The 5 Best Sylvester Stallone Movies

A mythical being, at birth Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone, the doctors had to use forceps that accidentally cut a nerve in his head, causing paralysis in part of his face, lips, tongue and chin. For the newborn of Russian and Italian descent, this would be the first challenge in his next high-profile career, one that, upon leaving home, had to start from a 1970 soft-porn film called The Party at Kitty and Stud’sfor which he not only got $200 and the chance to no longer sleep in the bus station, but also the eventful nickname “the italian stallion”, alternative title of that poor film.

The artistic misfortune would continue its course for a few years, as that stallion would be rejected from the casting of “The Godfather” and relegated to small supporting and tertiary roles in film and television. But all that would change when he witnessed the fight between Muhammad Ali and chuck Wepner.

Doing some investigative work and cloistering himself in his house for 3 days, that “failed” actor would change his register and career to that of a screenwriter, offering the story of an outcast who, due to circumstances of fate, is selected to fight for the super heavyweight world title of boxing. Some producers loved those pages, but not the one who wrote them, who insisted on also being the protagonist. After offering him significant amounts of money to get him out of the limelight and offer him the role to names like ryan o’neal either Robert redfordthe stallion did not falter in persisting in his goal of interpreting his own script until he earned 2 Oscar nominations as a screenwriter and actor, immediately earning respect and entering a stardom from which he would never be rejected again.

With an affable personality, the one who would start as a dramatic record actor over the years would become one of the two most recognized action heroes in film history, even serving off-camera as a kind of leader among his guild. (The Expendables movie is no coincidence, as it is known that Sly is close friends with almost everyone involved in that trilogy). Football lover (Everton fan), boxing (he was a boxer, representative and the world hall of fame of the boz counts on his presence), publicity figure, oil painter with several exhibitions and works in circulation and consummate expert reader of the Edgar Allan Poe’s work, this creature of enormous strength and quasi-mythology came to reject leading roles such as those of The Terminator, Superman, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Die Hard, Death Proof, Face Off, Seven, Pulp Fiction and even Scorsese in shutter islands (the role of Mark Ruffalo) Why? Why did he give her the “rechingada” she wants from him.

Did purely action work diminish your dramatic talent? Surely Sly has or ever had in his career any significant dramatic talent? Also. Throughout a career of 5 decades, almost 90 titles as an actor, 30 as a screenwriter and a dozen directed projects between film and television, it is imperative that today we remember the little but substantial testimony of talent of this legend of pop culture.

Happy 77 Stallone! Here are his 5 Best Movies

Bonus – Tango & Cash (Andrei Konchalovsky, 1989)

BY DASTAN

It is one of the last blockbusters of the 80s, it is a film “buddy movie” that was surrounded by several controversies (typical of Warner Bros). It was to be directed by multi-Award winning Russian Andrei Konchalovski at Venice, who was later fired over production issues and Stallone’s ego, then hired Albert Magnoli known for directing Prince music videos. They worked with a great cast: Stallone (Tango), Russell (Cash), Teri Hatcher is Tango’s sister and an acceptable villain played by the great Jack Palance This film proposes a simple story of the good cop and the bad cop who become great friends and join forces to defeat their enemies. An eighties-style movie with lots of explosions and good action moments, like the jail sequence. Stallone needed to get out of those ignorant and violent heroes who were pigeonholing him like Rocky and Rambo, and with Tango he showed another side to his performance, a more dynamic character.

5 – First Blood (Kotcheff, 1982)

BY THE FETT

Rambo was Stallone’s official entry into action movies, and while it wasn’t intended as a political critique or even an anti-war tale at the time given the mistreatment of Vietnam veterans, this mentally broken soldier’s revenge allowed the still young actor to create a link between that dramatic register of the 70s and the roles to come, allowing a portrait of post-traumatic stress that was quite fresh for the time. The sequels to come would be a circus of effects and like all the actor’s “saga” projects, self-taught films to preserve his media figure, but at least in that 1982, Stallone conceived in the most balanced role between these poles of drama and comedy. action.

4 – Nighthawks (Malmuth, 1981)

BY THE FETT

First example of Stallone’s hidden talent at the service of a fairly well written criminal thriller, but above all with an excellent rhythm. Despite the fact that said subrogation occurred when he was placed between Rocky and Rambo, much of Sly’s good histrionic strain is due to the already worked background of a leading man who had to be “renamed” when in fact this script was intended for “Popeye”. ” by Gene Hackman in the third part of The French Connection. The change could not have been better, because at the sacrifice of the promotion, the detective story, although conventional, turned out to be most entertaining, thanks in large part to the chemistry and performances of Sly, Billy Dee Williams and Rutger Hauer’s villain.

3 – Creed I & II (Coogler and Caple Jr, 2015 and 2018)

BY THE FETT

Although the first one was pretentious and melodramatic, Stallone as a secondary “Rocky” contributed a relevant histrionic weight that had not been repeated since the ill-fated but still correctly acted second part. This obviously together with the nostalgic value gave him some awards including the Golden Globe. Now for the second part, even when it chooses again to repeat the 1976 formula, it may accidentally be the best sequel to the Rocky saga thanks to its dramatic tension and excellent direction of fights, a scene once again taken advantage of by the small but solvent appearance of Stallone to complete the circle and give that cherry on the cake. The best Rocky since the 70s.

2 – Cop Land (Mangold, 1997)

BY THE FETT

Here is the clearest testimony that when Stallone sets his mind to it, he could become such a good actor, almost on par with the success of his Tecate commercials. Gaining 40 pounds for the role and surrounded by Keitel, De Niro and Liotta, Stallone stars and beats his co-stars as he flips from his action hero streak to become a mediocre police chief prosecuting a psychological so complex that it makes him a being as pitiful as he is empathetic. Great performance that at times is even sabotaged by a still “practicing” Mangold, Cop Land is one of those hidden curiosities that will be a conventional delicacy for lovers of thrillers and westerns. He would win the award for best actor in Stockholm

1 – Rocky I & II (F. Avildsen and Stallone, 1976 and 1979)

BY THE FETT

I don’t think there is any doubt about the meaning of “Rocky” for cinema, culture and American society, the perfect archetype of the victorious immigrant within the “American way of life”, an imperfect pariah oppressed by the mafia that he finds in the sports the ideal vehicle to enjoy the privileges of the new world. Stallone’s script is simple, romantic, real and identifiable as it is a faithful portrayal of his problems, his acting being the perfect adherence, the music a great ingredient and Avildsen’s direction the perfect complement to create various sequences that have become part of pop culture, along with a most emotional and cathartic climax. The second part would be a clumsy repetition, but Stallone would at least keep the acting record of the first of him, and prior to the circus that would break out from the third part of him.

Tags: Cop LandCreedFirst BloodNighthawksRAMBORockysylvester stalloneTango & Cash