Sly Backs Banning Assault Weapons

Craig / / 2013

On February 1, 2013, Sly was quoted by the Associated Press as being in favor of a ban on assault weapons.

Stallone supported the 1994 “Brady bill” that included a now-expired ban on assault weapons, and hopes that ban can be reinstated.

 

“I know people get (upset) and go, `They’re going to take away the assault weapon.’ Who … needs an assault weapon? Like really, unless you’re carrying out an assault. … You can’t hunt with it. … Who’s going to attack your house, a (expletive) army?”

 

Sylvester Stallone: 5 Awesome Performances and 5 That Sucked.

Craig / / 2013, Cliffhanger, Cobra, Cop Land, Demolition Man, Get Carter, John Rambo, Judge Dredd, Nighthawks, Rambo, Rambo 2, Rambo 3, Rhinestone, Rocky, Rocky 2, Rocky 3, Rocky 4, Rocky 5, Rocky 6, Rocky Balboa, Stop Or My Mom Will Shoot

On February 1, 2013, WhatCulture! posted Sylvester Stallone: 5 Awesome Performances and 5 That Sucked.

  • According to WhatCulture! 5 that were Awesome: Rambo [First Blood and sequels], John Spartan [Demolition Man], Gabe Walker [Cliffhanger], Freddy Heflin [Cop Land], and Rocky Balboa [Rocky and sequels].
  • Their Choices for Not-So-Awesome: Judge Dredd [same name], Ray Quick [The Specialist], Marion Cobretti [Cobra], Jack Carter [Get Carter], and Joe Bomoski [Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot!].

To Awesome I would delete Spartan and Walker to make room for Jack Carter and Deke Dasilva [Nighthawks].  To Not-So-Awesome I would delete Carter and add Nick from Rhinestone. – Craig

“Bullet to the Head” Reviews

Craig / / 2013, Bullet to the Head

Bullet to Head is out and the reviews are in…

“Bullet to the Head” opened to mixed reviews and a projected six place slot.  While I wasn’t surprised by the mixed reviews, I was by the box office.  Perhaps the Sandy Hook tragedy is just too fresh in folks’ minds.  Maybe guys made this an all sports weekend with the UFC fights last night and the Super Bowl today.

I enjoyed the movie and while the story isn’t realistic (nor was it meant to be) and has some plot holes — it is a fun action movie and accomplishes what Walter Hill and Sly set out to do.  I plan to see it again this week.  It will be interesting to see what happens during week two at the box office. – Craig

The Sly Wisdom of Action Hero Sylvester Stallone

Craig / / 2013, Celebs

On January 31, 2013, The Independent posted a short interview with Sly that they call The Sly Wisdom of Action Hero Sylvester Stallone.  If you’re a Stallone fan, you should check it out.  Here’s a small taste…

You’re sporting some impressive tattoos in your new film Bullet To The Head. Are they real?  They’re real – unfortunately. I have all kinds of chest injuries; I tore my vein duringRocky II and had 60 stitches. If you’ve seen Rocky Balboa, you’ll know how bad they look. It got worse and worse, and people were saying, “Urgh, has he got varicose veins?” So I thought, f*ck it, and covered them with a tattoo of my wife. Then the tattoo started to grow and it went to a skull and before I knew it, I was a mural.

The film is based on a graphic novel – were you a fan?  Yeah, but in the novel my character was a little more sadistic and crazy, with no redeeming qualities. So I changed that and I cut the goatee off because he looked exactly like Barney from The Expendables.

Do you think your acting skills are underappreciated?  I didn’t work my way through certain acting establishments or Bafta or, what do you call it? Royal… [puts on hoity-toity English voice] Rada! It’s been a real grind. I never really learned how to act; it was on-the-job training.

Given that your films have taken $1.6bn at the box office, does it annoy you that you don’t get the respect you deserve from Hollywood?  It did, it did. But there’s a different kind of recognition now – from the people. There’s an eclectic, sophisticated sort of recognition. I used the challenge of Cop Land to prove a point. Now I go, “OK, I can do those kind of movies. Now let’s see you guys do an action film.”

Have you ever fallen out with any of your fellow Eighties action heroes?  Steven Seagal said that he “didn’t associate with that kind of element” – meaning me. So I slammed him up against a wall… At that time, our testosterone was running full bore. He was full of his height [Seagal is 6ft 3in, Stallone is 5ft 10in] and I was full of… um… myself. But we made up. He can be very abstract.