ryuryu2949

OK, I didn't think Judge Dredd was such a bad movie, but by any estimate, it was a flop...

Now, the big question is how did this movie, made in the early-mid 90's, cost 90 million to make???

fumanstan

Wow, up to 18 people saying 'What career?'??? Not sure how anyone can say that with Rocky and Rambo being pretty much icons from the 70/80's.

Rocky_Stallone

Yeah I just found out that "Judge Dredd" made only 31 million or something like that, that isn't very good and it was a flop.

Stallone's career was going great during the 70's/80's but in the 90's his career started going downhill.

I'm hoping his career will make a huge comeback in the next few years.

The Antipodean

The thing is, Stallone, Schwarzenegger, et al just aren't going to make comebacks - at least, not doing the high octane action stuff they were known for. They're both pushing 55, 60 now, you can't do that stuff forever. Does anyone really want to see Arnie in "Terminator 5" when he's 70? Personally I think Stallone should go the Bruce Willis route and balance "serious" roles or interesting character pieces with his other parts. Spy Kids 3 could be a move in a good direction. Frankly, I think the best movie the man's made in the last 15 years was "Copland," even if it wasn't a huge hit. More of that would be good in my book... even if we all forget, the man actually did win an Oscar for "Rocky," and really should get back to that kind of low-fi, character-driven work rather than the action and sequel b.s.

BassDude

A alot of talk about money, but I don't take the term "jump the shark" to mean started to lose money. Bad films have made money.

Jumptheshark.com defines it as "A defining moment when you know that your favorite television program has reached it's peak. The instant that you know from now on...it's all downhill."

Change "your favorite" to "an" and "television show" to "actor's career" and I'd have ta say it was Stop or my Mom Will Shoot. It was then that he lost all credibility in my eyes, and was all (or mostly) downhill from there. IMHO

evenflow

Yeah, that's why the answer is What Career?
Stallone reached his peak with Rocky, one of his first movies.

ToddSm66

Exactly. One movie does not make a career.

Rocky_Stallone

Since when someone said "Age" has anything to do with making a big comeback?

Robin Williams made a huge comeback with three big movies, "Insomnia", "Death To Smoochy", and "One Hour Photo".

Rocky_Stallone

Besides, age doesn't matter when doing "action" movies.

If guys like Harrison Ford, Clint Eastwood and Al Pacino can still do action movies, then Arnold and Sly can too. Age makes no difference.

garmonbozia

so then is "jumping the shark" the last great film an actor made, or the first bad one in their descent into mediocrity?

I've always wondered if the term was meant to apply to the peak or the beginning of the descent. According to the definition posted above, it sounds to me like it would be the peak (a good film), but everyone uses the term to refer to the first bad film in a series of clunkers.

d2cheer

GREATEST THREAD I HAVE EVER READ BAR NONE!

WOW I am still spinning....

NCMojo

OK... deep breath here...

One, Robin Williams is not exactly what I would call an "action star". Two, I think that Harrison Ford and Clint Eastwood would both agree that they are getting too old to keep doing action roles. That's one of the reasons that Eastwood moved into directing, actually.

And did you really mean to put Al Pacino in the list? Not really sure how you'd consider him an "action star"... unless you got that mixed up with "acting star"... which I guess could happen. I love the mental picture of Al Pacino breaking out into some serious kung fu groove...

As for Stallone... wow, yes, he is definitely a little too old and a little too fat to be a true action here any more. Nothing wrong with that -- the guy deserves to take a loooong vacation and enjoy all of the money he earned by pimping out what little talent he has.

(Although I did think he was great on SNL...)

Original Desmond

Rambo 4 is comin out soon !

badger1997

Actually, he didn't win an Oscar for Rocky. As much as I enjoy that movie, he was only nominated for best actor and his script was up for an award as well, but he didn't win anything for his two nominations.

What I find most amusing, and enlightening, about this thread is how somone's views can be twisted by personal bias. I knew there were die-hard Stallone fans out there (hell, even I love Rocky IV) but to like him to the point where reality is bent is kinda interesting to me. But I suppose that happens with everybody's favorite actors.

As for the poll, I would say that Judge Dredd is definitely where his career started to really suck (in my opinion, the phrase "jump the shark" jumped the shark right after it began ). The guy's simply not a bankable star any more, but maybe his decision to take a part in Spy Kids 3 for a lesser salary shows he may be looking to make different, and hopefully better, choices in the future.

Rocky_Stallone

Well, Harrison Ford is still doing action movies and he looks old as hell. If you haven't seen the trailer for Ford's newest movie "Hollywood Homicide" that is an action movie, an action comedy actually.

There is a rule when judging actors ages in movies, never judge by the actors ages in the movies because it makes no difference.

Clint Eastwood did the movie "Blood Work" and that is an action movie, and he's like what 70?

Now that you think of it, Sean Connery is still doing action movies too.

And you saying he has little talent is just entitled to your own opinion, just because other people agree doesn't mean it's a fact. Sly has a lot of acting talent, the man can play anything that throws at him, you may not believe me but it's true. One day you will see what I'm talking about.

badger1997

You know, comparing Hollywood Homicide or Blood Work to some of the action films Slyvester Stallone or Arnold are known for just doesn't work for me. Blood Work was really more of a psychological thriller than an action film and Hollywood Homicide, like you said, is really more of a comedy than anything else. Neither is exactly Rambo or Terminator, which is more of what we are talking here. I don't think your definition of "action film" matches up well with what most people are talking about in here. Like others have said, Al Pacino is not an "action star."

Rocky_Stallone

I know Al Pacino is not an action star.

But Sylvester, Arnold, Jean Claude Van Damme, Steven Seagal, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, etc.

Those are all action stars.

Age has nothing to do with anything.

There is a big difference between an actor and an "action movie star".

An "action movie star" doesn't have acting talent but they act in action films to entertain people.

fumanstan

I still consider Jump the Shark as the first sign of bad things to come. The whole term was taken from Happy Dayz when Fonzie rides a shark right? It should be that signal of absurdity that starts the downhill ride. I think a lot of votes on that site adhere to that criteria too. Example, Married With Children jumping the shark when they added the kid Seven.

As for Stallone, i liked Rocky's 3 and 4 the best, and while i never liked the Rambo movies you can't deny that its an iconic figure. There's definatly a career there.

Jaymole

What Career

The only film that Stallone stars in that I would watch again is Nighthawks. Rocky is hard for me to watch, awful fight scenes and badly sterotyped characters. Can't think of any other movie that he has done that is worthwhile.

badger1997

I'm confused. Here you say Stallone is an action star, which by your definition means he "doesn't have acting talent" but earlier you said he could handle anything thrown at him?

And I would beg to differ with you that age doesn't matter in action films. While you mention Clin Eastwood, I would be hesitant to label almost anything he has done as an action film. And he is the perfect textbook case for how an aging star has changed his roles. Age does matter in more physical roles. It gets harder and harder to buy an aging star in an action film or some other demanding, physical role.

Rocky_Stallone

Age does not matter when doing physical stunts in action movies.

There are many old actors out there still doing action films and it's sad that many of you guys can't see that.

Arnold is just about Sly's age, so go figure. He's like what almost 60 years old, and not once, I had never seen anyone childishly making fun of his age for doing action films still. You see the hypocrisy there?

Harrison Ford will still be doing Indy 4 and that movie will probably do a lot of physical stunts (unless they were done by stunt double....).

Even Kurt Russell and Bruce Willis tend to do action films here and there...still.

Jesus F'ing Christ, the only reason everyone is so damn biased in your opinions is that we're talking about Stallone here.... and everytime an internet message board gets into a conversation about Stallone, he is such an easy target to be made fun of just because it's a Stallone movie. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions when they say he sucks. Everyone has a certain actor they like and everyone has a certain actor you like that another person is going to hate.

Yes Stallone can play anything that throws at him, Sly can play everything from comedy, drama, thriller, action, horror, etc. You name it!!!!

Maybe I ought start making fun of people's choice of actors in message boards from now on...YEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeessshhhhh....

Rocky_Stallone

Also, people in this thread thinks him doing "action" films is NOT right for his career? Well maybe, that's the kind of things Sly likes. Maybe he loves the "action" movie genre as much as I do. Maybe his fans wants to see him do "action" movies. He still does have die hard fans around the world that still love the guy.

Sly only chooses the roles that has good potential. He only chooses roles only if:

1. He likes the story
2. If the main character fits his image

He had two straight to video movies "Eye See You" and "Avenging Angelo". But so what? Big deal, that ain't the end of the world. Sly just continues working as he loves best.

Sly has been away from action movies since Cliffhanger.

Driven wasn't an action film, it's a sports drama film and Sly doesn't do any action stunts at all in that film.

Sly wants to continue to try and discover new things. He tried doing a horror/thriller film (which is "Eye See You") that didn't work. He tried doing a romance/drama movie (which is "Avenging Angelo" and that didn't work.

So Sly's next move was to entertain children which is Spy Kids.
Sly loves kids as he is a family man of his own right now which is one of the reasons why he choosed to do Spy Kids. This movie will seriously help bring his career back on track and people will start recognizing him again.

After Spy Kids, I think Sly's next movie is called "Shade" which he plays a character called the Dean, who is a mob hitman. That is another upcoming theatrical release that has lots of potential to be a huge hit.

If Sly wants to put out "Rocky VI" and "Rambo IV", his career would have to get successful again so people would want to see "Rocky VI" and "Rambo IV", that is why Sly is trying other movies before he releases Rocky VI and Rambo IV in the future.

I'm done with this thread.

JNielsen

jaeufraser

The problem with Stallone is that he makes really BAD movies. Jump the Shark to me refers to when they started going downhill in popularity in regards to this thread, so the fact I think Cobra is about as good as my most recent dump has no bearing on the fact it was succesful and didn't hurt his career and was not the jump the shark point. But like Arnold, his movies in recent years have just not been good. And that makes people uninterested in seeing his movies. Acting talent or no acting talent makes no difference to these guys. Personally I think Stallone IS a good performer who just makes horrible decisions in picking his films. HOnestly he's a better actor than Arnold, but his choices in movies have been weaker throughout his career, though Arnold has been making crap as readily as Stallone in recent years.

NCMojo

Grrrr......

OK, I'll be honest -- I could care less about Sly Stallone. I have never really given his career a great deal of thought, even when starting this poll. He is nothing to me, really, and I have enjoyed the sweet oblivion that has come from not reliving his career.

But Rocky_Stallone... you have forced me to think over this man's career with your riddiculous posts, and for that I cure you, and feel I have no choice but to respond.

OK, for the record: Stallone has made exactly one good movie, Rocky. He then made five more Rocky films, and every single one of them sucked more than the previous one. He made a lot of money with the Rambo series, but I do not think anyone would rate those movies for quality -- quantity, yes, in terms of bloodshed and cardboard villains -- but not for quality.

His other action roles have been dreadful. Cobra, Nighthawks, Cliffhanger, Demolition Man... the list goes on and on. Can anyone name even one memorable line or scene from any of these movies? These films helped depress the global markets in cookie cutters...

As for dramas... yeah, I thought he was totally believable in Over The Top. His idea of method acting for Coplandwas to get fat -- and his performance was wooden at best, even with an all-star cast. And as for Get Carter... I have not seen more than 5 minutes of this blockbuster, but most of the critical reviews have been... well, critical.

Sly in a comedy? Like Rhinestone? Or Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot? His attempts at comedy are resoundingly laughable, but not in the way that anyone probably intended.

Well, he first had to make a looong series of bad movies for us to begin classifying anything as a "Stallone movie."

As opposed to the many, many actors and actresses that tend to choose roles only if:

1. They hate the story
2. The main character is something that totally does not fit their image.

By the way, how could Sly both simultaneously only play characters that fit his image (?) and also play anything that is thrown at him?

As long as it fits his image? No, wait, I think this point is meant to show his range:

You have to admire a guy who is not content to flop in just one genre, no? Moving into children's films means that the last untapped market will now be polluted. Next up: Sly Stallone does a movie for household pets and paramecium.

You mean, a huge hit where Sly plays a mob hitman... like Assassins? Or Get Carter? Oh, wait -- he's playing a character called The Dean? Well, that changes everything...

This is the single greatest argument in the history of this forum. It is at once so subtle and yet so obvious that it defies categorization. So he has to become popular again before he rehashes his past successes? Or he has to... go back to the formula that... made him not succesful, so he can... wait, he is making the movies so he can, err... he needs to make a lot of money before he makes the films that he hopes can make a lot of money so... RRRRRRR.... ILLOGICAL! PLEASE EXPLAIN! ONLY HUMANS CAN EXPLAIN!

Oh please don't go. If you did abandon your defense, then everybody on this board and in the free world would continue to harbor the mistaken impression that Sylvester Stallone is some kind of giant has-been, or (worse) a never-really-was.