SFTH: Arnie & Sly - Peer Pressures...

The action genre has long boasted its own unique pantheon of stars. And history tells us that two giants bestrode the ‘80s: Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The Italian Stallion and the Austrian Oak came from very different backgrounds. Stallone was Italian/American, a New Yorker and a bit-part player and aspiring writer who hit the big time with Rocky. There followed a run of dramas, thrillers, quasi-action flicks and character pieces before the inevitable Rocky sequel and the beginning of a franchise. But films like Paradise Alley, Nighthawks, F.I.S.T. and Escape to Victory didn’t allow Stallone’s charisma to evolve. 

But what of Rambo I aka First Blood? Arguably Stallone’s finest film and the one that allowed him to explore character, alienation, small-town bigotry and post traumatic stress disorder (before the term had even been coined), First Blood catapulted Stallone into the big time.  But the public wanted 'muscle' and for heroes to be larger than life... and they didn’t want a flawed hero in the form of lonely ex-Green Beret John J Rambo. They wanted an iron man with the constitution of an ox. Thus began Stallone’s transformation into a mighty, muscle-bound cinema colossus and a quick glance through Sly’s ‘80s filmography throws up titles such as Cobra, Over the Top, Rambo: First Blood Part II and Rambo III.

He seemed to have it made. All the other action stars – such as martial artist Chuck Norris, who pre-dated Stallone but couldn’t act, and kickboxer Jean-Claude Van Damme, who emerged in the ‘80s but was irritatingly repetitive – faded into the background. Until, that is, bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger burst onto the scene...

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