Sylvester Stallone’s third outing as Vietnam vet John Rambo came racing on the heels of the second film. Watching it now, it’s interesting to see how the political times have changed, as Rambo’s adventure takes him to Afghanistan this time. Living in the Far East, Rambo is found by his old CO, Trautman (Richard Crenna)…
Tag: sylvester stallone
Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) – George P. Cosmatos
It had been a while since I settled in for any of the Rambo films and thought it would be fun to take a look at the sequels. So I was excited to settle in for Rambo: First Blood Part II, the first of four sequels to 1982’s First Blood. The second film eschews some…
Over the Top (1987) – Menahem Golan
Sylvester Stallone stars in this corny, overly sentimental flick that is totally 80s. I know this because it features a song on the soundtrack by Kenny Loggins, and all the best movies of the 80s did. This time around Sly is a truck driver, Lincoln Hawk who is planning in entering the world arm wrestling…
Demolition Man (1993) – Marco Brambilla
Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes go head to head in this sci-fi actioner from the early 90s. It also features Sandra Bullock, Benjamin Bratt, Denis Leary, Nigel Hawthorne, Bob Gunton and, sigh, Rob Schneider. Stallone plays a supercop, John Spartan, who has been tracking a psychotic maniac, Simon Phoenix (Snipes) and their confrontation at the…
Cobra (1986) – George P. Cosmatos
I’ve been enjoying revisting some of the classic 80s action films, and I even remember the first time I saw this one. I wish I could have told myself what I KNOW now, this film is horrible. It’s uneven, and as much as I enjoy an action film from the Stallone oeuvre, this one is…
The Expendables 3 (2014) – Patrick Hughes
Dropping their hard R rating, The Expendables are back for a third go round, and Sylvester Stallone returns with a star studded cast that kind of makes up for the lack of gore, but you still find yourself wishing for it anyway. This time it’s personal when Barney Ross (Stallone) leads his mercenary team on…
The Expendables (2010) – Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Stallone stars, directs and writes (alongside Dave Callaham) in The Expendables, and he brings along a brilliant ensemble cast of classic action heroes, wrestlers and actors. Padding out a fairly simple story with some explosive set pieces this is just a mostly brainless action flick that serves as homage to the action films that…
Tango & Cash (1989) – Andrey Konchalovskiy, and Albert Magnoli
There were so many action movies made in the 80s, and even if they were just goofy fun, like Tango & Cash, if there were big names attached, the studio would pull out all the stops. And this one does that, even if the story itself isn’t so great, it’s just so much damned fun….
Cliffhanger (1993) – Renny Harlin
Somehow I feel this actioner from the early 90s doesn’t get enough love. In fact I think it can honestly be looked at and said it has improved with age, while some 90s action flicks should be better left forgotten. Directed by Renny Harlin, who had two big successes already at the time, Nightmare on…
Judge Dredd (1995) -Danny Cannon
You need to worry about any movie that thinks it’s a good idea to use Rob Schneider as your comic relief, and this, my next stop in the Sci-Fi Chronicles book is filled with potential, but those involved just didn’t seem to get the source material. Danny Cannon presents a busy MegaCity, a fairly familiar…
The Mind Reels 