically strong, with solemn musings on aging, and it took the franchise back to its dramatic roots as Stallone felt the need to give fans a definitive conclusion to the Rocky saga after being “negligent” during the production of Rocky V and disappointing fans.
Death Race 2000 (83%)
This movie was actually remade in 2008 with Jason Statham in the lead role (although the “2000” was dropped from the title, because it wasn’t the distant future anymore), but the original, as usual, was far better. Sylvester Stallone isn’t the film’s true star – that distinction goes to David Carradine – but Stallone is third-billed, so he’s still one of the main players, and this was before Rocky. Death Race 2000, a dystopian future-set story about a murderous racing event, was produced by Roger Corman, the king of the low-budget B-movie. If you view it as little more than action-packed spectacle, then you won’t be disappointed.
Creed II (84%)
The sequel to Creed was much better than it had any right to be. The premise of Apollo Creed’s son taking on Ivan Drago’s son seemed like a step too far for many Rocky fans in the lead up to the movie’s release. However, the execution saves it. It has the same established plot formula as before, but it also has the same emotion and character development. Ryan Coogler, the director of the first Creed film who dropped out of the sequel to helm Black Panther, is one of the greatest filmmaking voices around today, so he had some pretty big boots to fill, but his replacement Steven Caple, Jr. did a fine job with the movie.
First Blood (88%)
First Blood was the breathtaking urban thriller that introduced audiences to John Rambo, whose story Sylvester Stallone will be concluding later this year with the aptly titled Last Blood. Stallone said recently that he never meant to make First Blood a political movie, but either way, it’s a powerful critique of America’s treatment of its veterans.
While Rambo would later become a rippling, shirtless killing machine with a bullet belt slung over his shoulder and a minigun in his hand, First Blood introduced him simply as a veteran with PTSD. He returned from Vietnam to find that all of his war buddies were dead – some from cancer, commenting on Agent Orange – and the police wanted to sweep him under the rug.
TIE: Antz (93%)
Considering it was the product of a feud between Disney and Jeffrey Katzenberg, Antz – the first movie out of DreamWorks Animation, the studio that would eventually give us Shrek – turned out incredibly well. The main issue is that it appeals to adults more than kids. Ever since Robin Williams turned Aladdin into a hit, big stars have been cast in animated movies to attract wider audiences. But the problem with Antz is that it stars Woody Allen, who even then didn’t appeal to kids. And not only that, Allen rewrote the script to suit his comedic persona, so it’s basically a Woody Allen movie with animated ants as the lead characters.
TIE: Rocky (93%)
It’s a telling sign of a movie’s success when its plot has become a blueprint for every subsequent film in the genre. Now, underdog leading characters and training montages and love stories and inspirational music and climactic fights where the hero might not actually win are staples of the boxing movie genre. Rocky was a phenomenal success when it was first released in 1976, grossing over $225 million globally on a budget of just around $1 million, and Stallone was nominated for two Oscars (one for writing the screenplay and one for starring as the title character) – few movies get to be a hit at the box office and a hit at the awards shows.
Creed (95%)
Sylvester Stallone received his first Academy Award nomination since his big break with the first Rocky movie 40 years earlier for his turn as an older, grieving Balboa in Creed, although he controversially lost to Mark Rylance. This is really Michael B. Jordan’s movie, as he undergoes the well-worn Rocky formula in the role of Adonis Creed – the long-lost illegitimate son of Rocky’s fallen rival-turned-mentor Apollo – in a way that feels fresh and modern, while also being just as inspiring. Ryan Coogler’s typically brilliant direction helps to sell the story and keep it visually interesting, too. But Stallone’s contributions shouldn’t be discounted either.