During the ‘80s and ‘90s, before Jason Statham came to dominate the action movie genre, the biggest stars in America (with the biggest muscles) were Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone, who not only starred in some of the biggest movies of the late 20th century, but also engaged in a petty, often hilarious rivalry. According to Stallone, the competition began the very night they met, when they were seated together at the 1977 Golden Globes. That night saw Stallone’s movie Rocky lose in a variety of categories, prompting Schwarzenegger to rub it in until Rocky won the top prize for best drama. Stallone then chucked a big bowl of flowers at Schwarzenegger and accepted his prize.
For the next two decades, they engaged in a not-so-friendly rivalry, which included everything from juvenile tricks — like when Schwarzenegger tricked Stallone into starring in Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot by feigning interest in the script himself — to more personal attacks like Stallone giving credence to rumors that Schwarzenegger was a Nazi admirer.
But as both their careers cooled off in the late ‘90s, the rivalry died and gave rise to an unlikely friendship, which culminated in the two teaming up in a series of movies that have provided some of the most fun, over-the-top action sequences of the 2010s and early 2020s — a franchise that will only be on Netflix for a few more days.
The Expendables is Sylvester Stallone’s hit action franchise about an elite team of old, muscular men who go on all sorts of high-risk missions together to do things like thwart terrorist organizations and stop plutonium from falling into the wrong hands. The first movie, which came out in 2010, was conceived by screenwriter David Callaham and was directed by Stallone, who also stars as Expendables leader Barney Ross. In it, the team is assigned to overthrow a Latin American dictator.
But the plots of these movies have always been second to the spectacle, and that’s the fun of it. Each movie’s storyline is a generally flimsy excuse to see explosions, shootouts and fistfights. The directors and screenwriters of the four Expendables films have always known that and with each movie they have found a way to put the audience on a fun action ride with a healthy dose of humor so that everyone knows not to take any of this too seriously.
Just as important as all the mayhem going on is who the filmmakers have employed to deliver that mayhem as the Expendables franchise has showcased nearly every major action star for the past four decades. Besides Stallone, the movies have included Jason Statham, Bruce Willis, Dolph Lundgren, Jet Li, Terry Crews, Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Harrison Ford, Wesley Snipes, and many others.
Although, nothing has been quite as amazing as Stallone and Schwarzenegger sharing the screen. The movies even hint at their real-life personal history by making them rivals in the films as well. Particularly great for this reason are the middle two films, since Schwarzenegger only has a cameo in the first film, and he’s not in the fourth one at all. Still, all four are worth checking out before they leave Netflix on June 20. Just grab some popcorn, turn off your brain and enjoy the action.
