Sylvester Stallone’s performance in the breakout hit Rocky has become a cornerstone of American cinema in the 49 years since its release, redefining the sports movie for a new generation of actors, filmmakers, and audiences. However, the 1976 triumph—which he both wrote and starred in—isn’t the greatest reflection of Stallone’s talents as a grim action icon, despite winning the actor an Oscar nomination and putting him on the map in Hollywood. No, that merit belongs instead to the first entry in Stallone’s most iconic ’80s action series, the John Rambo-led First Blood.
Though Rocky Balboa is a great and heroic sports figure you can’t help but root for, John Rambo is a shattered victim of circumstance, left to wander aimlessly from state to state after war and unspeakable violence in Vietnam has left him a broken and traumatized man -that is, before the Rambo sequels fully embraced the macho ’80s action hero persona. Nevertheless, the first Rambo film remains a timeless cult classic that wastes not a second of its hour and a half runtime in exploring the emotional trauma of a veteran abandoned by his government who decides to fight back against those pushing him around.
1976’s Rocky Is Often Considered Sylvester Stallone’s Greatest Performance
In Many Ways, The Film’s Story Reflected Stallone’s Life
Rocky Balboa, the hardworking and lovable small-time boxer turned heavyweight champion, is the quintessential 20th-century folk hero whose tough but optimistic journey to the top resonated with audiences worldwide. Moviegoers love a good underdog story, and Rocky is just that—a down-on-his-luck Philadelphia fighter and debt collector who dreams of more from his life.
Rocky is tired of brawls with two-bit opponents in the small, forgotten rings of the city. After being given the chance of a lifetime to face the heavyweight champion in Carl Weathers’ Apollo Creed, Rocky embarks on an arduous training regimen in one of the greatest and most groundbreaking montages in film history. And while his fight with a world champion is something most people will never experience, the idea behind it – an everyman trying to break away from mediocrity in favor of something greater – is entirely relatable.
The greatest reason why Rocky continues to connect with so many people is the sincerity of its origin.
Though his match with Apollo ends in defeat, Rocky’s climax still feels victorious, since his narrative arc was never about winning the World Heavyweight Championship Title—it was about proving he could overcome his present circumstances and give it his absolute all in the most important fight of his life. The greatest reason why Rocky continues to connect with so many people is the sincerity of its origin. Before 1976, Stallone was that down-on-his-luck dreamer who struggled to make ends meet and had to fight to preserve his vision for the film that would make him an overnight star, and this authenticity shines throughout every glorious minute of this essential American classic.
Why Sylvester Stallone’s First Blood Performance Is His Best
Stallone Got To Do Truly Expressive Acting In The First Rambo Film
As innovative and groundbreaking as Rocky was, the film also proved to be an albatross around Stallone’s neck that typecast him as a bold, quiet tough guy with a limited emotional range, which can be seen on display in Rocky II, Paradise Alley, and even the gritty, action-filled Nighthawks. In contrast, First Blood shattered these theatrical restraints, allowing Stallone to venture into tense and explosive waters he’d never explored before, which complemented his ferocious performance as the emotionally disturbed Vietnam veteran and drifter John Rambo.
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Building off Stallone’s image as a stoic physical actor, First Blood is unique among the actor’s filmography through its narrative decision to initially conceal Rambo’s emotions beneath a grim and inexplicably calm demeanor. However, when a particularly malicious cop triggers a brutal flashback of Rambo’s torture as a POW in Vietnam, this depressive veneer is obliterated as Rambo panics and erupts into a frenzy of violence, escaping from the authorities and setting off a barbarous multi-day manhunt in the Washington wilderness.
This one-man, all-out guerrilla offensive climaxes with Rambo preparing to make a final stand in the town’s police station before bursting into tears and lamenting to his former C.O. Colonel Sam Trautman (Richard Crenna) about the friends he’s lost and his struggles to adjust from war in an iconic monologue that proved Stallone was more than just a one-note physical presence—he was a solid, dramatic actor.
Rocky & First Blood Highlight Different Sides Of Stallone As An Actor
John Rambo Is An Evolution Of Rocky Balboa
The discussion over which Sylvester Stallone character is best, Rocky Balboa or John Rambo, has raged for decades, with hardcore fans arguing over which performance, plot, and even physical presence is better on screen. However, it’s important not to pit these characters against one another in a vacuum, and instead regard their storylines with the added context of Stallone’s career at each respective point in time.
After all, what’s particularly charming about Rocky to this day is the film’s universally appealing underdog story, which we all parties can relate to their own experiences at some point in their lives. Nevertheless, what keeps the Italian Stallion from prevailing over John Rambo is both his limited range of emotion and the finality of his arc, something the latter is neither bound to nor distinguished by.
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After achieving success six years prior with the first Rocky film, Stallone needed to evolve past the image of his most famous character and demonstrate his range and capability as a dramatic actor. First Blood gave him that opportunity, utilizing his strengths as a quiet, stoic force and allowing the CopLand actor to explode at just the precise pressure points throughout its brief hour-and-a-half runtime.
Furthermore, Stallone took on the heavy themes of grief, loss, and PTSD with the role of John Rambo, giving a voice to those veterans cast aside by the government following the conclusion of the Vietnam War. At the end of the day, if Rocky is about overcoming an impossible set of odds, First Blood is about the fallout and survival of those who come out on the other end, and that’s the critical element that cements it as Stallone’s finest film.
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
