Sylvester Stallone

Made films the shows talk about.

Wikidata Q40026: matched by corpus:resolve, told apart by the only person by that name on Wikidata.

Counted as actor. The films the hosts said they acted in, which the two lists below run through too: Rocky (1976); First Blood (1982); Rocky IV (1985); Cobra (1986); Tango & Cash (1989); Oscar (1991); Cliffhanger (1993); Tombstone (1993); Cop Land (1997); Copland (1997); Grudge Match (2013); Creed (2015); (Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot, as garbled); Driven; Escape to Victory (Victory); Nighthawks; Paradise Alley; Rambo; Victory. Count them as director (2 films), writer (2 films) instead.

Draws on

What the speakers say they, or a film of theirs, drew on. Each is a speaker's account: “the maker said so” when they report the maker's own words, “the host's read” when the read is theirs.

Rocky (1976): 2 lines, within their own work

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Creed (2015), which they acted in: Rocky ⇒ Creed (the host's read). Merchant says Creed repeated Rocky's trick of making you care about the character before the fighting.
    “when they rebooted it with Creed, I think they did the same thing”
    The Big Picture · Pro Wrestling Goes to the Movies, Plus Stephen Merchant on ‘Fighting With My Family’ | Interview (Ep. 130) · 0:46:07 · Stephen Merchant (0.95 sure it was them)
  2. lineage (lineage) · through Creed (2015), which they acted in: Rocky ⇒ Creed (the host's read). Creed closely follows Rocky's structure, but opens with Creed obviously able to fight, unlike Rocky's grim opening bout.
    “in Creed, which very closely follows some of the structures of rocky.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:38:15 · Chris Ryan (0.45 sure it was them)

The Godfather (1972): 2 lines

  1. craft (craft) · through Tombstone (1993), which they acted in: The Godfather ⇒ Tombstone (the maker said so: Russell, in his True West magazine interview). Russell's intended tone was a Western Godfather; Jarre's version was more elegant.
    “Well, Russell says it, it was basically the godfather of Westerns.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Tombstone’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:10:03 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
  2. craft (craft) · through Tombstone (1993), which they acted in: The Godfather ⇒ Tombstone (the host's read). The Oriental faro takeover shows the Godfather-like business side Russell wanted.
    “You could see the godfather thing that Russell's talking about when he moves into Tombstone and immediately takes over the Faro game at the Oriental.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Tombstone’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:33:55 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)

Chuck Wepner: 1 line

  1. people (people) · through Rocky (1976), which they acted in: Chuck Wepner ⇒ Rocky (the host's read). Stallone watched Wepner take a beating from Ali for 15 rounds and was inspired to write Rocky in 3.5 days.
    “He's watching Webner Ali in 75, which was the real life version of this.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:19:58 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)

John Ford: 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Tombstone (1993), which they acted in: John Ford ⇒ Tombstone (the host's read). Contrast: Ford Westerns vs gnarly, vulgar Tombstone.
    “bridge from John Ford Westerns to Deadwood”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Tombstone’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:34:31 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)

Skyfall (2012): 1 line

  1. industry (industry) · through Creed (2015), which they acted in: Skyfall ⇒ Creed (the host's read). Bringing a prestige director to a franchise leads to Coogler doing Creed and Black Panther.
    “It leads to things like Ryan Kugler does Creed in Black Panther”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Skyfall’ With Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey, and Amanda Dobbins · 0:45:54 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)

The Longest Yard: 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Rocky (1976), which they acted in: The Longest Yard ⇒ Rocky (the host's read). Longest Yard arguably started the big-event beats, but Rocky is what made the sports-movie recipe stick.
    “which I guess you could say longest yard started it, but once Rocky did this.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:06:09 · Chris Ryan (0.45 sure it was them)

Three Amigos (1986): 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Tombstone (1993), which they acted in: Three Amigos ⇒ Tombstone (the host's read). The wedding-execution opening resembles the Three Amigos setup.
    “this movie's after the 3 amigos, right?”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Tombstone’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:28:23 · Chris Ryan (0.30 sure it was them)

Drawn on by

What the speakers say drew on them or a film of theirs, marked the same way.

Creed (2015): 2 lines, within their own work

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Rocky (1976), which they acted in: Rocky ⇒ Creed (the host's read). Merchant says Creed repeated Rocky's trick of making you care about the character before the fighting.
    “when they rebooted it with Creed, I think they did the same thing”
    The Big Picture · Pro Wrestling Goes to the Movies, Plus Stephen Merchant on ‘Fighting With My Family’ | Interview (Ep. 130) · 0:46:07 · Stephen Merchant (0.95 sure it was them)
  2. lineage (lineage) · through Rocky (1976), which they acted in: Rocky ⇒ Creed (the host's read). Creed closely follows Rocky's structure, but opens with Creed obviously able to fight, unlike Rocky's grim opening bout.
    “in Creed, which very closely follows some of the structures of rocky.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:38:15 · Chris Ryan (0.45 sure it was them)

Fighting with My Family (2019): 2 lines

  1. craft (craft) · through Rocky (1976), which they acted in: Rocky ⇒ Fighting with My Family (the maker said so: Merchant in this interview). Merchant says you cannot make a sports movie without watching Rocky and all its sequels.
    “make any kind of sports a movie without watching Rocky or indeed all of the Rockies”
    The Big Picture · Pro Wrestling Goes to the Movies, Plus Stephen Merchant on ‘Fighting With My Family’ | Interview (Ep. 130) · 0:45:46 · Stephen Merchant (0.95 sure it was them)
  2. craft (craft) · through Rocky (1976), which they acted in: Rocky ⇒ Fighting with My Family (the maker said so: Merchant in this interview). Merchant calls Rocky a template because it beds in character so you root for him before the fight, a lesson he applied.
    “a template in the sense that it really beds in character”
    The Big Picture · Pro Wrestling Goes to the Movies, Plus Stephen Merchant on ‘Fighting With My Family’ | Interview (Ep. 130) · 0:46:00 · Stephen Merchant (0.95 sure it was them)

(the modern sports movie): 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Rocky (1976), which they acted in: Rocky ⇒ (the modern sports movie) (the host's read). Rocky created the sports-movie prototype and the modern underdog.
    “created the sports movie prototype, like just period.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:05:47 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)

Bull Durham (1988): 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Rocky (1976), which they acted in: Rocky ⇒ Bull Durham (the host's read). Bull Durham took the Rocky motto a level further in how a sports movie is written.
    “how can we take that rocky motto and actually go the next level with how we write a movie”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:25:51 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)

Cinderella Man (2005): 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Rocky (1976), which they acted in: Rocky ⇒ Cinderella Man (the host's read). Rocky set up the idea that a victory transforms the supporting cast too, as in Cinderella Man where he fights for Giamatti.
    “by the time you get to like Cinderella man, you realize that he's not just fighting for him, he's fighting for Giamatti.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:28:11 · Chris Ryan (0.45 sure it was them)

Deadwood (2004): 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Tombstone (1993), which they acted in: Tombstone ⇒ Deadwood (the host's read). Tombstone as the bridge from John Ford Westerns to Deadwood.
    “I tend to think of this movie as the bridge from John Ford Westerns to Deadwood”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Tombstone’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:34:31 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)

F1 (2025): 1 line

  1. theme (theme) · through Rocky IV (1985), which they acted in: Rocky IV ⇒ F1 (the host's read). Sonny and Kate's beer scene cuts into an old-school versus new-school training montage like Rocky IV.
    “Right into the Rocky 4 training montage”
    The Rewatchables · ‘F1’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:48:10 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)

George P. Cosmatos: 1 line

  1. industry (industry) · them, directly: Sylvester Stallone ⇒ George P. Cosmatos (the maker said so: Russell, in his True West magazine interview). Russell says he got the ghost director through Stallone, who had done the same on Rambo II.
    “I called up Sly.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Tombstone’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:08:20 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)

Raging Bull (1980): 1 line

  1. theme (anti-genre) · through Rocky (1976), which they acted in: Rocky ⇒ Raging Bull (the maker said so). Scorsese shot in black and white to differentiate from Rocky-era bright red-white-and-blue boxing movies, and producer Winkler produced both.
    “Number one, I want to differentiate from the Rockies and all the other sort of boxing movies right now.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Raging Bull with David Krumholtz · 1:08:55 · Griffin Newman or David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)

Rocky Balboa (2006): 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Rocky (1976), which they acted in: Rocky ⇒ Rocky Balboa (the host's read). The little girl Marie from Rocky grows up to be the love interest in Rocky Balboa.
    “she then becomes the Rocky Balboa love interest.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:14:31 · Van Lathan (0.45 sure it was them)

The Karate Kid (1984): 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Rocky (1976), which they acted in: Rocky ⇒ The Karate Kid (the host's read). Rocky is eight years before Karate Kid, which is called the 2.0 version of the same underdog story but a completely different movie in every respect.
    “We're 8 years away from karate kid, which is the next, the 2.0 version of this movie.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:11:32 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)

What the speakers said they did

Directing (2) everyone in directing

Acting (33) everyone in acting

Other (7) everyone in other

Writing (2) everyone in writing

What was said about them, by kind

career (8)

  1. career (career): Sylvester Stallone → Quentin Tarantino. Stallone's self-made breakout is likened to Tarantino crossed with acting, and Tarantino was the runner-up for who won the movie.
    “It's Tarantino crossed with acting almost?”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:14:52 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)
  2. career (career): Sylvester Stallone → On the Waterfront. Stallone may have wished to make more movies like On the Waterfront than the franchises that became golden handcuffs.
    “I would have liked to have made more movies that are like on the waterfront or whatever”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:22:27 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)
  3. career (career): Sylvester Stallone → Rocky III. Stallone's best A-list run came with Rocky 3 and First Blood in the same year, a roughly six-year run.
    “He has one of the best, probably 6 year A-list movie star runs ever.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:22:54 · Chris Ryan (0.45 sure it was them)
  4. career (career): Sylvester Stallone → Nighthawks. After Rocky he tried to separate from the character: beard in Nighthawks, big weight loss in Victory.
    “You know, like he's in Nighthawks, he grew a beard.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:23:09 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)
  5. career (career): Sylvester Stallone → Cop Land. Stallone was in and out of the Rocky persona until Copland and its physical transformation.
    “and obviously he spends most of his career like in and out of that persona, really until Copland.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:23:22 · Chris Ryan (0.45 sure it was them)
  6. career (career): Sylvester Stallone → Rocky III. Stallone's Apex Mountain: Rocky 3 and Rambo in 82.
    “I think his Apex Mountain was that Rocky 3, Rambo.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:28:20 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  7. career (career): Sylvester Stallone → Rocky. Stallone writing and starring in Rocky is the biggest 'who won the movie' of all time.
    “Obviously, Si Stallone.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:45:37 · Bill Simmons (0.45 sure it was them)
  8. career (career): Paradise Alley → Sylvester Stallone. Shoemaker says Paradise Alley explains why Stallone's later career was so Rocky and Rambo heavy.
    “explains why Stallone's career was like heavily rocky and Rambo going forward”
    The Big Picture · Pro Wrestling Goes to the Movies, Plus Stephen Merchant on ‘Fighting With My Family’ | Interview (Ep. 130) · 0:09:13 · David Shoemaker (0.80 sure it was them)

industry (2)

  1. industry (industry): Sylvester Stallone → Henry Winkler. Winkler had to ask ABC to give back Stallone's script, which Stallone had sold to ABC.
    “Winkler has to go back to ABC, ask for the script back.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:21:26 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)
  2. industry (industry): George P. Cosmatos → Sylvester Stallone. Russell says he got the ghost director through Stallone, who had done the same on Rambo II.
    “I called up Sly.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Tombstone’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:08:20 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)

people (3)

  1. people (people): Sylvester Stallone → Antonio Tarver. Stallone removed Roy Jones Jr. from Rocky Balboa and put Antonio Tarver in.
    “Sloane removed him from the movie and put Antonio Tarver in the movie.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:58:04 · Van Lathan (0.60 sure it was them)
  2. people (people): Sylvester Stallone → Staying Alive. Stallone directed Staying Alive and put himself in the redone opening credits.
    “because he's directing the movie.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Saturday Night Fever’ With Bill Simmons and Jimmy Kimmel · 1:18:18 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)
  3. people (people): Sylvester Stallone → Burgess Meredith. Stallone reportedly called Meredith one of the all-time great stick men, a story relayed via Rapaport.
    “One of the all time great stick men.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Batman (1966) · 1:12:58 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)

unmapped (1)

  1. unmapped (betting on yourself): Chazz Palminteri → Sylvester Stallone. Palminteri's refusal to sell the one-man show without starring is compared to Stallone and Rocky.
    “I'm betting on myself move.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘A Bronx Tale’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey, and Van Lathan · 0:32:27 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)

verdict (1)

  1. verdict (verdict): Sylvester Stallone → Tango & Cash. A host loves Tango and Cash.
    “Tango and Cash is one of my favorite movies.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:24:25 · Bill Simmons (0.45 sure it was them)

what-if (5)

  1. what-if (what-if): Sylvester Stallone → Good Will Hunting. Asked whether Damon and Affleck's Good Will Hunting is the same make-your-own-movie story; the difference is they'd been in movies already.
    “Would Good Wolf Hunting be in the same mode of a movie where the guys just went, fuck it, we're going to make our own movie and explodes?”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:20:25 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)
  2. what-if (what-if): Sylvester Stallone → Seven. Stallone reportedly turned down Mills, post-Tango and Cash, hunting for a dramatic movie that turned out to be Copland; Sly would have derailed it.
    “Sly in this movie derails it.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 1:00:38 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  3. what-if (what-if): Eddie Murphy → Sylvester Stallone. With anyone but Eddie, including Stallone, it would be an actively bad movie because the plot is known in the first 30 minutes.
    “I think that you could safely say this would be an actively bad movie with anybody besides Eddie Murphy”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ With Bill Simmons, Wesley Morris, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:17:22 · unknown (0.50 sure it was them)
  4. what-if (what-if): Sylvester Stallone → Saving Private Ryan. Stallone's rewrite aimed for an opening like Saving Private Ryan on the streets of Detroit, which was too expensive.
    “The script he wrote, the opening scene from Saving Private Ryan on the beaches of Normandy was what he was going for.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ With Bill Simmons, Wesley Morris, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 1:02:37 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  5. what-if (what-if): Sylvester Stallone → Martin Scorsese. Stallone was signed and Scorsese was offered the director's job and was bewildered by the script.
    “Scorsese offered the director's tour.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ With Bill Simmons, Wesley Morris, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 1:03:21 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

Fun items about them

  1. fun, about Sylvester Stallone: Stallone saw Wepner fight Ali and wrote the script in three and a half days.
    “Stallone so inspired pumps out the movie in 3.5 days.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:20:14 · Chris Ryan (0.45 sure it was them)
  2. fun, about Sylvester Stallone: He sold the script to ABC; Henry Winkler had to get it back, and Stallone insisted on writing and starring for far less money.
    “Stallone betting on himself is a chapter.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:21:45 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  3. fun, about Sylvester Stallone: This is the 11th Stallone Rewatchable, moving him into the top five with Denzel.
    “By the way, we've done, this is our 11th Stallone rewatchable.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:23:34 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)
  4. fun, about Sylvester Stallone: He smoked so much making Rocky that he quit smoking in real life.
    “In real life, he quit after Rocky because he was like, it was too gross.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:12:34 · Van Lathan (0.40 sure it was them)
  5. fun, about Sylvester Stallone: Urban legend: Stallone demanded a certain orange juice in his trailer, there was a fight, and he quit. His version ended with a Lamborghini racing a freight train.
    “He was old, 2 weeks for his filming.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ With Bill Simmons, Wesley Morris, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 1:02:49 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  6. fun, about Sylvester Stallone: Russell says Stallone supplied the ghost director and had done the same on Rambo II.
    “I called up Sly.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Tombstone’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:08:20 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)