From theRockyfranchise to theRambofranchise,Sylvester Stallonehas a resume every budding actor would wish to have. Even better, he has been relevant for nearly five decades, the kind of grace most celebrities only dream of having but never quite get. His films have grossed billions of dollars, and in the process, he has landed two Oscar nominations. The actor’s foray into television has also been wildly successful, withTulsa Kingemerging as one of the best shows of the 2020s.
Like every other human, Stallone has also had his terrible moments. You are unlikely to notice it, but he has more flops than hits and is one of the most Razzie-nominated actors in history (a whopping 40 nominations). The award body named him Worst Actor of the Decade for the 1990s, and also Worst Actor of the Century. Harsh, but the actor himself recognizes some of his misfires. While most people pretend to be proud of all their work, Stallone admits that there are a few movies he should never have made.
7‘Judge Dredd’ (1995)
Judge Dredd
Eager to have his ownTerminator, Sylvester Stallone quickly acceptedJudge Dreddwhen it was offered to him,despite having never read the 2000 AD Comics it’s based on. The film abouta corps of “Judges” who serve as police, judges, juries, and executioners, all rolled in one, turned out to be one of the worst in his career.
So Serious?
There’s some potential insideJudge Dredd. The film touches on important topics like police brutality and bio-engineering, but the glow was lost while trying to make it yet another Stallone action flick. During an interview withUncut, the actor expressed regret, stating that the movie “didn’t live up to what it could have been,” and that “it probably should have been much more comic, really humorous, and fun.” Thankfully, comic fans were treatedto a better screen adaptationa few years later starring Karl Urban.
6‘Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot’ (1992)
Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot
Everyone remembers Sergeant Joseph Andrew Borowski asthe role Sylvester Stallone was tricked into accepting. His then-rival Arnold Schwarzenegger faked interest in playing thecop whose overenthusiastic visiting mother insists on tagging alongin his crime-solving exploits.Stop! Or My Mom Will Shootended up putting a big stain on Stallone’s resume, and the actor admits he made a big mistake.
Stop! Or You’ll Ruin Your Career
Stop! Or My Mom Will Shootisn’t entirely an unwatchable movie. There is some fun in watching the mum try to shoot, butthe jokes never land, and the action star often looks like he’d rather be somewhere else. Duringa question and answer session with AICN, Stallone was asked about the movies he regrets making, and this was the first that came to his mind. It’s interesting how Schwarzenegger smelled the stink from miles away.
5‘Oscar’ (1991)
The early ’90s were ideal years for anyone who wished to star in a gangster movie, so Sylvester Stallone did. Unfortunately, the script required him to be a funny guy, rather than a cold-blooded hoodlum, something fans and critics didn’t like.Oscar— a film about a mobster whostruggles to keep his promise to go legitimate— thus underperformed on all metrics.
No Oscar for ‘Oscar’… Not Even Close
Oscarought to have worked. After all, it was crafted by the gifted hands of theBlues Brothersdirector, John Landis. Somehow, somewhere, things didn’t go right. Stallone seems to understand where the ship hit the iceberg,telling Comicbook.comthat people didn’t embrace the movie because it was “too much of a shocking transition fromRambo.” Thankfully, the actor would redeem himself in the gangster genre years later by playingthe dapper Dwight ManifrediinTulsa King.
4‘D-Tox’ aka ‘Eye See You’ (2002)
Based on the 1999 novel Jitter Joint by Howard Swindle,D-Toxfollows an FBI Agent (played by Sylvester Stallone) suffering from PTSD after witnessing a brutal killing. Hechecks himself into a rehabilitation center for lawmen in the remote wilderness of Wyoming, only for a serial killer to show upand start targeting everyone.
A Messy Production
Stallone recalls that the signs of bad things were there right from the start. The original producer pulled out, and after that, the studio lost faith. The film would be shelved for over a year before being released.
“The movie had the smell of death about it. Actually, if you looked up, you could see celluloid buzzards circling as we lay there dying on the distributor’s floor.”
On the bright side, we got to see a different side of Stallone, one who was on defense rather than offense. The film’s exploration of mental health also makes it superior to others of its kind.
3‘Rhinestone’ (1984)
Rhinestone
It’s still hard to believe that Sylvester Stallone starred a musical, alongside Dolly Parton. Unlike many of the latter’s many works, this wasn’t a hit.Rhinestone— drawing its name from Larry Weiss’ 1975 hit song “Rhinestone Cowboy,” — follows a country singer as she trains a taxi driver on how to sing so that they can perform together.
Singing Sly
The Golden Raspberry Awards namedRhinestone“The Worst Musical of the Last 25 Years.” Frompoor song choices to a lack of chemistry between the leads, the film has nothing worth praising. Stallone regretted everything about it,admitting to AICthat it “went in a direction that shattered my internal corn meter into smithereens,” and adding that he “would have done many things differently.”
Interestingly, in the bookReel Power: The Struggle for Influence and Success in the New Hollywood, Fox executives suggest that Stallone is to blame for all the mess, revealing that his insistence on changing huge chunks of the script, ruined the plot completely.
2‘Driven’ (2001)
Sylvester Stallone’s attempt to make his own version ofDays of Thunderfell flat.Driven, abouta young racing driver’s attempt to win the now defunct CART FedEx Championship Series auto racing championship, was a commercial failure, grossing way less than its $72 million budget.
Didn’t Quite Cross the Finishing Line
Like many other Stallone flops,Drivensuffers from narrative failures, with more focus placed on cool dialogue and stunning race sequences. It’s watchable, but not memorable, so the actorwishes he had kipped this one. Talk show host, Jay Leno, a renowned gearhead, also named this one of the worst car movies ever made.
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1‘Get Carter’ (2000)
Get Carter
The decision to remake one ofthe greatest British gangster filmsstill baffles many, but we can’t fault Sly for his confidence. He felt he would do a better job than what Michael Caine did in the ‘70s. So came the newGet Carter, a film abouta mobster who suspects that his brother didn’t die of a car accident as initially reported.He thus starts digging.
Carter’s Financial Woes
Get Cartermade less than a third of its budget, prompting detractors to suggest that Stallone’s star power was truly gone. Praise to the actor though, as he is outstanding here, and only let down by a poor, routine script. Stallone wouldexpress his regret to The Hollywood Reporter, stating:
“I learned the hard way that [remakes], even if you do it better than the original, there’s a tremendous nostalgia attached to the original. And quite often they’re not done as well.”
Accurate sentiments! The actor has wisely stayed away from remakes since then.
