Sly and the Family Stallone News for the Week

Craig / / 2021, Celebs, Dolan's Cadillac, First Blood, Guardians of the Galaxy 3, Judge Dredd, Rocky, Rocky 3, Sly's Art, Suicide Squad, Unmade Films, Victory

Sly and the Family Stallone News for the Week:

Sly and the Family Stallone News for the Week

Craig / / 2021, Celebs, Creed 3, D-Tox, Demolition Man, Expendables, Expendables 2, Eye See You, Frank Stallone, Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Guardians of the Galaxy 3, Judge Dredd, Lock Up, Rocky 3, Suicide Squad, The Good Life

Sly and the Family Stallone News for the Week:

Sly and the Family Stallone News for the Week

Craig / / 2021, Celebs, Creed 3, Rocky, Rocky 2, Rocky 3, Rocky 4, Rocky 5, Rocky Balboa, The Good Life

Sly and the Family Stallone News for the Week:

Sly Stallone Directed Films, Ranked

Craig / / 2021, Expendables, Paradise Alley, Rambo, Rocky 2, Rocky 3, Rocky 4, Rocky Balboa, Staying Alive

Jake Dee at ScreenRant looked at the IMDb to come up with Every Movie Sylvester Stallone Has Directed, Ranked.  I decided to compare the IMDb rankings with my own.  After the chart are my thoughts…

Jake Dee (ScreenRant)

Zablo

1. Rocky II

1. Rocky Balboa

2. Rocky Balboa

2. Rocky III

3. Rambo

3. Rambo

4. Rocky IV

4. Paradise Alley

5. Rocky III

5. The Expendables

6. The Expendables

6. Rocky II

7. Paradise Alley

7. Rocky IV

8. Staying Alive

8. Staying Alive

Dee and I agreed on two rankings: #3 – Rambo and #8 – Staying Alive.

I placed Rocky Balboa in the #1 spot for a few reasons. Sly did a wonderful job of capturing the feel of the first movie, but making sure that it also captured how things had changed with the passing of time. I also have a special place for Rocky Balboa because it was such a longshot to be made and it gave the series a wonderful bookend closing.

Rocky III made the #2 spot because Sly was able to take the classic Rocky format (from 1 and 2) and modernize it. It was a dangerous move (Rocky loses, Mickey dies, new music, fast pace, add pro-wrestling) but it worked.

Rambo is #3. Sly placed Rambo with a team and made the battle scenes more graphic. Many thought an older Rambo wouldn’t work, but Sly showed that it would not only work but be one of the best films in the Rambo series.

Paradise Alley comes in at #4. Paradise Alley doesn’t get enough love. Sly’s directorial debut and he chooses a period piece that walks the fine line between drama and comedy. I’m a huge Paradise Alley fan.

#5 is The Expendables. Don’t call it a comeback. What a cool idea. Sly brings together fan favorite action stars and he makes it work not only for this film, but also a new movie series.

Rocky 2 is #6. Sly taking over the directing chores from the man who won the Oscar for directing Rocky. It was a big step, but Sly didn’t falter. Rocky II is a worthy follow-up.

Rocky IV comes in at #7. I like the idea for Rocky IV but it falters just a bit with the Miami Vice quick-cut editing to music. I have grown to enjoy Rocky IV more over time and especially with the way it sets up Creed.

The final spot goes to Stayin’ Alive. I enjoyed this film, but one of Sly’s movies has to come in at #8. Taking on this movie was a huge challenge and props to Sly for stepping up.

“Rocky IV” by Carles Ganya

Craig / / 2021, Rocky 4, Sly Fan

Carles Ganya is the artist of the wonderful Rocky 4 poster above.  Ganya creates all of his pieces traditionally, using graphite pencils on wood!  He’s a big movie fan (especially the 70s and 80s), so if you click over to his Instagram you’ll see Ganya’s art for Terminator, Indiana Jones, Superman and many other classic film heroes.    Ganya’s art can also be found at his PosterSpy page.