I've always felt Stallone squandered the best years of his career doing lame dramas and comedies when he should have been taking the roles Ahnuld wasn't interested in.
From 1987 - 2005, there were only 5 films where you get to see his physique:
Rambo III
Lock Up
Cliffhanger
Demolition Man (where he's noticeably cut weight)
And The Specialist.
After The Specialist, which came out in 1994, it's 12 years before he reprises his role as Rocky, by which point it's clear he's on the juice (he was pushing 60, after all).
And other than Demolition Man and Dredd, can you really name anything Stallone was in prior to his Rocky rennaisance? He basically wasted 20 years doing shit that didn't fit his character at all. There was a ton of action movies he should have been in but chose not to play because he wanted to be "more mature" in the eyes of critics.
Mate, how frustrating is it that Stallone wasted those prime years while Arnold carted himself off to politics-land? Super disappointing we lost two of the biggest action stars from the mid-1990s onward (I know Arnold did 6th Day, Collateral and Terminator 3, but they were kind of half-hearted, despite 6th Day being an interesting high-concept film).
It was also sad because Van Damme went on a coke binge and bungled his two-picture deal with Universal; Norris basically got out of the film business and settled on TV; and Segal had scuttled his success on the over-budgeted and poorly received On Deadly Ground, for which he had to pay recompense to the studio in the form of playing second fiddle and being killed off in Executive Decision, effectively ending his mainstream appeal under a big studio contract.
As for Stallone, I know some people will throw Tango & Cash in there folliowing Rambo 3, and Stallone looked great in that, but he wasn't a "body guy" in that film, and played more the straight man to Kurt Russell's loose cannon.
If memory serves, I think Stallone wanted Jackie Chan for that end fight in the third act against a martial arts henchman? But Chan declined (which seemed to be a recurring theme between Stallone and Chan over the course of 30 years). It was still a martial arts fight, and Stallone looked decent in that fight and was still pretty quick on his feet, but it's such a shame he never really made use of his physical talents the way he should have during that five year period.
And you're right, while Demolition Man was pretty good for what it was, he needed a proper action romp equivalent to Total Recall or The Last Action Hero or something to rival Arnold's True Lies during the early to mid 1990s.
Assassins could have been something, but once again, Stallone played a very subdued character, and Banderas did a lot more of the physical stuff by comparison.
It still angers me when Stallone mentioned during the international press tour for Daylight that he was "retiring" from the classic macho-action movies and -- as you pointed out -- wasted his talents doing cameos in movies like Taxi 2 (or was it Taxi 3?), that TV show Las Vegas, and that uninspired flick DeTox.
It was a poor decision from him in reponse to the media pressure on Hollywood to abandon its "ultra violent" era. At least Arnold stuck to what he knew before jetting off to politics instead of abandoning his fans outright.
Damn, are you my long lost twin or something?
I've always felt Stallone squandered the best years of his career doing lame dramas and comedies when he should have been taking the roles Ahnuld wasn't interested in.
From 1987 - 2005, there were only 5 films where you get to see his physique:
Rambo III
Lock Up
Cliffhanger
Demolition Man (where he's noticeably cut weight)
And The Specialist.
After The Specialist, which came out in 1994, it's 12 years before he reprises his role as Rocky, by which point it's clear he's on the juice (he was pushing 60, after all).
And other than Demolition Man and Dredd, can you really name anything Stallone was in prior to his Rocky rennaisance? He basically wasted 20 years doing shit that didn't fit his character at all. There was a ton of action movies he should have been in but chose not to play because he wanted to be "more mature" in the eyes of critics.
Mate, how frustrating is it that Stallone wasted those prime years while Arnold carted himself off to politics-land? Super disappointing we lost two of the biggest action stars from the mid-1990s onward (I know Arnold did 6th Day, Collateral and Terminator 3, but they were kind of half-hearted, despite 6th Day being an interesting high-concept film).
It was also sad because Van Damme went on a coke binge and bungled his two-picture deal with Universal; Norris basically got out of the film business and settled on TV; and Segal had scuttled his success on the over-budgeted and poorly received On Deadly Ground, for which he had to pay recompense to the studio in the form of playing second fiddle and being killed off in Executive Decision, effectively ending his mainstream appeal under a big studio contract.
As for Stallone, I know some people will throw Tango & Cash in there folliowing Rambo 3, and Stallone looked great in that, but he wasn't a "body guy" in that film, and played more the straight man to Kurt Russell's loose cannon.
If memory serves, I think Stallone wanted Jackie Chan for that end fight in the third act against a martial arts henchman? But Chan declined (which seemed to be a recurring theme between Stallone and Chan over the course of 30 years). It was still a martial arts fight, and Stallone looked decent in that fight and was still pretty quick on his feet, but it's such a shame he never really made use of his physical talents the way he should have during that five year period.
And you're right, while Demolition Man was pretty good for what it was, he needed a proper action romp equivalent to Total Recall or The Last Action Hero or something to rival Arnold's True Lies during the early to mid 1990s.
Assassins could have been something, but once again, Stallone played a very subdued character, and Banderas did a lot more of the physical stuff by comparison.
It still angers me when Stallone mentioned during the international press tour for Daylight that he was "retiring" from the classic macho-action movies and -- as you pointed out -- wasted his talents doing cameos in movies like Taxi 2 (or was it Taxi 3?), that TV show Las Vegas, and that uninspired flick DeTox.
It was a poor decision from him in reponse to the media pressure on Hollywood to abandon its "ultra violent" era. At least Arnold stuck to what he knew before jetting off to politics instead of abandoning his fans outright.