'The Ten Best of Sylvester Stallone'

'The Ten Best of Sylvester Stallone'
According to Vincent Snavely

I mentioned in my review of the corny but fun action 80's throwback "The Expendables" that Sylvester Stallone was the most unfairly picked on actor ever in Hollywood. That is pretty much 100% correct because everytime Stallone made a really good movie they were neglected. He has made some bad movies and five of my top ten got weak reviews. He also made some very fun, larger than life and exciting action blockbusters and one of the most beloved franchises in Hollywood history. In his actions movies and his boxing classics he threw himself physically into every role. He is and will always be one of the most exciting looking physical actors ever and he is totally charming and likable in almost everything. Here is my favorite ten movies of his and some have not been seen by many.

10.) Paradise Alley (78) (3 stars)

Director: Sylvester Stallone
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Armand Assante, Lee Canalito, Terry Funk, Anne
Archer, Joyce Ingalls, Kevin Conway, Joe Spinell, Tom Waits

Critics hated what they called this self indulgent mess. I consider it a guilty pleasure because yes it is about wrestling but it is charming and well directed to me. It also has in my opinion a star making and Oscar caliber performance by Armand Assante. Set in the 1940's in the New York slums the movie is about three brothers played by Stallone, Assante and Canalito who are trying to break out into stardom. One way is for the lunkheaded but charming younger and stronger brother to wrestle matches to put food on the table for his girlfriend. Stallone plays Cosmo Carboni and he sees his brother as a meal ticket. The movie is sweet with very good acting, a charming and funny Stallone and great wrestling scenes including a long, weird one in pouring rain outside. It also has two very beautiful women as love interests in Anne Archer and Joyce Ingalls. I even like the horrible closing credits song sung by Stallone who sounds like he is about to bust a gut.

9.) Death Race 2000 (75) (3 stars)

Director: Paul Bartel
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, David Carradine, Mary Woronov, Keith Carradine

This a schlocky but fun midnight cult classic about a killer car race in the future. Stallone is funny and the cast is wonderful and the Roger Corman produced movie is nasty fun. I love that if the cars run over people the drivers get points. Don't make a mistake and watch the dreadful remake.

8.) Victory (81) (3 1/2 stars)

Director: John Huston
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine, Pele, Daniel Massey,
Max Von Sydow

When I was 13 I saw this movie more than ten times in theatres and ten more on video when it came out. This is another underrated Stallone sports classic. The movie takes place during World War II in a Nazi camp where prisoners of war play soccer for fun. An evil German officer played deliciously by Max Von Sydow suggest the prisoners of war from different countries plays a soccer game against Germany's best athletes. The movie then becomes an escape picture also as the prisoners try to escape during halftime of the game. You know where this is going but the soccer scenes are thrilling, the musical score wonderful and Pele does some amazing soccer moves. This is the skinniest you will ever see Stallone and the movie is great, corny fun. Stallone actually looks convincing as a soccer goalie further proving that he would work his ass off throwing himself full on into any challenging, physical role.

7.) Cliffhanger(93) (3 1/2 stars)

Director: Renny Harlin
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, John Lithgow, Ralph Waite,
Janine Turner, Michael Rooker, Rex Linn, Leon

This is a beautifully filmed and intense, exciting action thriller with stunts that are amazing! There again is a physical Stallone who did most of his stunts. Now you know I am not being goofy when I call him one of Hollywood's best action stars. The movie is wall to wall action and thrills as bad guys chase Stallone up and down cliffs. The plot doesn't really matter but John Lithgow plays one of the hammiest and best bad guys on screen.

6.) Rocky Balboa (06) (3 1/2 stars)

Director: Sylvester Stallone
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Burt Young, Antonio Tarver,
Geraldine Hughes, Tony Burton, Milo Ventimiglia

This bittersweet and moving conclusion to the Rocky franchise goes back to the original movie's roots. It isn't flashy and loud like the last three Rocky's and it goes back to character development. We cherished the love and marriage of Rocky and Adrian and when we see Rocky as a widower we feel his pain. Rocky has all his money wiped out and he has to start from the beginning. He strikes up a sweet love affair with a store owner in the neighborhood and she is well played by Geraldine Hughes. He also has to fight an arrogant and hot shot boxer played by Antonio Tarver and make up with his estranged son. I was worried about the ending boxing match but it is awesome, tasteful and thrilling just like the first two movies. This is one of Stallone's best performances of his career next to the original.

5.) Rocky II (79) (3 1/2 stars)

Director: Sylvester Stallone
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young,
Burgess Meredith, Carl Weathers, Tony Burton, Joe Spinell

This is one of the best sequels ever made and the third best Rocky movie. The movie starts off just where the first one ended in a hospital. When Rocky goes into Apollo Creed's hospital room to have a talk it is sweet, charming and funny and that Rocky spirit is still alive. This is the movie where Rocky and Adrian get married, Rocky goes through struggles with money and getting back in the ring and the couple have a child. The charm and warm characters are still there and the grit of the neighborhood is still evident. The fight at the end is the best of the Rocky movies even though the end result of the fight is a little unbelievable. Stallone knows how to film a boxing match and his use of the musical score to heighten the drama in the fight is flawless.

4.) CopLand (97) (3 1/2 stars)

Director: James Mangold
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Harvey Keitel, Robert Deniro,
Ray Liotta, Peter Berg, Cathy Moriarty, Annabella Sciorra,
Michael Rapaport, Robert Patrick, Janeane Garafalo,
Frank Vincent, Noah Emmerich

I was proud of Sylvester Stallone's effort in this very good cop drama where he gave his best performance of his career besides "Rocky". Stallone gained a lot of weight for the role of a small time cop who gets involved with police corruption. His character kind of reminds me of his Rocky Balboa character. Stallone is surrounded by the best cast of actors you could look for and he is equal to them all. This is an exciting police drama with a great screenplay and Stallone gives a sweet performance and becomes his character. Some critics still made fun of Stallone and picked on this movie a little. If you haven't seen it, it is one of my favorite cop movies and it is a hidden gem and a great start to director James Mangold's career (Walk the Line).

3.) First Blood (82) (3 1/2 stars)

Director: Ted Kotcheff
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Brian Denehy, Richard Crenna,
David Caruso

This is the start of another hugely popular film franchise for Stallone that spawned three sequels. Stallone plays John Rambo, a decorated Vietnam war veteran who comes to a small, redneck town and is seen by the police as a vagrant. He is brought in and booked for vagrancy and harassed and beaten by the officers that took him in. He maims pretty much all of them and escapes. What follows is an exciting, breathless and tense series of chases in the woods as Rambo picks off each officer one by one. Again watching Stallone here in action was something special. Word spread about this movie and when I saw it as a kid I was blown away by the awesome stunts and action. The crowd reaction in the theatre I saw it in was buzzed and everyone was cheering and applauding. This is the best example of how great an action star Stallone was. At that time no other action star could have pulled off this role, no one. Stallone is also given another great actor in Brian Denehy to be the bad guy to Stallone's hero. Stallone gives a tearful speech at the end on how badly he was treated when he got back form the war and how he lost a friend there. Critics made fun of Stallone's speech and acting in this scene, that they couldn't understand a word he was saying. I disagree completely because I understood every word he was saying, thought the scene was powerful and that Stallone's acting in that scene was great.

2.) Nighthawks (81) (4 stars) (highest rating)

Director: Bruce Malmuth
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Billy Dee Williams,
Rutger Hauer, Lindsay Wagner, Persis Khambatta,
Nigel Davenport, Joe Spinell

This is a tense and outstanding game of cat and mouse between Stallone and Rutger Hauer. This is the movie that introduced Rutger Hauer to American audiences and he plays one of the most evil bad guys in film history. This is one of my top favorite cop movies of all time and it is so much fun to watch. It is a tight, flawless and very suspenseful masterpiece and very dark and gritty. Stallone with full beard and mustache disappears into his role and was even unrecognizable to some audiences. Along with "Copland" and "Rocky" this is one of Stallone's best performances. The battle between good guy Stallone and bad guy Hauer is one of the most exciting and thrilling battles ever on screen. This movie is non stop action and the ending is a doozy. Hitchcock would have been proud of the end of this movie. It is a nail biting ending that will make your palms sweat and the surprise at the end of it is priceless. Stallone has said that the studio cut this movie up but I love it. I even think that Stallone took over the directing based on Bruce Malmuth's horrible career after this movie.

1.) Rocky (76) (4 stars) (highest rating)

Director: John Alvidsen
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young,
Burgess Meredith, Carl Weathers, Tony Burton, Joe Spinell

This is pretty much everyone's favorite Stallone movie and it came out and surprised everyone by beating some heavyweights to win Best Picture at the Oscars. That mirrors this underdog classic that has influenced such classics as "Breaking Away", "Rudy" and "The Karate Kid". It is not the best boxing movie ever made, that is "Raging Bull", but it is a classic stand up and cheer underdog sports drama. It also created one of our most endearing and lovable characters. The movie started such a craze and hysteria that word spread around and a monster hit was born. Stallone wrote the screenplay himself, shopped it around to all the studios and no one bit. The studios also wanted him not to star in it for they thought he couldn't act, they wanted someone like Robert Redford or Ryan O'Neal. I could see no one else that could of played Rocky Balboa. This is a classic, old time Hollywood boxing picture with great characters, performances and a wonderful boxing match that had people jumping up and cheering. Also the scene were he had to get his eye cut in the ring made me run out of the theatre. This is a very influential movie and a great start to a very fun saga. I like all the "Rocky" movies and the Rocky Balboa character is one of my favorites of all time. I mean everyone loves "Rocky", I haven't heard a bad word about it by anyone.

I also like "Rocky III", "F.I.S.T" and "Rocky IV"