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Tombstone is one of the best films in Val Kilmer’s career with the 1993 Western film proving to be a major commercial success. However, the film faced a long and hard road to production after actor Kevin Costner who was originally approached for the role of Wyatt Earp not only turned it down but also developed a separate project centered on the character.

Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer starred in Tombstone (Credit: Buena Vista).

Given Costner’s experience and established status in the Western genre Kilmer’s iteration was doomed the moment Costner decided to pursue a rival project. However, the film was saved with the help of actor Sylvester Stallone who had a key role in its production despite not appearing. Here is how Stallone saved Kilmer’s Tombstone.

Sylvester Stallone Saved Val Kilmer’s Tombstone After Kevin Costner Drama

Actor Val Kilmer is known for his performances in...

Tony Scott's 1986 navy recruitment film "Top Gun" was released in the middle of the Reagan administration: a time when the American military was being venerated in mainstream pop entertainment and sold as a badass, action-loving fighting force. The sadness and pain of the Vietnam War was being deliberately eschewed in favor of highly varnished machismo, and many movies depicted American soldiers as endlessly capable violence machines. It's how we went from the downbeat and tragic "First Blood" to the chest-pounding jingoism of "Rambo: First Blood Part II" in just three years. "Top Gun" depicted the world's coolest naval jet pilots as they trained to become the best, and took on a mysterious enemy military hailing from an unnamed nation. 

To stress the pilots' coolness, "Top Gun" starred the dazzling movie giant Tom Cruise as Peter "Maverick" Mitchell and the equally dazzling Val Kilmer as his rival, Tom "Iceman" Kazansky.

Deadpool & Wolverine broke countless box office records earlier this year and Marvel Comics is now capitalising on that with a new Deadpool/Wolverine comic book series.

While recent months have seen the characters share the page in a few different titles, this ongoing monthly series will reunite X-Force writer Benjamin Percy and artist Joshua Cassara as Wade Wilson and Logan set off on a mission to deal with a returning X-Men villain. Oh, and new revelations about their shared past.

According to Percy, Deadpool/Wolverine isn't directly inspired by the Marvel Studios threequel and was instead in development long before that arrived in theaters.

"The film was both a hit and a hoot, but we started working on this series long before we ever saw Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds tear each other apart in a Honda Odyssey," the writer tells IGN. "So I can’t say it was an influence,...

What are the greatest action movies of all time? It’s a controversial question, isn’t it? Any time any publication or site puts out a new list of what they consider the best action movies of all time, it can’t help but generate a ton of controversy. Nevertheless, we here at JoBlo have decided to throw our hats into the ring with a list we really hope generates some nostalgia among our viewers but also encourages them to seek out the movies on this list that they may not have seen. But first, some may wonder where superhero movies are on this list. Given how broad that genre is, we decided to stick to old-school action, so we have left them off the list, as they deserve their own ranking. There are also a few absences from the list, notably some Jackie Chan Hong Kong films (like Police Story...

Leonard Engelman, who lobbied the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to install a makeup branch and served as its first governor when they did so, died Thursday at 88 in Northridge Hospital Medical Center.

His death was confirmed by the Cinema Makeup School in Los Angeles, but no cause has been given.

Engelman worked on such films as Rocky IV, The Princess Diaries, Batman & Robin and How the Grinch Stole Christmas and did Cher’s makeup for more than 30 years.

He also served as an Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences VP and board member for many years.

Born in Burbank, he was the son of a Hollywood makeup artist. Engelman graduated from Burbank High School, and received his first film credit on Alfred Hitchcock’s Topaz (1969).

Engelman received Emmy nominations in 1972 for an episode of Night Gallery and in 2001 for the miniseries Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. He...

Leonard Engelman, the esteemed makeup artist who worked on films including Rocky IV, The Princess Diaries, Batman & Robin and How the Grinch Stole Christmas and did Cher’s makeup for more than 30 years, has died. He was 83.

Engelman died Thursday at Northridge Hospital Medical Center, his wife of 42 years, artist Esther Engelman, told The Hollywood Reporter. The cause of death is unclear, she said.

The son of a Hollywood makeup artist, Engelman labored for a long time to convince the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to install a makeup branch, as those artisans had always been “at-large” members. And when it did so in 2006, he was elected its first governor. Later, he worked to have hairstylists added.

He also served as an Academy vice president and board member for many years.

Engelman received Emmy nominations in 1972 for an episode of Night Gallery and in 2001 for the miniseries Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis,...

"Tombstone" may now be considered one of the most beloved Westerns of the late twentieth century, but the film had an incredibly rocky path from the page to the big screen. "Tombstone" was intended to be the directorial debut of "Glory" screenwriter Kevin Jarre, but when he fell behind schedule a month into the shoot, producer Andrew Vajna fired him and brought in veteran helmer George P. Cosmatos ("Rambo: First Blood Part II" and "Leviathan") to ostensibly drag the movie to the finish line.

We've since learned that, after Jarre's departure, the driving creative force on "Tombstone" was star Kurt Russell. Cast as legendary lawman Wyatt Earp, Russell brought a semblance of order to the wayward production by streamlining the lengthy screenplay with producer Jim Jacks. His instincts proved plenty sharp. By foregrounding the unlikely friendship forged between Earp and the tuberculosis-stricken gambler/gunman Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer in one...

Sylvester Stallone was one of the major action heroes of the 80s and 90s alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger. The actor had to fight his way to get noticed in the industry as he was an outsider trying to make a name as an actor. Stallone created two of the most iconic franchises in Hollywood: Rocky and Rambo.

Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo in First Blood | Orion Pictures

By the 80s, Stallone was already a two-time Oscar-nominated actor for his brilliant work in Rocky. He was eyeing another potential hit with 1982’s First Blood. However, the Rocky star was very unhappy with the original cut of the film so much so that he wanted to burn the negatives. However, his significant input changed everything for the better.

Sylvester Stallone Was Responsible for Making The ‘Unwatchable’ First Blood Into A Hit

The success of First Blood made Sylvester Stallone a bonafide action hero...

Stallone. Schwarzenegger. Jcvd. Seagal. Snipes. Gibson. These were the legends of eighties and nineties action cinema, but let me tell you something, folks, back in the 80s, there was one guy who was just as big as any of them, and his name was Chuck Norris. Nowadays, the martial arts champion’s movies don’t get quite as much play as those of the other guys I mentioned, probably because Norris never really made an A-level studio film, with him mostly toiling in elevated B-movies throughout the decade. But, some of them were really a lot of fun, as we’re going to dig into one of the most over-the-top and explosive ones of them all – Invasion U.S.A.

Cut back to the year 1984. After years of making lower-budget action films, Norris’s career started to hit its stride. In 1983, Lone Wolf McQuade brought him to the attention of Menahem Golan,...

Some cliche somewhere said that ‘a picture is worth a thousand words.’ This has proven to be the case for me and especially when it comes to fan art. I have always sought out great fan art and have wanted to share it with as many people as possible. “Awesome Art We’ve Found Around The Net” is the outlet for that passion. In this column, I will showcase the kick-ass artwork of some great artists, with the hopes that these artists get the attention they deserve. That’s the aim. If you have any questions or comments, or even suggestions of art or other great artists, feel free to contact me at any time at theodorebond@joblo.com.

Blade by Sahin Düzgün

Dune Part One by Waxbones

Fantastic Four by Nick Low

Final Fantasy IX by Drake (Winson) Tsui

Godzilla by Matt Frank

Highlander by Adrien Noterdaem

The Lion King...

Intro: It’s a story we’ve all heard before. A group of friends stray off the beaten path and end up having to fight for their lives. This has served as the set-up for many classic horror films and thrillers. Back in the early ‘90s, director Stephen Hopkins used it as the set-up for an action movie that has an awesome cast. Emilio Estevez, Cuba Gooding Jr., Jeremy Piven, and Stephen Dorff play the friends fighting to survive. Denis Leary is the leader of the criminal gang out for their blood. Unfortunately, not a lot of people went to see the movie when it was released… but they did make the soundtrack a hit. The movie is called Judgment Night, and it’s time for it to be Revisited.

Set-up: Judgment Night started out as a spec script written by Kevin Jarre, whose other credits include Rambo: First Blood Part 2,...

A proposed film studio planned for Buckinghamshire, UK has sparked controversy among locals, but Piranha II director James Cameron has provided his backing for the project.

A major new UK film studio, targeting a tract of land in Buckinghamshire, has been backed by filmmaker James Cameron.

Marlow Film Studios has proven to be a controversial project so far; its proposed location on a former quarry next to the A404 near the small town of Marlow has led local councillors to argue that the development would cause traffic problems and damage green belt land.

Buckinghamshire Council failed to reach a decision on the proposals in October 2023, meaning a pivotal vote on the project has been deferred to this year. Ahead of that vote, Cameron – known for the 1981 smash Piranha II: The Spawning and his screenplay for Rambo: First Blood Part II – has written to Buckinghamshire Council, recommending that it waves through the proposed studio.

James Cameron delivered a masterclass in Paris on Thursday night following a sold-out screening of his 1984 breakout “The Terminator.” With the title so fresh in his mind, the filmmaker spent much of the session sharing stories from the project’s improbable making of.

For one thing, what the production lacked in financial resources it made up for in pre-production time — eight months, to be exact, as the team waited for Arnold Schwarzenegger’s schedule to clear.

“I figured we didn’t have the money for a designer, and I could draw, so what the hell,” Cameron recalled. “I drew everything, and storyboarded the film very, very meticulously.”

The masterclass kicked off a new exhibition at Paris’ Cinematheque Française that positions Cameron as a graphic artist who draws inspiration from his own subconscious. Running until January 2025, “The Art of James Cameron” showcases more then 300 paintings, etchings and production designs pulled from Cameron’s private collection,...

The 1993 Western "Tombstone" had a notoriously troubled production that even led star Kurt Russell to help with directing duties, essentially co-directing with credited helmer George P. Cosmatos (the director of "Rambo: First Blood Part II" and father of "Mandy" director Panos Cosmatos). Despite the difficulties filming the story inspired by the exploits of real-life Tombstone sheriff Wyatt Earp (Russell), some of the cast managed to develop friendships, and that includes Russell and the man behind Doc Holiday, Val Kilmer. 

In an interview with GQ where he looked back at some of his most iconic roles, Russell shared a fun anecdote about gifts he and Kilmer traded at the end of filming "Tombstone" that happened to be exceptionally in-character for them both. Making "Tombstone" may have been a real pain, but at least they managed to find a silver lining (and created one of the best Westerns of all time). 

Read...

Pluto TV, Paramount’s free streaming service, has revealed its April highlights. The Pluto TV April 2024 schedule celebrates the service’s 10th anniversary, highlights star-studded dramas, and marks the halfway point to Halloween with April Ghouls, where you’ll find spooky marathons across its channels.

Pluto TV is the leading free streaming television service, delivering hundreds of live, linear channels and thousands of titles on-demand to a global audience.

The Emmy Award-winning service curates a diverse lineup of channels in partnership with over 400 international media companies. It offers a wide array of genres, languages, and categories featuring movies, television series, sports, news, lifestyle, kids, and much more.

Pluto TV April 2024 Programming

10th Anniversary

Pluto TV is giving the gift of great TV and movies for its birthday.

April 1 at 8 p.m. Et on Action Drama: 10-Hour Seal Team marathon.

April 1 on Pluto TV Spotlight: 2014 Movie Marathon featuring Big Eyes, Noah,...

Expendables 4 or Expend4bles was the final nail in the coffin for the renowned Sylvester Stallone action franchise that made a name for bringing some iconic stars together on screen. The fourth and latest film in the franchise was a critical and commercial disaster. Adding more to its list of injuries, the film also gave Sylvester Stallone a Razzie for the Worst Supporting Actor.

Sylvester Stallone in The Expendables 4

With his latest Razzie for Expendables 4, Sylvester Stallone has made a record for most Razzie wins by an actor and an action icon. Even after being one of the greatest names in action and Hollywood, Stallone has been a recipient of a record 11 dishonoring Razzies in total. It does not look like any other action star would be able to break the record soon.

How did Expendables 4 lead Sylvester Stallone to his Razzie record? Jason Statham in Expend4bles

Recently,...

When director Michael Winner and screenwriter Wendell Mayes adapted Brian Garfield's novel "Death Wish," it's doubtful that they had any idea they'd be launching a film franchise that would change the landscape of vigilante thrillers forever, and solidify Charles Bronson as one of the greatest stars of action cinema. The "Death Wish" films start out as a twisted character study of a man named Paul Kersey as he slowly descends into a life of vengeance and violence, bearing arms and serving as a one-man judge, jury, and executioner. There's a real allure to righting wrongs outside of the American justice system, but as Kearsey's arc shows, his desire to kill has perhaps always been a part of him -- which makes him part of the problem.

As the franchise went on, the "Death Wish" films cared less and less about the moral conundrums of its hero and instead wanted...

Killer Collectibles highlights five of the most exciting new horror products announced each and every week, from toys and apparel to artwork, records, and much more.

Here are the coolest horror collectibles unveiled this week!

Leviathan 4K Uhd from Kino Lorber

Leviathan plunges onto 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray on February 20 via Kino Lorber. The 1989 sci-fi/horror film been newly restored in 4K from the 35mm interpositive with Dolby Vision/Hdr and 5.1 surround and lossless 2.0 audio.

George P. Cosmatos directs from a script by David Webb Peoples and Jeb Stuart. Peter Weller, Richard Crenna, Amanda Pays, Daniel Stern, Ernie Hudson, Michael Carmine, Lisa Eilbacher, and Héctor Elizondo star.

Special features include: a new commentary by film historians Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson; Leviathan: Monster Melting Pot featurette; interviews with Hudson and Elizondo; the trailer; and reversible artwork.

Pumpkinhead & Killer Klowns Puppets from Toynk

Reach out and grab some fun with Toynk’s Reachers,...

The late 20th century was a wild time to be a kid immersed in the world of pop culture. It was the period that produced Jessica Rabbit, a cartoon character you felt embarrassed to watch with your parents, and a time when stores regularly stocked movie tie-in toys linked to “kid-friendly” fare like Aliens and Terminator 2.

It seemed like nothing was off the table and that was certainly the case in the world of cartoons. Eager to cash in on the appeal of cinematic properties in a way that would give even the MCU pause for thought, a glut of animated shows inspired by movies featuring torture, nudity, beheadings, and buckets of toxic waste found their way onto the small screen. In most cases, the cartoons spawned rarely stuck around for long, but today they stand as examples of a weird and wonderful chapter in the history of small screen entertainment.

America had just crawled out from under its Vietnam hangover when Stephen J. Cannell's "The A-Team" blasted its way into the country's living rooms on January 23, 1983. NBC did not have high expectations for the show, but when the second episode -- which aired after Super Bowl Xvii (the one where Washington's John Riggins rushed with shocking impunity against Miami's defense) -- scored sky-high ratings, the network realized it had a hit on its hands.

It was the right show for a weird moment in American history. The country had gone gung-ho. We were at the advent of the '80s action hero era, and everyone was flocking to bloody, high-caliber entertainments starring the likes of Charles Bronson, Chuck Norris, and Sylvester Stallone. Meanwhile, the pulpy adventures of Don Pendleton's Mack Bolan were flying off drug store bookshelves. There was an acute interest in vigilante justice, but people were...

If you want to enjoy some often very good and often very bad action movies, the "Rambo" franchise is for you. And if you want to watch the strange and often disturbing trajectory of America's political core over nearly 40 years of cinema, the "Rambo" franchise is also for you. By accident or design, Sylvester Stallone's famed action series contains multitudes. They're macho, violent, ridiculous one-man-army movies. They're also propaganda, apologies for propaganda, and then propaganda again. They demand popcorn, and a crowd ready to hoot and holler. But also analysis.

But few film franchises outside of "Fast and Furious" have titles as confusing as the "Rambo" movies, which defy common logic and may have you, the John Rambo newbie, wondering if there's a trick to watching these things. Honestly, the key is to watch them in order of production. It's the only way to appreciate the series' loose continuity and,...

The serial killer thriller Squealer is set to receive a theatrical and digital release on November 3rd – and with just three weeks to go until that date arrives, a trailer for the film has been unveiled. You can check it out in the embed above.

Squealer marks the feature directorial debut of Andy Armstrong, who got his start in the entertainment industry by working as a stuntman. He earned stunt credits on more than fifty projects, including Nightbreed, Total Recall, Air America, Leprechaun, Universal Soldier, The Firm, Flesh and Bone, Stargate, Galaxy Quest, Charlie’s Angels, Planet of the Apes, Green Hornet, Thor, The Amazing Spider-Man, and The Amazing Spider-Man 2. He also worked as assistant director or second unit director on many films, including The Man with the Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me, Superman II, Krull, Highlander, Rambo II, Hellbound: Hellraiser II, and Double Impact. He has even...

With Expend4bles more than likely bringing to a close the franchise Sylvester Stallone created over 13 years ago, we wanted to know what movie in the legendary actors filmography is your favorite? Does his original creation of Rocky remain your favorite all these years later or do you find some of his iconic 90’s action films more your speed? Or perhaps you a true purist and find Italian Stallion to be quintessential Stallone! If you don’t see your favorite listed, please click other and let us know what it is (and why) in the comments.

What is your Favorite Sylvester Stallone Film?Italian Stallion (1970)Death Race 2000 (1975)Rocky (1976)F.I.S.T (1978)Paradise Alley (1978)Rocky II (1979)Nighthawks (1981)Rocky III (1982)First Blood (1982)Rhinestone (1984)Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)Rocky IV (1985)Cobra (1986)Over The Top (1987)Rambo III (1988)Lock Up (1989)Tango & Cash (1989)Rocky V (1990)Oscar (1991)Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot (1992)Cliffhanger (1993)Demolition Man (1993)The Specialist...

Sylvester Stallone and his former rival Arnold Schwarzenegger were both Hollywood’s premiere action stars back in their heyday. But Stallone felt it was much easier for Schwarzenegger and others to get away with funny one-liners back then.

Sylvester Stallone couldn’t joke around like Arnold Schwarzenegger and other action stars Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone| Jerome Favre/Getty Images

Stallone and Schwarzenegger had similar trajectories and career paths. They were both primarily known for their classic action films, and the physical ability they brought to their roles.

But Stallone felt there was an important comedic element separating his films from the likes of Schwarzenegger’s and others. At the time, Stallone believed audiences were more willing to accept comedy in a Schwarzenegger picture than in a Stallone movie.

“Arnold and Bruce Willis can get away with things that I can’t. For example, they can make jokes about what they’re doing.

Watching it in 2023, one might find themselves a little baffled as to why Martin Brest's 1984 crime comedy "Beverly Hills Cop" was such a massive success. Made for a modest $13 million, "Beverly Hills Cop" caused a sensation, earning over $234 million domestically which is, when adjusted for inflation, closer to $700 million. It made Eddie Murphy a household name and more or less codified an emerging genre of R-rated buddy cop movies that would remain ascendant throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s. The success of "Beverly Hills Cop" might confuse people, however, as it seems wildly basic these days. The jokes are not particularly funny, and while Murphy is as charismatic as they come, his Snobs vs. Slobs shtick seems trite and tired.

It seems that "Beverly Hills Cop," however, was merely outstripped by its imitators. In the wave of imitators that spawned, filmmakers pushed the action and the humor to higher and higher degrees,...

Have you ever wondered why in the 2023 version of "The Haunted Mansion," Owen Wilson is shown eating a big bag of Burger King and telling Lakeith Stanfield that the fast food chain's fried snacks are literal messages from heaven? Or why while Rambo is being told about his off-the-books, super-secret, clandestine mission to rescue POWs from Vietnam in "Rambo: First Blood Part II," the scene gets interrupted by his superior officer purchasing a Coca-Cola from the Coca-Cola vending machine that he inexplicably has in his office?

The answer is a little thing called product placement, in which various companies selling various products frequently exchange money with motion picture and/or television studios to display their products prominently on-screen. That's probably why in "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer," when Reed Richards presents the famous flying FantastiCar from the comic books that he built all by himself in his private lab,...

The effect of The Simpsons on pop culture can’t be overstated. In the early nineties, the show tapped into the cultural zeitgeist in a way few others had before. Indeed, no other cartoon show could reasonably emulate it- but Hollywood couldn’t help but try. Capitol Critters, Family Dog, and Fish Police were just a few of the shows that tried to be “the new Simpsons.” Still, the only one that really came close was ABC’s The Critic, starring the voice of Jon Lovitz as Jay Sherman, perhaps the world’s least-loved film critic and the subject of this Gone But Not Forgotten episode.

Unlike other wannabe animated hits, The Critic could boast a legit connection to The Simpsons, with it also being a production of James L. Brooks’ Gracie Films. At the same time, creators Al Jean and Mike Reiss had been showrunners on The Simpsons during...

Commando remains one of the quintessential Arnold Schwarzenegger action movies. There are the incredible set pieces and the one-liners and the scene where he feeds a deer for some reason. But major changes had to be made when it came to the ending due to the rivalry between Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone.

Screenwriter Steven E. de Souza – who was one of the go-to action writers for a stretch, also penning The Running Man, Die Hard and Judge Dredd – sat down with Radio Times to let off some steam about how his script was changed following the release of Rambo: First Blood Part II, which had come out while Arnold was filming Commando. “I concurred with Arnold [that the film would be a success]. At the time it was Rambo versus Commando and those two had a rivalry for a long time, but Arnold predicted that people would still be talking about this film because it did not...

Sylvester Stallone is taking a trip down memory lane and pulling the curtain back on his film rivalry with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The two actors, both known for dominating the action movie genre in the ’80s, recently shed light on their film rivalry in the new Netflix docu-series “Arnold”.

“The ’80s was a very interesting time because the definitive ‘action guy’ had not really been formed yet,” Stallone recounts. “Up until that time, action was a car chase like ‘Bullitt‘ or ‘The French Connection‘, and a film all about intellect and innuendo and verbal this and verbal that.”

Read More: Arnold Schwarzenegger Remembers ‘Embarrassing’ Box Office Bomb ‘The Last Action Hero’: ‘I Didn’t Want To See Anyone For A Week’

Stallone remembered the pivotal moment when the landscape of action movies transformed forever. Reflecting on the release of “First Blood” in 1982, Stallone proclaimed: “You actually relied upon your body to tell the story.

Sylvester Stallone has credited Arnold Schwarzenegger for redefining action movies and crowned his formal rival as being the “superior” actor in the genre.

“The ’80s was a very interesting time because the definitive ‘action guy’ had not really been formed yet,” Stallone said in the new Netflix docuseries Arnold (via IndieWire). “Up until that time, action was a car chase like Bullitt or The French Connection. A film all about intellect and innuendo and verbal this and verbal that.”

Stallone went on to praise Schwarzenegger for changing the landscape of action movies by bringing a physical presence that the films could center around. “You actually relied upon your body to tell the story,” he said. “Dialogue was not necessary. I saw that there was an opportunity, because no one else was doing this except some other guy from Austria, who doesn’t need to say much… He was superior. He just had all the answers.

Sylvester Stallone has crowned Arnold Schwarzenegger the “superior” action star, less than a year after openly admitting the two actors loathed each other throughout the 1980s as Hollywood pit their acting careers against one another. In Schwarzenegger’s recently released Netflix documentary “Arnold,” Stallone says there’s no question that Schwarzenegger was the more ideal action hero.

“The ’80s was a very interesting time because the definitive ‘action guy’ had not really been formed yet,” Stallone said (via IndieWire). “Up until that time, action was a car chase like ‘Bullitt’ or ‘The French Connection.’ A film all about intellect and innuendo and verbal this and verbal that.”

Stallone credited Schwarzenegger with making action cinema more dependent on the actor.

“You actually relied upon your body to tell the story,” Stallone said. “Dialogue was not necessary. I saw that there was an opportunity, because no one else was doing this except some other guy from Austria,...

In the annals of pop culture rivalries – those where the subjects rose at the same time and were constantly at battle in their field – there’s one that truly matters the most…and it ain’t Magic vs. Bird. For movie fans of the ‘80s and ‘90s, the action rivalry came down to who was better: Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stallone? And yes, you had to pick one…after all, Sly did.

In Netflix’s new three-part docuseries Arnold, Stallone notes that he and Schwarzenegger were constantly pitted against each other. “We became incredibly competitive…Like [Muhammad] Ali and [Joe] Frazier, or great warriors that are traveling the same course: There was only room for one of us.” That one? It’s got to be Arnold, Stallone admits, saying, “He was superior. He just had all the answers…He had the body. He had the strength. That was his character…He wanted to be number one.

The 1980s rivalry between Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone is the stuff of Hollywood legends, but the two action stars have mended some fences now that they’re not competing at the box office every year. Stallone even makes an appearance in the new Netflix documentary “Arnold” to praise his former enemy for reinventing the action genre. He recalled that the action film landscape that the two men entered was dramatically different from the one that they created together.

“The ’80s was a very interesting time because the definitive ‘action guy’ had not really been formed yet,” Stallone said. “Up until that time, action was a car chase like ‘Bullitt’ or ‘The French Connection.’ A film all about intellect and innuendo and verbal this and verbal that.”

Once the ’80s came around, humans replaced cars as the primary drivers of action in these blockbusters. Stallone credited Schwarzenegger with being one...

Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger are best known for their action movies from the 80s. As part of the Netflix docuseries Arnold, Stallone is recalling his former bitter rivalry with Schwarzenegger and giving him props.

“The ’80s was a very interesting time because the definitive ‘action guy’ had not really been formed yet,” Stallone says. “Up until that time, action was a car chase like Bullitt or The French Connection, and a film all about intellect and innuendo and verbal this and verbal that.”

Stallone determines that it was with First Blood, released in 1982, that action movies changed saying, “You actually relied upon your body to tell the story. Dialogue was not necessary. I saw that there was an opportunity, ’cause no one else was doing this… except some other guy from Austria, who doesn’t need to say much.”

The Rocky star was referring to Schwarzenegger who acknowledged that...

Arnold Schwarzenegger has gone all-in on Netflix. First came Fubar, a rollicking action-comedy series where the former Terminator stars as an aging CIA operative who embarks on one last mission with his daughter. And now there’s Arnold, a three-part docuseries directed by Lesley Chilcott that explores the 75-year-old icon’s journey from Austrian bodybuilder to Hollywood icon and California governor. In the film, Schwarzenegger is joined by pals like director James Cameron, co-stars Danny DeVito and Jamie Lee Curtis, and even his ‘80s rival Sylvester Stallone.

“He’s the...

Although "Heaven's Gate" is now regarded in some circles as a misunderstood masterpiece, Michael Cimino's lavish box office flop had a lot to answer for at the time. Not only was it blamed for the death of the American New Wave, but it was also seen as the final nail in the coffin of the Western. Released in 1980, the subsequent decade was an especially fallow period for the genre, but at least we got "Three Amigos."

The drought lasted almost exactly 10 years until Kevin Costner's "Dances With Wolves" became a massive box office success and went on to win seven Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director, reinvigorating the oldest and most resilient of U.S. genres once again. Two years after Costner's triumph, Clint Eastwood's harsh but lyrical "Unforgiven" was also a big hit with audiences and won the same big prizes at the Oscars. The Western was back.

Jake Gyllenhaal in Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant Photo: MGM Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant might have its director’s name in the title, but it’s star Jake Gyllenhaal who evokes what the film is trying to be. It’s an action movie set during an unpopular war that...

Sylvester Stallone has been a fixture of pop culture for some 50 years, and it began with "Rocky," one of Hollywood's biggest success stories. That is not hyperbole. Stallone wrote a script that took him from obscurity and made him an Oscar-nominated actor and writer with instant star power and a few million in the bank.

Hopes were high for Stallone. Roger Ebert, for instance, wrote that the young actor reminded him of Marlon Brando, who had played a journeyman fighter in "On The Waterfront." However, thanks to mindless vanity pieces like "Cobra" and "Rambo: First Blood Part II," it wouldn't be long before such a comparison was viewed with derision.

Still, people shouldn't forget what made Stallone a success from 1976 to 1982, during which he proved himself as an actor of intelligence, naturalism, and heart. A mixture of ego and '80s commercialism reoriented his dramatic foundation throughout the rest of the decade,...

On April 25th, Severin Films delivers Worldwide Blu-ray premieres of two of the most infamous titles in ‘80s EuroCult Sci-Fi, Bloody Disgusting has exclusively learned today.

The titles? Alien From The Abyss, directed by Antonio Margheriti, and the Restored Director’s Cut of Extra Terrestrial Visitors from writer/director Juan Piquer Simón!

Both 4K restorations also include the U.S. debuts of long-form documentaries on their respective filmmakers. Here’s everything you need to know about both of these releases…

Alien From The Abyss

For one of the final films of his legendary career, director Antonio Margheriti headed to the Philippines to deliver “the perfect ‘80s Italian popcorn flick” (Mondo Digital): When environmental activists attempt to expose an evil corporation (led by Charles Napier of Supervixens and Rambo: First Blood Part II fame) dumping nuclear waste into the local volcano, they’ll instead discover graphic gore, exploding miniatures and...

The origins of Lawrence Kasdan's "Wyatt Earp" rest within the troubled production of Kurt Russell's "Tombstone". In the early 1990s, Kevin Costner, who was busily branding himself as an all-American hybrid of Gary Cooper and James Stewart, hooked up with "Glory" screenwriter Kevin Jarre to make "Tombstone," an epic film about the legendary, real-life lawman. This would've afforded the ambitious Costner a connection to another red-white-and-blue big-screen icon, Henry Fonda, who'd turned in what was then considered the definitive performance of Earp in John Ford's 1946 classic, "My Darling Clementine."

But Costner, who'd just won Oscars for Best Picture and Director with "Dances with Wolves," disapproved of Jarre's ensemble vision. He wanted his warts-and-all take on Earp to be the film's sole focus. When Jarre resisted, Costner bolted the project and pursued his own telling of Earp's tale.

Costner wisely took his Earp film to Kasdan, who had...

It will likely surprise precisely no one that Sylvester Stallone doesn’t boast a particularly impressive personal awards history given that he once starred in an Academy Award Best Picture winner and his films have collectively earned more than $4.5 billion in box office worldwide. While he has three Oscar nominations to his credit – two for writing and starring in “Rocky” in 1977 and a supporting nod for “Creed” in 2016 – along with Golden Globe and Critics Choice triumphs for “Creed” in ’16, the overwhelming majority of his awards attention has come by way of the Razzies.

Maybe it’s time for Stallone to receive a little more respect.

Paramount+ plans a healthy Emmy campaign for season one of its nine-episode streaming mob-themed dramedy “Tulsa King,” which stars the 76-year-old Stallone in his first foray onto the small screen. In the show that premiered last November, he portrays Dwight “The General” Manfredi, a Mafia...

There's a confusing narrative surrounding 1982's "First Blood." Amid the mayhem of its bloody blockbuster sequels, the film either gets misremembered as a straightforward action flick, or is claimed to be a deep exploration of the psychological effects of war on returning soldiers. But the adaptation of David Morrell's 1972 novel is both.

As his franchise took off, Sylvester Stallone's John Rambo would evolve (or devolve?) into a more stereotypical action hero, cutting down entire armies with belt-fed machine guns over the course of four sequels. Stallone even thinks "Rambo 4" is his best action film. But in "First Blood" the character is more multi-faceted. A Vietnam vet who finds himself at odds with the society he believed he was fighting for, John Rambo doesn't directly kill anyone once he runs afoul of a hard-hearted small-town Sheriff and his deputies. Instead, he flees into the Washington State wilderness and...

One of the most fascinating aspects of Clint Eastwood's 65-year film career has been his willingness to play not just ornery cusses, but, in many cases, a downright bastard. From The Man with No Name in Sergio Leone's "Dollars Trilogy" to nonagenarian drug smuggler Earl Stone in "The Mule," Eastwood has always sought out messes of manhood: lousy husbands, absent fathers, and straight-up killers. If retired rodeo star Mike Milo winds up being Eastwood's acting swan song, he might stand as one of the kindest characters in Eastwood's oeuvre.

What kind of self-respecting woman would take up these heels? That's what the female characters in Eastwoods' films are often wondering. The answer, of course, is that Clint's laconic nature masks a boyish playfulness that can be irresistible (especially when he's using an orangutan as his wingman). He's a tall drink of water who plays it gruff until he flashes that devilish grin,...

Bringing "First Blood" to the screen was just as grueling an ordeal as the events of the film itself. Now remembered as one of the best action movies of all time, the 1982 film cemented Sylvester Stallone's status as one of, if not the biggest, action star of the '80s. Its guerilla warfare action was buttressed by a script, adapted from David Morrell's 1972 novel which explored the lingering effects of the Vietnam war on Stallone's combat veteran, John Rambo. That socio-political consciousness would fade as a franchise emerged in the wake of "First Blood," but the initial movie remains a singular example of an action film going beyond the standard bombast and spectacle of the genre. It just took some serious effort to bring it to fruition.

The movie sees Rambo take on an entire Sheriff's department, the national guard, and state patrol in the woodland of Washington state.

In the ‘80s, probably more movies than you realize became animated series. Sure, The Real Ghostbusters and Disney’s spinoff series were prolific, but did you know even Ace Ventura, Dumb and Dumber, Beetlejuice, Bill and Ted, The Karate Kid and Back to the Future had cartoons? Those all make sense as they were family friendly films. But even some R-rated movies spawned kiddie cartoons.

Peter Weller | Orion Pictures Corporation/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images R-rated ‘Robocop’ movies had 2 animated series

The Robocop live-action films would eventually go PG-13 and include a child character in Robocop 3. But, there’s no mistaking the first two Robocops are not for kids. Still, the idea of a robot police officer could be kid-friendly, if you stripped it of the ultra-violence, profanity, corporate satire and Jesus metaphor.

The first Robocop animated series came out only one year after the 1987 original movie, so it...

The 1990s saw the rebirth of westerns. "Dances with Wolves" won Best Picture at the 63rd Academy Awards, as did "Unforgiven" at the 65th. The genre has never returned to the dominant ubiquity it had in Hollywood's Golden Age. However, the 1990s put Westerns on the track to enjoy a healthy presence in 21st-century cinema. One of the most fondly remembered westerns of this decade is 1993's "Tombstone." It's not as meditative as "Unforgiven," or as politically concerned as "Dances With Wolves." No, it's just a good bloody shoot-em-up. 

"Tombstone" retells the story of the Earp brothers and the gunfight at O.K. Corral. The story had been told on film before, such as in John Ford's "My Darling Clementine," and transcended into a silver screen myth. "Tombstone," starring Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp, was just the latest version of it. Screenwriter Kevin Jarre was originally set to direct...

When "Tombstone" trotted into theaters just before Christmas day in 1993, families all over the country flocking to see the action Western were probably completely unaware of just how much of a struggle it was to get the film made. The original screenwriter Kevin Jarre ("Glory") had a highly quotable script that he had every attention of directing himself. After Jarre's own screenplay for "Dracula" was nixed by Universal in reaction to Francis Ford Coppola's intention to direct his own version, there was a risk that "Tombstone" would suffer the same fate after Kevin Costner announced that he and Warner Bros. were moving forward with the sprawling epic "Wyatt Earp." 

"Tombstone" had the advantage and about six months of lead time, but Costner was sucking up all the oxygen by securing top-tier actors Dennis Quaid and Gene Hackman. Fortunately, Kurt Russell got hold of Jarre's script and quickly signed on...

John Ford may forever be considered the king of the Western genre. However, mimicking his style in the 1990s proved to be costly for writer and first-time director Kevin Jarre. After penning the screenplay for "Tombstone" Jarre was also hired to direct the 1993 Western. But soon after production started, trouble rode into town.

At the time, Entertainment Weekly noted several issues plaguing the film, including a bloated script that didn't match the production time allotted by the studio. Producer James Jacks opined that the novice director was shooting the film like a John Ford Western, outdated for the era. Actor Sam Elliot, who played Virgil Earp, had harsher words for Jarre. "I knew from the third day Kevin couldn't direct," Elliott said. "He wasn't getting the shots he needed."

The film about Western anti-heroes needed a hero, and Kurt Russell stepped up. Val Kilmer might have uttered the iconic line...

At the end of Sam Raimi's 1993 horror farce "Army of Darkness," the blustering a-hole hero Ash (Bruce Campbell), stranded in the early 14th century, has handily vanquished an army of Deadites and retrieved the magical Necronomicon, a book that has the power to return him to his own time. The bearded Wise Man (Ian Abercrombie) explains to Ash that he has to drink a vial of elixir and recite three magical words, being careful to recite them correctly (Ash had previously whiffed the same magic words earlier in the film).

An astute observer might have noticed that Abercrombie's mouth doesn't match his dialogue in that scene. This is the result of a massive recut to the ending of "Army of Darkness." In the original cut, and the cut released overseas, Ash was told to drink one drop of elixir for every century he wanted to travel forward in time.

“I had a bit of a crisis of faith as we were cutting the movie together,” admitted James Cameron of his billion-dollar-grossing Avatar: The Way of Water. “It was too violent. I wanted a balance between the beauty, the epiphany, the kind of spiritual aspect of the film, with the action, and I felt it had gotten a little too grim.”

While those who’ve balked at the blockbuster’s three-hour-plus runtime may find it hard to believe, Cameron says he trimmed some violent moments from the film.

“I actually cut about 10 minutes of the movie targeting gunplay action,” Cameron told Esquire Middle East. “You have to have conflict, of course. Violence and action are the same thing, depending on how you look at it. This is the dilemma of every action filmmaker, and I’m known as an action filmmaker.”

Those are shocking admissions for the man responsible for...