Sylvester Stallone makes physical effort convincing, and his strongest roles leave him vulnerable despite the muscle. We rate him when the film allows both to show; the dialogue he helps write can let him down.
Fi1m perspective
On the rock face in Cliffhanger (1993), Stallone looks exposed despite all that muscle. Alex Thomson’s cinematography gives us time to see his body against the empty space around it. We felt our stomachs tighten because the circling shot made us register how little was holding him there. As Gabe Walker, he makes each move look like work, and Renny Harlin is right to give that effort such prominence. Stallone supplies the physical conviction the film needs, keeping us interested in the next move even when the screenplay gives him little worth saying.
Rocky (1976), which he wrote and starred in, established the underdog fighting for dignity as his central role. He does not need to look ordinary for us to recognise that need. First Blood (1982), which he co-wrote, gave John Rambo vulnerability as well as physical force. His action-star career continued through the 1980s and 1990s, though the sequels did not always preserve that attention to character. The greater reliance on violence in Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) suggests the limitation: giving Stallone more fighting to do does not necessarily give him more to play.
Cliffhanger also exposes the weaknesses in some of his writing. The screenplay, credited to Stallone and Michael France, supplies too many lines that could have come from another action thriller. When Gabe talks, he becomes less distinctive than when he climbs. Harlin varies the action enough to sustain our interest, but the pauses leave the actors with too little personality to work with. We recommend it as a mountain thriller with a convincing lead, while wishing that the writers had given the confrontations as much thought as the climbs.
The later career found room for both ensemble action and supporting parts. He directed and co-wrote the ensemble action film The Expendables (2010). With Creed (2015), he returned as Rocky Balboa in a supporting role. Giving him a smaller place in another generation’s story makes sense for an actor whose characters so often need to prove they still matter. Start with Creed if the muscle has made it too easy to overlook the actor.
Biography
Sylvester Stallone is an American actor, screenwriter and director. Born in New York City on 6 July 1946, he struggled as an actor in New York before gaining attention for a supporting role in The Lords of Flatbush (1974).
Stallone achieved international recognition with his performance as boxer Rocky Balboa in Rocky (1976), which he also wrote. He later portrayed John Rambo in First Blood (1982) and its sequels. His other notable credits include the screenplay and lead role in Cliffhanger (1993), as well as appearances in the Creed and The Expendables series.
