Sylvester Stallone’s 18 best (and 5 worst) movies
For every Rocky and Rambo there's a Rhinestone, so as Expend4bles arrives, we're passing judgment on Sly's biggest hits and misses
Film Features Sylvester Stallone
Whether it’s the slurred, street-toughened voice that seems lifted from the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood where he was born, the monosyllabic heroes who cemented his iconic status, or the embarrassing career lows, Sylvester Stallone has always been underappreciated. Or, more accurately, after writing, directing, and starring in films for almost 50 years, maybe we just take him for granted. Through half a century of cinematic trends, movements, and upheavals, he’s always been here, like Rocky, taking hits and getting up off the canvas.
And even if he’s played the same two characters in 13 of his films, the phases of Stallone’s career remain disparate and many; he’s been an Oscar nominated phenom, a stand-in for American aggression, a serious filmmaker, a (failed) movie comedian, a punchline, a near-parodic action hero, and, hopefully soon, an unacknowledged legend who deserves a late career reassessment. Indeed, this November he’ll receive about as meaningful a career recognition as a star is likely to get nowadays; he’s the subject of a Netflix documentary titled Sly. Until then, you can see him in Expend4bles, which opens Friday. So in honor of Stallone, we’ve ranked his 18 best and five worst films.
122 Comments
I immediately clicked on the slide list to see which side of the Oscar debate you fell on. Sadly for you, it’s the WRONG side.Oscar is hilarious and Sly is hilarious in it. Before I saw it, I never in my wildest dreams would have thought that he had an The Importance of Being Ernest-style comedy in him. Him being a try-hard just makes it that much funnier. It’s a good, funny movie and I think you need to sit in the corner and think about just how and why you got this so wrong so you can avoid such errors in future Herb-mandated listicles.
Thank you for validating my feelings on this. I only ever saw it once, in the theater (so 32 years ago), when I was a young teenager. I’ve never heard this movie mentioned by anyone else, EVER. I sometimes wonder if I imagined the whole thing, like a fever dream. I occasionally think about it and wonder if there’s anywhere I can stream it.Now granted, I was a kid so I didn’t have an appreciation for the nuances of an actor’s performance, and I didn’t have much understanding of what parts of a script, acting, or directing make a movie great (I probably still don’t). Hell, a few years later I really liked Cable Guy, so clearly I can’t count on my own taste.And maybe Stallone’s acting sucked. I just don’t know and I can’t re-watch it right now to find out. But I really liked the movie. It was complicated and fast-paced and funny. And if it ever shows up on Netflix or Hulu or Prime, I hope I can get around to watching it again.
Yes! The pacing was great. I think I was 20 or 21 when it came out, and already had a love of mistaken identity / missing information absurdist comedy, so I thought it was a delight. Even if you didn’t like Stallone, Marissa Tomei is note-perfect as the bratty daughter and Tim Curry as the dialect coach is also brilliant.
If your public library uses Hoopla, you can watch it there, otherwise it looks like you’d have to rent it.https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/oscar
I will not stand for this Cable Guy bashing!
I probably need to give it another shot. I thought it was hillarious when it came out, watched it like 3 times in the theater, and more on VHS. Then a few years later as a young married adult I tried to watch it with my wife and didn’t finish it. I felt compelled to apologize to her for ever liking it.Now that I’m older and wiser though, maybe it really was good and deserves another look!
Nothing wrong with liking Cable Guy; it’s definitely way better than Liar, Liar, Carey’s next movie which everybody stupidly liked so much more.
I thought they even got in some good historical jokes:
Yeah, I was surprised as well to see this on the “worst” side of the list. I remember almost nothing about the film, other than that I quite enjoyed it and found it funny.
Yep, saw the article title, ran in here to see if I needed to defend Oscar, and am delighted to see I’m not alone.You have my sword.I mean, even if you think Stallone isn’t good in it, Curry, Tomei, Palmintieri, Riegert and the rest are more than picking up the slack.
It truly does my heart good to know there are plenty of other people who know that this movie is good and funny.
Love Oscar. Love it
They also are wrong about Over-the-Top. It’s the greatest trucker custody battle arm wrestling movie ever made
Yeah, I just assumed everyone would roast them for that one. I thought I would have to defend Oscar’s honor alone, but people showed up!
Saw it in the theater and couldn’t convince anyone that it was hysterical
DOCTOR POOLE!
holy crap, I had totally forgotten about Oscar. another movie that i probably watched about 75 times thanks to HBO.i’m glad other people liked it.
Came here to say the same. Like… everyone in this plays it like it’s a farce, not like they’re being serious in a farce. Was the best actor to cast in the lead? Perhaps not. But he felt right, and (I’d argue) he’s more meant to be the straight man to all the shenanigans going on around him. And I feel like, in a way, the perfect person to play a mobster trying to (farcically) go straight is a traditionally-known-for-action-roles actor trying to go in a new direction.
Right? Sure, Stallone has never managed to do it again, but in “Oscar” his performance, delivery, and comedy timing is perfect! “Finuccis!” will never fail to crack me up!
I laughed just reading it because I can hear his exasperated delivery!
I, too, came to praise Oscar. It’s not perfect, but it certainly has its charms.
I get that these things are subjective, but I wish they were AI-generated, because the clumsy writing and bad placement in certain cases make me wish a human being couldn’t possibly be this wrong.
Over The Top is a cinematic masterpiece!!!!
Its a perfect 80’s movie in just about every quantifiable way. That’s not to say it is a good movie, but it was executed flawlessly. From its name, to the subject matter, to the character profiles and backstories, and the ridiculous dialogue–perfection.
Don’t forget the song!
Where is Judge Dredd?
Judge Dredd at least has GREAT production design. Do I excuse that one only for the production design? Yes I do.
What really sucks about that movie is the first fifteen minutes are a legitimately great Judge Dredd adaptation.And then the rest of the movie happens.
And then Rob Schneider shows up 🙂
There are a lot of individual parts of the movie that are interesting (and subversive in that Max Von Sydow’s good elder judge is like “Maybe putting way more cops on the street ISN’T how you deal with crime”) but man does it not come together.
I can’t let a mention of Cliffhanger go by without mentioning poor Ralph Waite, trying desperately to give a look of horror and grief when Sara falls to her death in the opening scene, but only looking for all the world like he’s laughing his ass off.
LOL I never noticed that! Hilarious.
That’s not how you convey terror? A lot of things in my life have now come into focus.
That is great. Never noticed. I just watched the movie again for the first time in probably 20 years. Now I want to watch it again.
Sorry, missing the greatest moment in cinematic history, ending the Cold War once and for all…
It’s literally a third montage, maybe it got dinged some points for that.
NEEDS MORE MONTAGES!!!
The montages are the best part tho
Where is Rocky IV? Look, I know it’s not objectively remotely as good as Rocky, but taken on its own merits, it’s the US perspective on the Cold War in just 90 minutes, and an extremely important 80s cultural artefact.
It also inspired a fantastic “sports” piece in the Guardian in 2014, where most people below the line got the joke and ran with it.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/that-1980s-sports-blog/2014/jan/16/remembering-rocky-balboa-defied-critics-defeat-ivan-drago
I was wondering the same thing. I haven’t seen every movie on the list, but Rocky IV is definitely better and way more memorable than Cobra. All I remember from Cobra is “crime is a disease and I’m the cure” and the crazy cult villains banging axes together.
And literally the only thing I remember about Cobra is about how it started out as Beverly Hills Cop and then Sly took all of the fun out of it.
The only thing I remember from Cobra is Sly cutting frozen pizza with scissors.
So you’ve actually forgotten the iconic scene of him cutting and eating cold pizza with a pair of scissors?
…
Really?
Rocky IV is certainly better than Rocky III, let alone Cobra and Tango and Fucking Cash.
It may be cheesy and jingoistic, but Rocky IV is better than half of the movies on the “best” list. Particularly Cop Land, which, despite a strong cast and interesting premise, just wasn’t very good.
First Blood should have been first. The clue is in the name! And it’s great
I’m always mixed between First Blood and Rocky 1 as his best. They’re both incredible movies in franchises that turned to crap.
Yeah, mostly crap, but also the tone of the franchises changed. Rocky and First Blood were both serious dramatic pictures that gave the audience a feeling of what it was like to be a boxer or a disturbed veteran with PTSD. But they both turned into series that, even when they were good, were just pure cheese.
EDITED: I misread your post and thought they snubbed First Blood entirely. I don’t think I’d put it first, but they did rank it in the top 3. Frankly, I think I would have higher Cop Land than First Blood.
Yeah I would put it first. But I have a personal connection as it was filmed in a town next to mine and was made the year I was born. So I love pointing out the buildings that are still there and how others have changed.
I’m dumbfounded. How are Rocky IV (best) and Rocky V (worst) missing from this list?And Over the Top should not be on the worst list.
You are very correct on your first two points, and deeply incorrect on the third.
That interview Arnold Schwarzenegger did with Jimmy Kimmel where he explained how he Jedi mind tricked Stallone into doing Stop Or My Mom Will Shoot is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen
The Specialist? Assassins? Honorable mention for Spy Kids 3?
At last, one cinephile here.
I love Cop Land!
There’s simply nothing funny about Stallone I dunno. I’ll never think about Orange Julius w/o thinking of Sly
Saturday Night Live S23E01 – Sylvester Stallone : SNL : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
Stallone can be funny, but it needs to be in a movie suited to his style. Tango and Cash and Demolition Man work as action-comedies, or at least action movies with some comic beats.Most of Schwarzenegger’s best comedies work by playing off his “muscly action star” persona — Kindergarten Cop, Last Action Hero (the first two acts, anyway) and even Twins.
Twins doesn’t need the “even” (but Last Action Hero does).
Yeah, Twins is a legitimately great comedy. It has a dopey high concept, but DeVito and Schwarzenegger somehow make it work.
That Orange Julius thing was absolutely hilarious. Also a fan of the skit where he got the new car but gave a neighbor a ride before giving his wife a ride.
Man, that Orange Julius sketch is so funny, and Stallone is so good in it.
Man Cobra should be higher on the list for his car in that movie alone.
COPLAND is at least neck and neck with the original Rocky as Stallone’s best performance. He never before and never since has delivered a line as heartbreaking as his response to Annabella Sciorra asking him why he never got married. Getting emotional just thinking about it now. On top of that, Mangold crafted a terrific and knowing update of HIGH NOON that would’ve made Tony Soprano proud (“y’know, like Gary Cooper, the strong silent type”). Insanely high caliber cast, down to even the bit parts. So so so worth a rewatch.
I did rewatch it a few months ago. It’s still good. Keitel is great. DeNiro playing against type which is rare. And pre-2000s Michael Rapaport before he became insufferable.
I knew Rhinestone would be on here, and it deserves to be, but god damn I love this stupid terrible movie. Partly because my mom adored it and i watched it a million times with her, but also because Dolly is adorable as always, the club owner is sooooooooo 80’s level slimy, and the music is so ridiculous it’s great. His Tutti Frutti during he funeral? HILARIOUS.
STAY OUT OF MY BEDROOM BABY IF YOU CAN’T TAKE THE HEAT
THANK YOU. i friggin love rhinestone
i remember my brother taping it off of late night tv (on a betamax tape!); i watched that stupid movie at least once a week for years.
SO STUPID and I adore it!
Stallone’s a funny one, where to me he’s an entirely known quantity, so there are no real surprises to his career but also a mild disappointment that he’s always leaned into his fanbase and not pursued more projects or roles that didn’t fit. It’s tough to make a career, so I get it, and there’s bad luck—he’s the only one in Copland trying at all, a movie who’s prestige cast set expectations high and wrecked it—but also, whenever he’s glimpsed a swerve to his career by emphasizing acting more, like when he won an Oscar for Creed, he’s always sure to go back to his base with another Expendables or Rambo thing. I find some of that return to “American superiority” a little needless, but whatever, it’s the old school homophobia and racist stereotyping that he brought back to the latter series that makes me cringe and skip it all.
Where does Party at Kitty and Stud’s fall on this list?
Rocky might be a better story, but First Blood is a better movie. In First Blood we get Stallone exploring loneliness, desperation, anger, bitterness, vengance, compassion, tenderness… He’s a force in that movie.
No.
One can only imagine how contemporary audiences would react to the climactic moment in 1981’s urban cop thriller, NighthawksAdmittedly, it’s been a long time since I’ve watched it, but I’d think people would have no problem with it.
Is the article referring to the final scene? I read that comment about “contemporary audiences”, so of course, I had to read the Wikipedia description… which does not give the impression that the final scene is particularly notable. I then watched the clip on Youtube, and, yeah, maybe a slight plot twist and mild surprise, but nothing too shocking.
I too, was confused by this statement.
I like Stallone and love Rocky. But two points about the original movie:Bill Conti ripped off “Vehicle” by the Ides of March for “Gonna Fly Now.”Rocky was the worst thing that happened to Philadelphia sports. It galvanized every mouth-breather in South Philly and the fans treat actual star players awful in favor of unskilled guys who try really really hard. It’s gotten better, but holy shit did this movie do some damage.
Joe Fraizer spent most of his life and especially his boxing career in Philly yet Rocky Balboa is the one with the statue.
I mean that’s just sports fans in the Northeast
The guy who wrote and performed “Vehicle” went on to form Survivor and create “Eye Of The Tiger.” So if Bill Conti did rip off Ides of March I’d say Stallone made up for it.
Philly fans booed Santa Claus years before Rocky – they’ve always been douchecanoes.
Victory is great…especially how it ends.Now that’s a remake I’d pay to see. Would be a global-icons marketing bonanza remake…but can Messi act?Who’s your starting 11??
Cobra is so fucking bad it’s good. If it’s on, im watching it. funny little bit, in Beverly Hills Cop 2, they into Billy’s (Judge Rheinhold) house and in his bedroom he has a shit load of guns on the door to his bedroom and there is a movie poster of Cobra on the wall next to it.
I know of one person in particular who would disagree entirely with how you rank Over the Top: Richard E. Grant. He was on Brett Goldstein’s podcast, and cited it as one of his favorites.
Are movies in which he was a supporting actor not eligible? Because Creed and Creed II are way better than lots of the films in this list. (The first one is better than practically all the Rocky sequels.)
Creed is number 2 on the list.
Must have scrolled past it. Thank you!
In all honesty if its not HIS best role I think Copland is the best movie he was ever in. Just look at the faces on the damn screen, Kietel, DeNiro, Stallone, and of course the late, great Henry Hill.. ahem… I mean Ray Liotta
Fuck off, Oscar is hilarious.
Never understood the hate for Oscar and Rhinestone, never will. At worst, they are inoffensive films.
No Paradise Alley? It’s not only a bad Stallone movie, it’s one of the worst movies ever made. Its only redeeming feature is a 15 second cameo by Tom Waits.
Tango & Cash is unwatchable, as are much of the “best.”Demolition Man is easily top 5.
Yes, that movie is just fun and Sandra Bullock was clearly a star in the making.
Honestly, reading through the list, given how big a star Sly is, it’s wild to me how few actual good movies he’s made.
I wouldn’t call First Blood a great film, but I find it kind of interesting less for what it is and more for it might imply. I read it as sort of an impressionistic portrayal of the trauma veterans experience, with every day scenarios turning suddenly and unrealistically violent. Small towns become exaggerated war zones, difficult interactions feel sadistically cruel, ordinary residents don’t just misunderstand you, they come after you with rocket launchers. I wonder if the movie’s focus on trauma maybe provides some insight into a political perspectives that basically says trust no one but the select few who understand MY PAIN. You can also see it all as John Rambo’s post-traumatic delusion. Maybe you could tell the story from another point of view where the cop wanted to be helpful but didn’t understand the needs of this homeless guy coming through town, where the crazily militaristic manhunt was just a small search party, and the destruction of the town was just a drunken street fight. The distorted perspective on reality kind of fits with it’s whole reverse horror movie structure. Something about the movie invites you to read between the lines a bit, and I like that about it.
The heightened reality is what makes the film a classic, though. Your version might be ‘better’, but it would also disappear into a sea of similar (and better) movies from that era.
I guess what I’m saying is that the movie as it is makes me wonder if something like the other version is subtly implied. I like that it doesn’t actually exist, but you sort of vaguely wonder how much of all this is in Rambo’s head even if that is never directly suggested. Like the movie is more about the psychological warzone of its main character than the story. I just think it’s kind of an interesting movie in that way, whether it intends to be or not.
This reminds me when Robert Wise went to Shirley Jackson and told her his theory about “The Haunting of Hill House”, that everything was on Eleanor’s head, and she replied that it was a very interesting theory but not what she intended to portray.David Gemmell intended to write a violent thriller about a violent crazy man who happened to be an ex Vietnam soldier. He dropped some themes similar to “Remember my forgotten man” but it was mostly a bloody nihilistic thriller, and what the writers or director or Stallone or all at the same time saw is that there was a point to make the character redeemable, so they tweaked the story a bit and added that ending everyone remembers.
Well, it’s also the question of whether art requires the intention of the artist to be good/interesting. Generally I like to respect (or disrespect) the artist, but sometimes things turn out a certain way and are the better for it. Or an artist sees things are going a certain way and make the good choice to not do anything about it. The alarm clock on A Day in the Life and such. First Blood just has weird little dimensions that make it better than it had to be is all.
Yay, death of the author, but in this case I would argue that the on-the-nose narrative is more interesting than the “is this real” trope.
In the sense that the movie would be objectively worse if it played the Shutter Island card in any obvious way, definitely. As Captain Splendid said, the heightened reality that invites a little reading into things is what makes the film cool.
First Blood is far more important as a cultural benchmark than it is as a film, per se. It was the first time in my memory, at least cinematically, that Vietnam veterans were given some much needed focus and it brought what we know as PTSD to the forefront of American culture. First Blood is an incredibly important and impactful film, even if it isn’t the “best” film made or best by Stallone.
If this concept looks appealing to you, you should definitely read the book the movie is based on (“First Blood”, by David Morris). Sure, it’s not all misinterpretations of reality by Rambo. The whole story, its conflicts and incidents, are pretty real and Sheriff Teasle and his men actually provoke Rambo’s reaction. But there’re moments where he misjudges the intensity or intentions of some people and/or events due to his war trauma. Also, being a book, there’s much more room to depict a lot of nuance and explanation for certain things that are lost in the movie, making the story better. Specially the ending, wich is 1000% different from the movie, and in my opinion one of the best written conclusions I have ever read.
Nice.
One of my favorite bits of pop culture ephemera is the VHS box for Over The Top. First, look at that cover art. They seem desperate to NOT communicate that this movie is about arm wrestling.“Remember Rocky Rambo Cobra? He’s back! In arm wrester truck driver form!”Then there’s the back copy, which goes even harder on the “IT’S LIKE ROCKY! YOU LIKE ROCKY! THERE’S NO NEED TO FEAR, UNDERDOG IS HERE!” sales pitch, before randomly turning into a commercial for arm wrestling itself at the end (and spoiling who Rocky “Rambo” McCobrahawk’s final opponent is.)They need to make more box copy like this. I want a Friday the 13th box set where half the box is taken up by testimonials about the American Machete Association.
You know, it was an excellent movie, now that I think about it. After all, you know, it does combine the emotional drama of a custody child hearing with, uh.. ARM WRESTLING!!Hey, remember that movie “Kramer vs. Kramer”? Yeah, that was about child custody, too. Yeah, but it wasn’t that good. I don’t know, it was missing something, you know? Ah, what was it missing? I can’t.. oh, wait! I know! Arm wrestling!
Also, I can’t believe you didn’t mention that in Lords of Flatbush, Gere wasn’t just fired: Sly was the one who HAD him fired, and it started their feud that, as legend has it, would culminate in the rumor that Sly was the one who started the gerbil story.
Wasn’t it due to Gere eating greasy chicken with mustard in his car? It’s the best Hollywood gossip I’ve ever read
I will not tolerate this Over the Top slander. No sir.
Came to see where Cop Land ranked; glad to see it getting the proper amount of respect.Demolition Man, however, should be 3-4 spots higher.
How on earth is Rocky II above Rocky III on the best of list?
When I first clicked this article, my immediate thought was “How did they find eighteen good Stallone movies?!”. The answer: they didn’t. They’re terrible until like number eight, with most of eighteen-nine being utter dogshit. Like, if you’re making a list of best *anything*, and both Cobra *and* Tango and Cash are on it? You’ve failed the assignment.
should have been 18 worst and 5 best. this is like making turds shine.
I think one Dr. Clayton Forrester might be interested in hearing more about Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot!
I never made it through much of Creed but how on earth it wound up on the best list, I’ll never understand. What were they thinking? They’d already milked the series to death. Should have let the character die with the last Rocky movie.
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All the time people forget what Rocky is. There is basically no boxing in the movie. It’s a movie about a sweet guy who is so dumb everybody thinks he is developmentally disabled, and he falls in love with his scumbag “friend’s” (Pauley was always a piece of shit) sister who everybody also thinks is developmentally disabled. The movie has very little to do with boxing. Good movie.
Screw you all! I’ll go to my grave defending “Oscar”, as one of the funniest farces ever, exactly because Stallone’s great performance and comedy timing in it (I concede that he had never displayed it again, ok).
“Finuccis!”
Copland should be higher in the “Best” list, and it’s a travesty that “Rambo: Last Blood” isn’t on the absolute top of “Worst”, seconded by “Rambo”, whose inclusion in the “Best” is a crime against humanity.
The thing I’ve always found interesting about Stallone is that although when he tries to be funny he can’t really pull it off, when he’s in a self-deprecating mood he can actually pull off some pretty good zingers. An odd amount of which appear to have been provoked by Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot:It is maybe one of the worst films in the entire solar system, including alien productions we’ve never seen.
Tango and Cash and Over the Top are fun as hell.
Mark Keizer writing about Stallone sounds a lot like a closeted gay man describing how much he loves tits.