When you’re discussing Sylvester Stallone, a discussion of Arnold Schwarzenegger won’t be too far behind. Both reigned as the box office action heroes of the 1980s and 1990s, with Sly always a bit behind Arnold. I was pleasantly surprised in 2013 when Arnold returned to acting in his first lead performance in a decade as a past-his-prime sheriff of a sleepy southwest town in the sleeper action movie The Last Stand. It could have been worked into a sequel from all sorts of his past works, but it was a re-introduction of what the action hero looks like in his 60s, and the result should be fun for any fan of the arguably the biggest movie star Hollywood has seen. Unlike Arnold, Stallone never took a break to try another career. He’s been in essence a working actor since he created Rocky in 1976. He also seemed to try to reach beyond celebrity star status to the more dramatic in James Mangold’s Cop Land, which could have easily earned him an Oscar nod.
In Stallone’s sixth return to his Rocky Balboa character in Creed, Stallone’s performance again was something that pushed the action norm to something different, like Cop Land. And like Arnold’s The Last Stand, audiences saw what this action hero looks like in an acclaimed movie in his 60s. Stallone has had a great career, with three major franchises under his belt in Rocky, Rambo, and The Expendables. And soon his fifth foray into the character of John Rambo will reveal the action hero in his 70s. John Wayne, the prior decades’ version of Arnold and Sly, made several action films in his 60s, but never made any films in his 70s, and here is Stallone on his second major franchise film in his 70s. Take a look at the first trailer for his next film, Rambo: Last Blood, below.
Stallone’s John Rambo could have taken a more dramatic turn when introduced in 1982 in First Blood, but instead the movie opted to be another blood and guts revenge story, the kind that Chuck Norris would later be known for. Followed by more forgettable films Rambo: First Blood Part II in 1985, Rambo III in 1988, and Rambo ten years later in 2008, the franchise keeps returning because audiences keep going back for more. His fans could easily have figured that, as with his sixth Rocky movie, Rocky Balboa, his 2008 film in this franchise, Rambo, was going to be his last. But this is the era of 1980s nostalgia, thanks to binge-watching television shows on Netflix and the throwback elements celebrated in the streaming provider’s series Stranger Things. So now is the time movies like Creed can happen. And another Rambo. Check out the first trailer below for Rambo: Last Blood:
