In retrospect “Rocky” seemed to embody a deeply personal aspect of Sylvester Stallone himself — which makes sense considering the whole thing was his brainchild. Almost half a century after portraying the determined boxer from South Philly, Stallone just simply won’t be defeated and represents the epitome of his character’s famous quote about getting hit and “moving forward.”
We hardly need a detailed refresher on Sly’s career. Following the surprise success of his little boxing movie, the man became one of the biggest action stars in the world. This famously led to a bitter rivalry with Hollywood’s other biggest action star, Arnold Schwarzenegger, resulting in a piece of machiavellian brilliance on the Austrian actor’s part when he tricked his rival into starring in the flop “Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot.” But as we all know, Stallone simply won’t stay down, and didn’t let slip-ups like this affect his career trajectory.
Take “Rocky Balboa,” for instance. Yet another example of Stallone’s indomitable spirit, this 2006 film saw the then 59-year-old star return to the role that made his career some 16 years after the last entry in the franchise. Once again, he proved the doubters wrong, delivering a moving performance in a stirring and heartfelt return to the world of Rocky. Since then, he’s continued to work on the franchise, while capitalizing on his action star caché with the “Expendables” saga. Meanwhile, he’s currently starring in the Paramount+ crime series “Tulsa King” and will soon star in the upcoming action thriller “Armored.” What’s more, while he’s seemingly no longer a part of the franchise he helped build, the 77-year-old Stallone wants the “Rocky” rights back, and if there’s one thing he’s proven thus far, it’s that you should never fully count him out.