The movie Sylvester Stallone knew was doomed on day two: “I didn’t get it”
Whatever you think of him as a person – or his friendly relationship with President Donald Trump – Sylvester Stallone is a proven draw.
His star power is undeniable and has been for a long time. He and Harrison Ford are the only actors in history to have topped the box office in six consecutive decades. His films might have nose-dived in quality over the past years (or decades, if you’re that way inclined), but people keep paying to see them. So, if he’s that good in front of the camera, it stands to reason that he would succeed behind it, right… right?
Sly’s directing got off to a less-than-auspicious start with 1978’s Paradise Alley, a sports drama about professional wrestling. The movie was a complete disaster on every front, but worst of all, it upset Tom Waits. Nobody upsets Tom Waits. He followed this up with a significantly more impressive offering: Rocky II. He would direct a total of four movies in the series, culminating with 2006’s Rocky Balboa. He’s also made a habit out of directing himself in starring roles, and when you look at the one time this didn’t happen, you can understand why.
In 1983, Sly was put in charge of Staying Alive, the sequel to the monumentally successful Saturday Night Fever. John Travolta returns as his old character Tony Manero, only this time with a new dream – to make it on Broadway. Using his dancing skills honed in the nightclubs of New York, Tony tackles the stage in one of the best-reviewed movies of the year… oh wait, scratch that. Staying Alive was a total dud.
Critics couldn’t wait to sink their teeth into this spineless, formless rehash. What had once been a surprisingly dark story about young, working-class people living on the poverty line had become a one-note dance movie that was more concerned with flashing lights and silly costumes than any sort of social commentary. It was roundly mocked by everyone who saw it and featured numerous times at that year’s Golden Raspberry Awards.
In an interview with Hollywood many years later, Stallone revealed that one of the reasons Staying Alive flopped was because his heart just wasn’t in it. “On the second day of filming, I turned to the assistant director and said, ‘What am I doing with 100 dancers on the stage, and a smoke machine and confetti? This is not my world’,” he remembered. “I was tuned out from the second day. I didn’t get it, I couldn’t relate to it.”
As much as it pains me to say this, Stallone is right. His bread and butter has always been gritty, action-oriented stories. Ironically, if he’d been hired to make the first movie, which was far more violent and true-to-life, he would have done a much better job. Instead, he was essentially tasked with making a musical, which was never going to end well. Like Tony Manero flinging himself around on a Broadway stage, he simply didn’t fit.
Staying Alive is a cult classic these days for all the wrong reasons. Watch it if you’re in the mood for something ‘so bad it’s good’, but if you want actual quality, then stay far away.
