The action movie Sylvester Stallone calls his “most authentic”
As far as the action movie genre, there are few actors who have mastered it in quite the same manner as Sylvester Stallone. Of course, the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis are worth considering when it comes to the greatest action hero, but Stallone is equally in with a shot of the title.
After all, throughout his excellent career, Sly has proven himself to be adept in playing a number of characters in the high-octane, hard-hitting realm of action cinema. Known and loved for his efforts as Rocky Balboa and giving further efforts in the likes of Cobra, Demolition Man and The Specialist, Sly is simply the cream of the crop.
The latter part of the 20th century was of great significance to Stallone as it was the period in which he established himself as one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. However, the third millennium has also proven to be profitable for the New York City-born actor, and many of his most famous franchises have been furthered during the modern era of cinema.
In 2006, Stallone returned to the ring with Rocky Balboa, and just two years later, he once again reprised one of his most famous roles as John Rambo in the fourth Rambo movie. Simply titled Rambo, Stallone played his renegade soldier for the first time since 1988’s Rambo II and saw him head out to Burma to rescue a set of Christian missionaries from a local militia.
The 2008 entry into the franchise might not be the first we remember, but the truth is that Stallone holds the film very close to his heart and once told The Hollywood Reporter, “A movie that I’m very proud of – it’s the best action movie I’ve ever made because it’s the most authentic, which deals with Burma, where there has been a civil war for 67 years.”
While Stallone’s performance as John Rambo for the fourth time was praised, as was his direction, there had been some criticism for the political commentary that Rambo made. Interestingly, Stallone had got the idea to set the film in Burma from the United Nations, and when the producers visited a series of Karen freedom fighter camps in the country, the movie was greenlit.
In addition, criticism was levied at Stallone because of the overly graphic violence on offer in the film, and the actor/director wasn’t afraid of admitting to such a view of his work. “They criticized me because the film is very violent. And it is violent. It’s horrible,” Stallone explained. “Children burned alive. That’s what makes civil war worse than anything: it’s your neighbour suddenly killing you”.
Still, Stallone was left feeling “very happy” with the film, especially considering the fact that he felt that the violence on offer would prevent it from being made and distributed to a wide audience. He added, “I never thought it would make it to the cinema. I thought, ‘They’re never going to screen this.’”
The overt graphic violence largely made its way into the film because of the relatively low budget and Stallone felt that the only way to make the film a memorable experience for the audience was to ramp up the violence. While perhaps the film hasn’t gone down as the best Rambo movie, the truth is that Stallone considers it his “most authentic” and the best action movie he ever made.
