Sylvester Stallone: All Films Considered

A rocky career for the Italian Stallion

For more than 30 years, Sylvester Stallone has been a Hollywood icon. Arriving as a star in 1976 with his breakout performance in Rocky, Stallone showed audiences that he could be tough, tender and believable as an underdog who makes his grab for greatness. Stallone was also responsible for writing the script to Rocky, showing Hollywood that he was a creative force, interested in telling stories both in front of and behind the camera.

Stallone's career continued to skyrocket though the ‘70s and early ‘80s with Rocky 2 and 3, Nighthawks, and most notably First Blood, the first in the successful Rambo franchise. But, while at his peak, Stallone tried to branch out from action adventure films by co-writing and directing the critical disaster Staying Alive, the unnecessary sequel to Saturday Night Fever. It was one of several mistakes in a career that has had many peaks and valleys.

While 1985 gave Stallone two big hits with Rambo First Blood Part 2 and Rocky IV, the rest of the ‘80s were a string of mostly forgettable generic movies. With commercial flops like Over the Top and critically dismissed (although commercially successful) movies like Cobra and Lock Up, Sly lost most of the acclaim Rocky and First Blood had given him.

After a brief comeback with Cliffhanger and Demolition Man, Stallone stumbled again with the box office failures Judge Dredd and Daylight. He regained some critical respect with Cop Land, but the movie was not a hit with audiences. Stallone closed out the ‘90s by winning the Razzie award for Worst Actor of the Century for "95% of everything he's ever done."

From 2000 through 2005, Stallone did little to change his career status with a series of unimpressive flops like Driven, Get Carter and D-Tox. Finally, in 2006, Stallone returned to the character that made him star and reminded everyone just how good he could be. Rocky Balboa (written and directed by Stallone) was a solid hit with critics and audiences.

And now Stallone is back in front of and behind the camera with The Expendables. Featuring an all star cast of badasses from the past (Dolph Lundgren) as well as some new blood (Jason Statham), The Expendables looks like a throwback to the fun action movies of the ‘80s. In many ways Stallone is still the underdog he first brought to life in the Rocky films all those years ago. We'll see Friday if he can win again.