Friday
Feb052010
Rocky v. Rambo
Friday, February 5, 2010 Few actors are fortunate enough to be featured in a successful franchise, much less 2. Sylvester Stallone starred in and wrote the screenplays for the iconic Rocky and Rambo series. Rocky Balboa, aka the Italian Stallion, is the erstwhile boxing heavyweight champion of the world. Despite beating up Dillon from Predator, B. A. Baracus, and He-Man, he’s invariably the underdog. John Rambo is a Vietnam vet and ex-Green Beret who suffers from posttraumatic stress disorder. With a propensity for ripping out dudes’ throats and taking on entire armies single-handedly, it’s probably best not to tease him about his headband.
| Feature | Rocky | Rambo |
|---|---|---|
| Total movies | 6 | 4 |
| Movie titles |
Rocky (1976)
Rocky II (1979)
Rocky III (1982)
Rocky IV (1985)
Rocky V (1990)
Rocky Balboa (2006)
|
First Blood (1982)
Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)
Rambo III (1988)
Rambo (2008)
Rambo V [announced]
|
| Worldwide box office revenue | $1.1 billion | $0.7 billion |
| Has driven Hulk Hogan out of the ring | Yes | No |
| Has driven a tank into a helicopter | No | Yes |
| Runs up stairs | Yes | No |
| Runs up a body count | No | Yes |
| Usually works topless | Yes | Yes |
Bonus: Other actors who have appeared in at least 2 popular movie series with at least 3 entries
- Tim Allen (The Santa Clause, Toy Story)
- Antonio Banderas (El Mariachi, Shrek, Spy Kids)
- Orlando Bloom (The Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean)
- Jackie Chan (Police Story, Lucky Stars, Rush Hour)
- Sean Connery (James Bond, Indiana Jones)
- Matt Damon (Bourne, Ocean’s)
- Clint Eastwood (Dirty Harry, The Dollars Trilogy)
- Harrison Ford (Star Wars, Indiana Jones)
- Michael J. Fox (Back to the Future, Stuart Little)
- Mel Gibson (Mad Max, Lethal Weapon)
- James Earl Jones (Star Wars, Tom Clancy)
- Christopher Lee (Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings)
- Ian McKellen (X-Men, The Lord of the Rings)
- Eddie Murphy (Beverly Hills Cop, Shrek)
- Mike Myers (Austin Powers, Shrek)
- Judge Reinhold (Beverly Hills Cop, The Santa Clause)
- Talia Shire (Rocky, The Godfather)
- Bruce Spence (Mad Max, The Matrix, The Lord of the Rings (sort of))
- Patrick Stewart (Star Trek, X-Men)
- Hugo Weaving (The Matrix, The Lord of the Rings, Transformers)
- Bruce Willis (Die Hard, Look Who’s Talking)