(Photo by MGM / Courtesy: Everett Collection)
A little like Rocky, Sylvester Stallone seemed almost destined to fail in the film business. A bit part in Woody Allen’s Bananas, resorting to shooting a softcore porn flick (The Party at Kitty and Stud’s), and having to sell his dog at a 7-11 for $50 was what Stallone’s acting career was amounting in the ’70s. Then his screenplay about an underdog Philly boxer met the right director, John G. Avildsen, and after that it was step-by-step all the way up to national phenomenon and Best Picture winner. And as for his dog? Stallone bought him back and he appears as Rocky’s sidekick, Butkus.
Since 1976, Stallone has built a fascinating body of work, fashioned from numerous creative starts and stops, of incredible highs and crashing lows. He turned Rocky into a sequel machine, becoming a punchline by the ’90s (Rocky V), before multiple miracle turnarounds (Rocky Balboa, Creed) restored its former glory.
Stallone’s friendly (?) competition with Arnold Schwarzenegger gave him a taste of the ’80s action world, compelling him to pump out flicks with the quickness: The likes of Nighthawks, Cobra, Over the Top, and Tango & Cash give him enduring cult status, and mainstream derision. The ’90s saw him at his funniest (Demolition Man) and most dramatic (Cop Land), but also brought bigger bouts of embarrassment (Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot).
By the mid-2000s, Stallone was digging through his own legacy, and uncovering plenty of veins to tap. There was the Rocky Balboa restart, ’80s throwback franchise Expendables, Schwarzenegger team-up Escape Plan, and duking it out with the Raging Bull himself, Robert De Niro, for Grudge Match.
And the one we’ve yet to mention: a certain John Rambo. 1982’s First Blood was a sensitive, terrifying indictment of Vietnam War veteran treatment. It’s a subdued film, without much to suggest the blistering violent fantasies the series would morph into across First Blood Part II, Rambo III, then just Rambo, and finally into Rambo: Last Blood. And now we celebrate an entire movie-making career as we rank the all Sylvester Stallone movies by Tomatometer! —Alex Vo
#1
Adjusted Score: 110350%
Critics Consensus: Creed brings the Rocky franchise off the mat for a surprisingly effective seventh round that extends the boxer’s saga in interesting new directions while staying true to its classic predecessors’ roots.
#2
Adjusted Score: 97327%
Critics Consensus: Featuring a stellar voice cast, technically dazzling animation, and loads of good humor, Antz should delight both children and adults.
#3
Adjusted Score: 101501%
Critics Consensus: This story of a down-on-his-luck boxer is thoroughly predictable, but Sylvester Stallone’s script and stunning performance in the title role brush aside complaints.
#4
Adjusted Score: 109291%
Critics Consensus: Enlivened by writer-director James Gunn’s singularly skewed vision, The Suicide Squad marks a funny, fast-paced rebound that plays to the source material’s violent, anarchic strengths.
#5
Adjusted Score: 108649%
Critics Consensus: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2‘s action-packed plot, dazzling visuals, and irreverent humor add up to a sequel that’s almost as fun — if not quite as thrillingly fresh — as its predecessor.
#6
Adjusted Score: 90695%
Critics Consensus: Much darker and more sensitive than the sequels it spawned, First Blood is a thrilling survival adventure that takes full advantage of Sylvester Stallone’s acting skills.
#7
Adjusted Score: 100300%
Critics Consensus: Creed II‘s adherence to franchise formula adds up to a sequel with few true surprises, but its time-tested generational themes still pack a solid punch.
#8
Adjusted Score: 107064%
Critics Consensus: A galactic group hug that might squeeze a little too tight on the heartstrings, the final Guardians of the Galaxy is a loving last hurrah for the MCU’s most ragtag family.
#9
Adjusted Score: 85301%
Critics Consensus: Implausible but entertaining and poignant, Rocky Balboa finds the champ in fighting form for the first time in years.
#10
Adjusted Score: 79214%
Critics Consensus: Cop Land matches its star-studded cast with richly imagined characters while throttling the audience with carefully ratcheted suspense, although it lacks the moral complexity of classic crime thrillers.
#11
Adjusted Score: 85960%
Critics Consensus: Death Race 2000 is a fun, campy classic, drawing genuine thrills from its mindless ultra-violence.
#12
Adjusted Score: 73389%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#13
Adjusted Score: 72584%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#14
Adjusted Score: 72801%
Critics Consensus: Rocky II is a movie that dares you to root again for the ultimate underdog — and succeeds due to an infectiously powerful climax.
#15
Adjusted Score: 70075%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#16
Adjusted Score: 73004%
Critics Consensus: While it can’t escape comparisons to the movies it borrows from, Cliffhanger is a tense, action-packed thriller and a showcase for the talents that made Sylvester Stallone a star.
#17
Adjusted Score: 72907%
Critics Consensus: Taut, violent, and suitably self-deprecating, The Expendables 2 gives classic action fans everything they can reasonably expect from a star-studded shoot-’em-up — for better and for worse.
#18
Adjusted Score: 39649%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#19
Adjusted Score: 68888%
Critics Consensus: It’s noticeably subject to the law of diminishing returns, but Rocky III still has enough brawny spectacle to stand in the ring with the franchise’s better entries.
#20
Adjusted Score: 64843%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#21
Adjusted Score: 65507%
Critics Consensus: A better-than-average sci-fi shoot-em-up with a satirical undercurrent, Demolition Man is bolstered by strong performances by Sylvester Stallone, Wesley Snipes, and Sandra Bullock.
#22
Adjusted Score: 54834%
Critics Consensus: As much fun as it is to see Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger team up onscreen, Escape Plan fails to offer much more than a pale imitation of 1980s popcorn thrills.
#23
Adjusted Score: 51469%
Critics Consensus: Bullet to the Head‘s unapologetically trashy thrills evoke memories of its star and director’s proud cinematic pasts — but sadly, those memories are just about all it has to offer.
#24
Adjusted Score: 49484%
Critics Consensus: The movie will be found wanting if one is not taken in by the 3-D visuals.
#25
Adjusted Score: 49368%
Critics Consensus: It makes good on the old-school action it promises, but given all the talent on display, The Expendables should hit harder.
#26
Adjusted Score: 43728%
Critics Consensus: Rambo III finds its justice-dispensing hero far from the thoughtful drama that marked the franchise’s beginning — and just as far from quality action thriller entertainment.
#27
Adjusted Score: 25000%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#28
Adjusted Score: 43714%
Critics Consensus: Although Samaritan is better than it could have been, this Stallone-led superhero drama is creatively underpowered.
#29
Adjusted Score: 42403%
Critics Consensus: Rocky IV inflates the action to absurd heights, but it ultimately rings hollow thanks to a story that hits the same basic beats as the first three entries in the franchise.
#30
Adjusted Score: 42857%
Critics Consensus: Sylvester Stallone knows how to stage action sequences, but the movie’s uneven pacing and excessive violence (even for the franchise) is more nauseating than entertaining.
#31
Adjusted Score: 36970%
Critics Consensus: First Blood Part II offers enough mayhem to satisfy genre fans, but remains a regressive sequel that turns its once-compelling protagonist into just another muscled action berserker.
#32
Adjusted Score: 34252%
Critics Consensus: The definitive film about arm-wrestling truck drivers fighting for custody of their children, Over the Top lives down to its title in the cheesiest of ways.
#33
Adjusted Score: 39087%
Critics Consensus: Like its predecessors, Expendables 3 offers a modicum of all-star thrills for old-school action thriller aficionados — but given all the talent assembled, it should have been a lot more fun.
#34
Adjusted Score: 37131%
Critics Consensus: Grudge Match is sporadically funny but meandering, and its strong cast largely mired in a plot that’s overrun with clichés.
#35
Adjusted Score: 35038%
Critics Consensus: Brutally violent and punishingly dull, this cookie-cutter buddy cop thriller isn’t even fun enough to reach “so bad it’s good” status.
#36
Adjusted Score: 33725%
Critics Consensus: Rocky V‘s attempts to recapture the original’s working-class grit are as transparently phony as each of the thuddingly obvious plot developments in a misguided installment that sent the franchise flailing into longterm limbo.
#37
Adjusted Score: 31646%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#38
Adjusted Score: 34653%
Critics Consensus: Like the sequels that preceded it, Rambo: Last Blood is content to indulge in bloody violence at the expense of its main character’s once-poignant story.
#39
Adjusted Score: 28318%
Critics Consensus: The opening’s got a great fiery explosion and Stallone puts in another earnest, sympathetic performance, but all else in Daylight feels designed to annoy the audience into submission.
#40
Adjusted Score: 16624%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#41
Adjusted Score: 25174%
Critics Consensus: Ratchet & Clank may satisfy very young viewers, but compared to the many superior options available to families and animation enthusiasts, it offers little to truly recommend.
#42
Adjusted Score: 25602%
Critics Consensus: Judge Dredd wants to be both a legitimate violent action flick and a parody of one, but director Danny Cannon fails to find the necessary balance to make it work.
#43
Adjusted Score: 20550%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#44
Adjusted Score: 19513%
Critics Consensus: A disengaged Sylvester Stallone plays the titular Cobra with no bite in this leaden action thriller, queasily fixated on wanton carnage and nothing else.
#45
Adjusted Score: 15239%
Critics Consensus: Whether it’s being presented as D-Tox or Eye See You, this Stallone starring vehicle is a slapdash thriller to actively avoid.
#46
Adjusted Score: 19174%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#47
Adjusted Score: 19092%
Critics Consensus: Solid work from Jason Statham and some halfway decent set pieces aren’t enough to make up for Expend4bles‘ lackluster action and cheap-looking effects.
#48
Adjusted Score: 18857%
Critics Consensus: Zookeeper smothers Kevin James’s with a sodden script and a surfeit of jokes inappropriate for the young viewers who would be intrigued by its juvenile storyline.
#49
Adjusted Score: 17563%
Critics Consensus: Underdeveloped characters, silly plot dynamics, and obvious CG effects.
#50
Adjusted Score: 15949%
Critics Consensus: Thoroughly witless and thuddingly unfunny, Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot gives its mismatched stars very little to work with – and as a result, they really don’t work.
#51
Adjusted Score: 4000%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#52
Adjusted Score: 12800%
Critics Consensus: Michael Caine shows up to collect a paycheck, and so does everyone else in this rote, middling remake.
#53
Adjusted Score: 11771%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#54
Adjusted Score: 11596%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#55
Adjusted Score: 5595%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#56
Adjusted Score: 7573%
Critics Consensus: Do not enter.
#57
Adjusted Score: 4225%
Critics Consensus: Featuring a bewildering array of talented actors pummeled by disjointed direction and a dull, hackneyed script, Reach Me is so fundamentally misbegotten that its title reads more like a threat.