சில்வஸ்டர் ஸ்டலோன் - மறுபக்கம்

எனக்குப்பிடித்த ஹீரோ இவர் என்றதும் பலரும் நக்கலடித்து தங்கள் அறிவூணத்தை பறைசாற்றியது நடந்தது. அவரை ஏதோ அடிதடி ஆக்சன் கிங் என நினைத்துவிட்டது இவர்களின் அறிவின்மை தவிர வேறென்ன? அவர் ஒரு சிறந்த கதாசிரியர், இயக்குனர், தயாரிப்பாளர். மார்லின் பிரண்டோ அளவுக்கு வந்திருக்க வேண்டியவர் என்றெல்லாம் புகழப்பட்ட ஒரு மாபெரும் ஹீரோ. ராக்கி படம் 10 ஆஸ்கார் நாமினேசன்கள் பெற்ற படம் (முழுவதும் படித்துப்பாருங்கள் புரியும்)

கிட்டத்தட்ட பாதிமுகம் கட்டுப்பட்டை இழந்து கிடக்கும் ஒருவன் நான் ஹீரோவாக நடித்தே தீருவேன் என்ற எண்ணத்தில் நிசத்தில் போராடி ஜெயித்தவனின் வலி மைதாமாவு ரசிகர்களுக்குத் தெரியாமல் போனதில் ஆச்சரியம் என்ன இருக்கிறது என்று நினைத்துக்க்கொண்டேன். இதோ ஸ்டாலோனின் மறுபக்கம் ஆங்கிலத்தில்...

He is considered by many (including the mayor of Philadelphia) as the one who made the city of Philadelphia an international tourist attraction with the Rocky Steps. His immense popularity there has led to a statue of his Rocky character being placed permanently near the Philadelphia Museum of Art as a cultural landmark. On August 2007, a statue of Rocky was also erected in the Serbian village of Žitište. Stallone's film Rocky has also been inducted into the National Film Registry as well as having its film props placed in the Smithsonian Museum as a national treasure.

ஸ்டலனும் ஆஸ்கார் அவார்டு நாமினேசனும்

Stallone did not gain world-wide fame until his starring role in the smash hit Rocky (1976). The film was awarded with the 1976 Academy Award for Best Picture. On March 24, 1975, Stallone saw the Ali-Chuck Wepner fight which inspired the foundation idea of Rocky. That night Stallone went home, and in three days he had written the script for Rocky. After that, he tried to sell the script with the intention of playing the lead role. Robert Chartoff and Irwin Winkler in particular liked the script (which was suggested by Stallone after a casting), and planned on courting a star like Burt Reynolds or James Caan for the lead role. The final result was an unequalled success; Rocky was nominated for ten Academy Awards in all, including Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay

பில்லியன் டாலர் வியாபாரம் 4000 கோடி!

Stallone had another major franchise success as Vietnam veteran John Rambo in the action adventure film First Blood (1982). The first instalment of Rambo was both a critical and box office success. The critics praised Stallone's performance, saying he made Rambo seem human as opposed to the way he is portrayed in the book of the same name, First Blood and in the other films. Two Rambo sequels Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) and Rambo III (1988) followed. Although box office hits, they met with much less critical praise than the original. He also continued his box office success with the Rocky franchise and wrote, directed and starred in two more sequels to the series: Rocky III (1982) and Rocky IV (1985).

It was during this time period that Stallone's work cultivated a strong overseas following. He also attempted, albeit unsuccessfully, roles in different genres when he wrote and starred in the comedy film Rhinestone (1984) where he played a wannabe country music singer and the drama film Over the Top (1987) where he played a truck driver who enters an arm wrestlingCobra (1986) and Tango and Cash (1989) did solid business domestically but overseas they did blockbuster business grossing over $100 million in foreign markets and over $160 million worldwide. The Rocky and Rambo franchises at the end of the decade were billion dollar franchises internationally. competition to impress his estranged son. These films did not do well at the box office and were poorly received by critics. The action films

ஆயிரம் கோடி வசூல் ராஜா ..
After starring in the critical and commercial failures Oscar (1991) and Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot (1992) during the early 90s, he made a major comeback in 1993 with the blockbuster hit Cliffhanger which became an enormously successful film grossing over US$255 million worldwide.

கம்பேக் கிங்

After a few years hiatus from films, Stallone made a comeback in 2006 with the sixth and final installment of his successful Rocky series; Rocky Balboa, which was both a critical and commercial hit. After the critical and box office failure of the previous and presumed last installment Rocky V, Stallone had decided to end the series with a sixth installment which would be a more appropriate climax to the series. The total domestic box office came to $70.3 million (and $155.3 million worldwide). The budget of the movie was only $24 million. His performance in Rocky Balboa has been praised and garnered mostly positive reviews.^[25]

Stallone's newest release is the fourth installment of his other successful movie franchise, Rambo, with the sequel being titled simply Rambo. The film opened in 2,751 theaters on January 25, 2008, grossing $6,490,000 on its opening day and $18,200,000 over its opening weekend.

Its current box office stands at $42,653,401 in the US and $112,481,829 worldwide.

Sylvester Stallone has always been something of the underdog, a trait which runs parallel with his most famous characters. Often written-off, ridiculed, and mocked, Sly has had his fair share of hard knocks, but always seems to come out of his corner fighting, with a grace, defiance, and intelligence often overlooked.

He is an extremely underrated Actor, Producer, Director, and above all, a masterful Screenwriter. He has an ear for language and honest characterisations (yes his characters may be laconic, but the characters that move around him are always well drawn: think Paulie and Adrianna from Rocky or Sheriff Will Teasle from First Blood), and his stories seem to move at a break-neck pace. He has written, or co-written, nineteen movies, more than half of which have been monumentally successful.

That’s something most full time Hollywood writers cannot say.

Stallone had an extremely difficult birth and was yanked from his mother's womb by a doctor's forceps. This severed a facial nerve, paralyzing the lower left side of his face. As an actor, this now trademark snarling look and slightly slurred speech have made him an easy target for ridicule. But when Rocky was released in 1976, celebrated movie critic (and bizarrely, once Russ Meyer’s regular screenwriter) Roger Ebert likened him to a young Marlon Brando. This isn’t too far off the mark either.

Stallone is magnificent in Rocky, brimming with a power, hunger and subtlety that simply towers over his other work. Not to say that his other films are to be dismissed out of hand though. Much has been written about Stallone’s impressive performance in 1997’s Copland, often citing that only that film’s character, Sheriff Freddy Heflin and Balboa are worth mentioning in Stallone’s cannon of performances. But that is to over look some fairly forgotten films that came out in the wake of Rocky.

F.I.S.T and Paradise Alley were both released in 1978. Both were written by Stallone, or at least co-written (his collaborator on F.I.S.T was Joe Eszterhas, future writer of Basic Instinct and Flashdance), and both contained masterful performances from Sly and his supporting players. F.I.S.T was an epic, social drama about a warehouse worker who becomes involved in the labour union leadership. Hardly a box office crowd pleaser, but the film was thoughtful and moving, and contained shades of On the Waterfront.

Paradise Alley on the other hand was Stallone’s directorial debut and told the story of three brothers, living in the slums of 1940s New York, who band together to fight a sleazy wrestling manager. Stallone wrote a strong and hard-edged script, which he directed with the confidence of a seasoned filmmaker.

Although they were critically praised, neither film was successful, so Stallone cracked and gave the world what it wanted - another Rocky movie. But if either, or both these films were success stories at the box office, Stallone’s career would have taken an entirely different route. He may well have made good on his brooding Brando-like intensity and made (written) more ‘serious’ and thought-provoking pictures.

(Another film to look out for in his early career is 1974’s cult hit Lord of Flatbush, co-written and co-starring a young Stallone alongside an excellent Henry Winkler, it is an effectively written teen gang film.)