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 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 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 ing 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 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 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 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 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 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.
