Critics Club II: 07 - Sylvester Stallone

[Neon Ignition]

"Yo' Paulie! Let's do this!"
"What? You're thread hasn't peaked yet?!"

Sylvester Stallone



After the indifference our first female led instalment received (!) we bounce into the mid-week entry and after the fun everyone's had with Arnie how could we leave it long to turn attention to the Italian Stallion?

Vote for the movie you feel is their best whilst also discussing their other work, your reasons for voting and thoughts on what is their weakest.

Some will have very long lists so some trimming will be required to focus on the key entries but broadly the main selection will be available each time.

[Asura]

Gotta be Rocky. It's just the definitive work. It practically founded an entire genre of movies on the back of a small budget, written by and starring a nobody.

And yet it's still a fantastic movie. It really holds up.

[Dogg Thang]

Lots of great movies here but, yeah, I totally agree with Asura. It has to be Rocky. I rewatched it pretty recently and it is a fantastic movie with a fantastic performance. There is a lot to learn about filmmaking from Rocky. It's a classic for good reason.

[teddymeow]

Escape To Victory.

No question.

[Neon Ignition]

There's quite a fair few I like on there but the key draw was the best three Rocky films (1, 2 and Balboa). I kind of prefer Rocky II over the first but they're damned close and Rocky 1 is more of an achievement so I ended up going for that one.

[QualityChimp]

Stallone is so over-parodied, it's hard to extract the real actor, sometimes.

I absolutely love Rocky IV. It's such a cheeseball film, but I remember watching it as a kid with my sister and us both cheering at the telly. Even now, loads of the great lines stick in my head - "If he dies: He dies."

However, the first film is a real achievement that broke a lot of Hollywood rules with a young, American Italian Director making his first feature film and starring in it. Don't forget he doesn't win the first time either, which is also unusual.

I'm voting with First Blood though, which is the opposite to Rambo.
In the first film, John Rambo has one confirmed kill (falling from a helicopter he throws a rock at), and it's a genuine exploration of a ex-soldier driven to the edge after being a soldier in Vietnam. "Don't push me!" has become redundant from overuse, like "I'll be back", but likewise, in the original context it is a lot more powerful.
There's plenty of action and thrills to back up the exploration of a broken man's emotions.

By Rambo (IV) he's killing hundreds of people in ridiculously gory ways.
It's funny that the series have morphed into the type of film that the first was accused of but wasn't.

For comedy value, here's the Rambo films kill count:
See if you can guess how many deaths are in each film...
First Blood:

->Open Spoiler<-

1

Rambo: First Blood Part II:

->Open Spoiler<-

75

Rambo III:

->Open Spoiler<-

115

Rambo IV:

->Open Spoiler<-

254

[Dogg Thang]

However, the first film is a real achievement that broke a lot of Hollywood rules with a young, American Italian Director making his first feature film and starring in it. Don't forget he doesn't win the first time either, which is also unusual.

Yep. And it's also a masterclass in movie structure. The beats are so perfectly defined and yet all driven by the character and a natural sense of storytelling so it doesn't feel formulaic. I can guarantee a massive amount of screenwriters have either broken down that movie and follow it beat for beat or follow a template from someone who did but they can't all get the heart that Rocky has. It's a film that has authenticity at its core.

Which is funny then that it led to the likes of Rocky 4 which, though so much fun is pretty much the polar opposite when it comes to authenticity.

[QualityChimp]

The score is also amazing and people will forever find an extra burst of energy in the gym when "Gonna Fly Now" comes on their exercise tracklist!

Although, "Eye of the Tiger" is also ace, but that's in Rocky III.

[Atticus]

Another vote for Rocky here. It's a great film with a lot of heart ... and the beginning of a bit of a rites-of-passage series for my generation.

I'd forgotten about Paradise Alley. It's no Citizen Kane but I had a soft spot for that when I was a lad

[MartyG]

Three Seashells.

[Cassius_Smoke]

Obviously the Rocky films but I do have a soft spot for Demolition Man.

[Neon Ignition]

Rambo IV is so OTT in its violence but by god I love it.

[Dogg Thang]

I still haven't seen it. But then I still haven't seen Rambo 3 either and I barely remember the other two.

[QualityChimp]

I mainly remember Rambo III from the Mega Drive game.



Also, the part where he caught a bullet in his teeth, chewed it up and spat the shrapnel back like a machine gun:

[monel]

DT if you like old action films you should really watch Rambo 3 and 4. Rambo 3 has him apparently helping the Mujahideen in Afghanistan defeat the Russians and even has Omar Shariff in a cameo I think. It even has a thank you or dedication to the brave Afghans at the end. Then Rambo 4 has him going totally kill count crazy like that bit in Hot Shots 2 where Charlie Sheen is mowing down bad guys and a counter on screen lists other films' kill counts as he tops them all. I've only seen both films once but I remember that stuff.

Stallone's best film has to be Rocky but I enjoy part 3 the most probably because of the age I watched it plus the soundtrack and I love the way it ends with him and Creed in the ring and it turning into that painting. Part 4 is very enjoyable too.

I haven't seen Balboa yet. Also I've not seen it but there's a work print of Rocky 5 with big differences from the released version and it's supposed to be a lot better.