80s action movie hero space like his bitter rival Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone has nevertheless lodged himself in pop culture as a household name. His performances often unfairly get a bad rap, with some underrated characters flying under the radar in more obscure films.
Stallone's most famous characters are Rocky Balboa and John Rambo from their own eponymous film series. Not every role can be a lead that generates a franchise like the Rambo movies, however, and Stallone has starred in plenty of lesser-known films as complex characters that show off his acting ability. His occasional secondary roles also deserve more recognition for what they are.
10 King Shark
The Suicide Squad
When fellow action movie star Vin Diesel got in on the ground floor of the highly beloved Guardians of the Galaxy movies repeating a single line of dialogue over and over, Stallone didn't miss out on his own chance to voice a beloved CGI comic book character. Enter King Shark of The Suicide Squad, Task Force X's muscle with a childlike mind and an affinity for the water. Really named Nanaue, King Shark is a man-shark hybrid of unknown origin who helps the titular task force as best as he is able in James Gunn's brilliant reiteration on the team.
Stallone plays a totally new character with his King Shark voice, giving the bumbling brute a hilariously matter-of-fact level of odd innocence with his simple statements and giddish laughter. Despite his ferocious appetite for human flesh, it's hard not to sympathize with King Shark at various points in the film, whether he's being attacked by nasty space aliens or being left out of his human friends' partying due to his monstrous appearance. Without Stallone's amazing inflections, it's safe to say the character wouldn't be nearly as effective as he is.
9 Stakar Ogord
Guardians of the Galaxy series
Speaking of the Guardians of the Galaxy films, Stallone himself was able to get in on the beloved MCU space opera series in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Stakar Ogord is the captain of the Stakar Ravager Clan, a culture of space pirates who has a long history with Yondu Udonta, Star-Lord's father figure and kidnapper, who heads his own clan of Ravagers. It's explained that long ago, Stakar exiled Yondu for breaking the Ravager code due to his involvement with schemes that included child endangerment, unaware that Yondu was actually saving Peter from Ego the Living Planet.
All of this lore might be pretty far-fetched even for the MCU, but Stallone still gives the character the respect he deserves by playing him as seriously as the grave. It's hard not to believe him when he barks at Yondu that exiling him was a painful, but necessary action he felt he needed to take, disgusted with his former friend's actions. It's also great to see Stallone interacting with all sorts of other bizarre aliens in the end credits scene, organizing a sort of Ravager reunion with all the other clan leaders.
8 The Toymaker
Spy Kids 3D: Game Over
Robert Rodriguez's Spy Kids series is undoubtedly a silly franchise, but that doesn't stop the lauded action director for getting some big names to fulfill the various roles of his whimsical adventures. Spy Kids 3D: Game Over posits Sylvester Stallone as the main villain, the genius inventor simply known as "The Toymaker". Once a decorated agent of the OSS super-spy organization, an unspecified falling out between The Toymaker and the Cortez siblings' grandpa left him imprisoned, only for him to escape and create a virtual reality game that literally captured the minds of children nationwide.
Within the digital world of his game, The Toymaker splits his consciousness into multiple personalities to help him think and give him someone to talk to - A peace-loving hippie, a studious scientist, and a warmongering general. Stallone plays all four Toymakers with vim and vigor, clearly having fun with the campy character. Stallone is also able to surprisingly soften his over-the-top maniacal villainy at the end of the film, when The Toymaker is ultimately reformed.
7 Sergeant Deke DaSilva
Nighthawks
Long before better-known films like First Blood or Cobra, Sylvester Stallone's first action movie role actually came with 1981's Nighthawks. The grounded, gritty action drama centers on an undercover cop, Stallone's Sergeant Deke DaSilva, who soon finds himself transferred to the brand-new squad, the Anti-Terrorist Action Command. Here, DaSilva is assigned to track down one of Europe's most notorious terrorists, the dreaded Wulfgar, who challenges DaSilva's skills and sanity.
Stallone would go on to play a wide variety of super cop characters, but Sergeant Deke DaSilva still holds a special place in his impressive filmography. The film's neo-noir tone gives a lot of depth for Stallone to chew on, as DaSilva is no infallible action hero. That being said, when he's given a moment to shine, Stallone goes all in on making DaSilva an exciting and capable protagonist with plenty of personality.
6 Judge Dredd
Judge Dredd
Though possibly overshadowed since by Karl Urban's version in the 2012 science fiction movie remake, the original Judge Dredd from the movie of the same name deserves more respect. Judge Dredd takes place in a cyberpunk dystopia in which lethal operatives, called "Judges", act with total legal power as judge, jury, and executioner to enforce the law at all costs. Stallone's Dredd is one such Judge who has his total worldview and faith in the law shaken when he is framed for murder, forcing him to team up with a former enemy to take down his own evil clone.
Even though Judge Dredd got critically panned, it's hard not to say that Stallone wouldn't have excelled as the character if simply given better material to work with. With his square jaw sticking out from Judge Dredd's trademark helmet and his sneering grimace while doling out justice, Stallone looks like Dredd embodied, leaping straight from the pages of the original comic. It's a shame the story he existed in didn't do him a better service in giving him a chance to prove his mettle as a complicated anti-hero.
5 Gabe Walker
Cliffhanger
Not every Sylvester Stallone character is a decorated super cop, dangerous comic book character, or genius mastermind villain. In most cases, Stallone's best characters are closer to real, sensitive people, as has been proven endless times in both the Rocky and Creed films. Cliffhanger is further proof of Stallone's proficiency with more ordinary roles, stepping into the cleats of mountain climber Gabe walker.
Gabe Walker is a rescue ranger who suffers a falling out with his best friend Hal after a botched rescue attempt results in the death of Hal's girlfriend. However, the two are forced to put their differences aside and work together when they are threatened by a group of dangerous criminal thieves. It's great seeing Stallone's character overcome both personal turmoil and very real physical danger here, believably playing a ranger with a very specific set of expertise all the while.
4 Sergeant John Spartan
Demolition Man
John Rambo is far from the only dangerous John Sylvester Stallone has played, with Sergeant John Spartan from Demolition Man often being left out far too frequently. A temperamental cop with a history of needless property damage, John Spartan is cryogenically frozen alongside his criminal nemesis, the psychopathic Simon Phoenix, as a form of punishment. When Phoenix somehow escapes in the distant future, Spartan is thawed to assist the helpless future police force in dealing with Phoenix's violent ways.
It's rare that Stallone is truly allowed to let loose as a more destructive character, and John Spartan is an interesting twist on a typical action hero so corrosive that his methods are deemed just as dangerous as his criminal prey. Stallone is also able to be the butt of some jokes as the fish-out-of-water story sees Spartan navigate a sensitive and sanitized future world free of violence. His reaction to Demolition Man's infamous three seashells makes the performance worthy of commendation in and of itself.
3 Ray Tango
Tango & Cash
One of the great buddy cop movies of the 80s, Tango & Cash is a criminally underseen stop in Sylvester Stallone's filmography. Compared to Kurt Russell's brash and crude Gabriel Cash, Ray Tango is composed and polite, better with numbers than people and sharp as a tack in his Armani suits. Of course, this dichotomy makes for a classic odd-couple dynamic when Los Angeles' two most gifted cops are forced to work together.
Stallone holds up his end of the rivalry with prestige and panache, making for the perfect straight man for Russell's wild Cash to bounce off of. Tango is a fairly subdued and unique character for Stallone, giving him a chance to show off his more subtle acting abilities as a more reserved hero. He also helps to emotionally anchor the film with a believable stake in the action thanks to his relationship with his young sister.
2 Joe "Samaritan" Smith
Samaritan
Samaritan is an underrated Stallone movie which, unsurprisingly, contains a true hidden gem of a Stallone performance. The obscure original superhero film sees Stallone step into the shoes of the titular Joe "Samaritan" Smith, blessed with super strength, durability, and an impressive healing factor. Presumed to have died years prior to the start of the story, Samaritan unfolds from the perspective of Stallone's character's kid neighbor, who attempts to prod him back into putting his old mask back on when a dangerous gangster starts to take on the persona of Samaritan's old nemesis.
For a bombastic superhero, Stallone's Joe Smith is quite meditative and reserved, sharing an interesting dynamic with his new irer. Samaritan is also noteworthy for being one of Stallone's most physically powerful characters, giving him a sense of grim survivor's guilt. The truth behind Joe Smith's true identity makes for a reveal that adds further layers throughout Stallone's performance.
1 Lincoln Hawk
Over the Top
While many films sought to use Stallone's familiar mug to emulate the success of his action movie stardom in First Blood, comparatively fewer projects thought to echo the underdog sports drama of Rocky instead. Over the Top is a prescient outlier which posits Stallone as Lincoln Hawk, a down-on-luck truck driver who seeks to win cash in competitive arm wrestling to make ends meet. Hawk ends up betting on himself in a particularly nailbiting contest of strength in order to win custody of his son from his wealthy ex-father-in-law.
From his life as a trucker to his family woes, Stallone weaponizes his lived experience to a cutting degree in Over the Top, just as he did with Rocky. Hawk's perseverance is something to marvel at and be inspired by, something that simply wouldn't work in the hands of a lesser-equipped actor. Thanks to Sylvester Stallone, what might've been just a one-note protagonist becomes the criminally underrated center of yet another beautiful Cinderella sports story.
