From Rocky Balboa to John Rambo and Ray Tango, Sylvester Stallone delivered witticisms under the guise of many iconic characters.
Sylvester Stallone is one of Hollywood’s most iconic movie stars. He paved his own path by writing a film for himself, in which he starred, and turning this film into a worldwide cultural phenomenon. Most actors will be lucky if they headline one major franchise, but Stallone has two.
John Rambo justifies his rampage in a small town
“They have shed the first blood!”
All the sequels of “First Blood” turned Vietnam War veteran John Rambo into a ruthless, patriotic killing machine that marches into war zones and leaves a trail of blood behind. But the original movie was much more intellectual than that.
After being kicked out of town by corrupt provincial town cops, Rambo takes them hunting through the woods. The cops act like Rambo is a bad guy, but as he points out, “they shed first blood!” Rambo’s first adventure was a poignant comment about the treatment of veterans when they returned from Vietnam.
Marion “Cobra” Cobretti establishes the law
“You are a Disease. I am the Medicine.”
Stallone performed one of his most delightfully intricate action hero roles as the titular vigilante cop in “Cobra.” Marion “Cobra” Cobretti is a comic book character about a police character who plays by his own rules, like John Klute or “Dirty” Harry Callahan.
At one point, the Cobra tells the bad guy, “You’re a disease. I am the medicine.” The producers knew that they would have this line on their hands, which would soon become a cult, so they used it as a slogan on the poster.
Barney Ross describes how the Unstoppable Act
“We are the shadow.”
Apparently dissatisfied with the fact that he headed only two major franchises, Stallone hired all the movie star buddies from Arnold Schwarzenegger to Jason Statham to star with him in “The Expendables” and their sequels.
Rocky Balboa calls out to the love of his life
— Hey, Adrian!
One of Stallone’s most quoted lines is “Hey Adrian!” from the Rocky movies. Throughout the franchise, this is how Rocky Balboa appeals to the love of his life, Adrian Pennino (later Pennino-Balboa), played by Talia Shire.
Boxing will define sequels, but the original Rocky movie wasn’t a boxing movie at its core. This is primarily a love story that revolves around a boxer.
Ray Tango casts a shadow on another cult action hero Stallone in Tango & Cash
“Rambo — pi**a!”
Stallone teamed up with Kurt Russell for a funny movie about police buddies “Tango and Cash”. Stallone plays Tango, and Russell plays Cash. “Tango and Cash” may have the highest stupidity ratio of all the films with Stallone.
The royal shark from “Suicide Squad” likes to eat people
“Yum-nom!”
From Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy to Eagle from Peacemaker, James Gunn is known for including charming computer characters in his comic book-related projects. In Suicide Squad, Gunn assembled a new Task Force X with Bloodsport, Ratcatcher 2, Polka Dot Man and Nanaue, better known as the “King Shark”.
Rambo’s philosophy
is “To live in vain or die for something.”
After the second and third Rambo films indulged in triumphant bloodshed glorifying the war, the fourth – aptly named “Rambo” — returned to the tradition of cynical perseverance of “First Blood”.
In the film, Rambo reluctantly returns to action to rescue Christian missionaries from the Burmese militia. Throughout the film, Rambo repeats the credo: “Live for nothing or die for something.” It is reported that the Karen National Liberation Army adopted this phrase as a battle cry in the real conflict depicted in the film.
Gabe Walker signed a witty phrase in Cliffhanger
“Remember, S*******, always keep your hands and feet in the car!”
Best described as a “Die Hard on the Mountain,” “Cliffhanger” stars Stallone as a climber who is caught stealing a U.S. Treasury Department plane in the Rocky Mountains.
Before killing the villain, Stallone utters a cool phrase about James Bond: “Remember, asshole, always keep your hands and feet in the car!”
Corporal Weaver increases his friend’s trust
in Antz “You’re An Ant!”
In the fall of 1998, DreamWorks’ first full-length animated film, Antz, managed to slip into theaters a few weeks before Pixar’s own insect-based adventure, A Bug’s Life.
The film revolves around an uncouth ant named Z. Stallone voices Z’s much more confident best friend, Corporal Weaver, a tough soldier ant.
Rocky explains the key to success
“It’s not how hard you hit…
More than a decade after Rocky V unceremoniously ended the main Rocky series, Stallone reprised the role in a bittersweet sequel called Rocky Balboa.
The aging Rocky comes out of retirement for the last fight when his championship title is contested by a young boxer. In this film there is a truly iconic monologue applicable to all spheres of life: “It’s not about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.”
