Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone were the two biggest action movie stars of the ‘80s, but which of these two is the best musclebound Hollywood icon? Schwarzenegger first rose to prominence as a bodybuilder before transitioning into an acting career. His appearance in the hit documentary Pumping Iron led to leading roles in blockbuster action movies like Conan the Barbarian and The Terminator. Stallone, frustrated with his limited options as a struggling actor, launched his own career with his Oscar-nominated script for the ultimate boxing movie, Rocky, in which he played the title character (and earned a second Oscar nod for Best Actor).
Following their respective big breaks, Schwarzenegger and Stallone went on to dominate the action genre in the ‘80s. Schwarzenegger’s name became the greatest selling tool a movie poster could have, plastered across advertisements for Commando and Red Heat, while Stallone concurrently headlined two of the most popular franchises in the world: Rocky and Rambo. Throughout the ‘80s, Schwarzenegger and Stallone enjoyed an intense rivalry. But who won that rivalry? Out of these two hulking A-list action heroes, who had the best movies, the best performances, the best box office numbers, and the best overall star power?
Arnold Schwarzenegger & Sylvester Stallone’s Feud Explained
We were movie rivals, but we took the competitiveness to the extreme – we each had to have the best body, we had to kill more people in our films and we had to have the biggest guns. It got out of control, and we tried to derail each other.
Throughout the 1980s, Schwarzenegger and Stallone rose to prominence as the two biggest action movie stars in the world. Schwarzenegger has since explained the feud that grew out of this cinematic rivalry. According to Schwarzenegger, he and Stallone “took the competitiveness to the extreme.” As the feud intensified, they worked out extensively to have bigger muscles than each other, they armed their characters with the biggest guns available to outmatch each other, and they set out to kill more people than each other on-screen. This resulted in some of the biggest, baddest action movies ever made, with record-breaking body counts and enormous firearms being held in one hand.
Eventually, that rivalry morphed into a friendship. Schwarzenegger explained that when he and Stallone both decided to invest in the Planet Hollywood restaurant chain, they embarked on a worldwide promotional tour. As they flew all over the globe together, Schwarzenegger says, the two became “fantastic friends.” They were once rivals who were determined to outdo each other, but now, Schwarzenegger says, the two are “inseparable.” Schwarzenegger and Stallone used to make rivaling star vehicles in a bid to top each other’s work, but they eventually warmed up to one another and even shared the screen as a classic double act of action cinema.
Why Stallone Was The Better Action Movie Star Of His Era
It’s tough to name either Schwarzenegger or Stallone as the better action star, because they’re both bona fide legends of the silver screen. Both Schwarzenegger and Stallone have their fair share of great movies and not-so-great movies. Schwarzenegger has appeared in action movie masterpieces like Predator, True Lies, Total Recall, and the first two Terminator movies, while Stallone has starred in such gems as Rocky, First Blood, Cliffhanger, Cop Land, and Creed. Schwarzenegger has also starred in less impressive movies like Collateral Damage, Batman & Robin, and all the other Terminator films, while Stallone has appeared in the massively underwhelming Cobra, Judge Dredd, and Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot.
Arguably, of the two, Stallone is the better action movie star. Stallone has three Academy Award nominations, which is three more than Schwarzenegger. Obviously, Oscar nominations aren’t the best judge of success in the oft-overlooked action genre, but Stallone’s two acting nods are a clear indication that he’s a stronger actor. Stallone brings plenty of depth and nuance to characters like Rocky Balboa and John Rambo, while Schwarzenegger’s most famous role is that of an emotionless killing machine. Schwarzenegger is at the mercy of whatever scripts are available to star in, but, as a writer-director, Stallone has always self-generated his material, and plays to his own strengths.
Schwarzenegger vs. Stallone At The Box Ofice – Who Wins?
As a leading man on the big screen, Schwarzenegger’s movies have just about outgrossed Stallone’s movies at the global box office. Stallone has grossed a worldwide total of $3,968,629,043 with starring roles in 45 movies (via The Numbers), while Schwarzenegger has grossed a slightly larger total of $4,110,260,858 with starring roles in just 31 movies (via The Numbers). Schwarzenegger’s total is only slightly higher than Stallone’s, but he achieved that figure with fewer films. Even though he only starred in about two-thirds the amount of movies as Stallone, Schwarzenegger still managed to gross more at the box office as a leading man.
Stallone has grossed $1,029,991,330 as part of a sprawling ensemble cast, such as The Expendables or The Suicide Squad, while Schwarzenegger’s ensemble films have only grossed $365,136,310 worldwide. However, Stallone has an advantage here because he’s appeared in eight ensemble movies while Schwarzenegger has only appeared in four (but that’s still a higher total per ensemble movie than Schwarzenegger). It’s rare that Schwarzenegger and Stallone take supporting roles as opposed to lead roles, but Stallone has grossed more as a supporting actor. Stallone has grossed $2,222,037,729 as a supporting player in eight movies, while Schwarzenegger has grossed $726,398,791 as a supporting player in three movies.
All 4 Times Arnold Schwarzenegger & Sylvester Stallone Worked Together
Since their intense rivalry turned into a beautiful friendship, Schwarzenegger and Stallone have occasionally worked together. In addition to their mutual investment in the Planet Hollywood restaurants, Schwarzenegger and Stallone have shared the screen in a total of four movies. Schwarzenegger’s uncredited cameo appearance alongside Stallone and fellow action movie icon Bruce Willis in The Expendables marked the first time that the two collaborated on a film together. Schwarzenegger’s character in The Expendables franchise, Trench Mauser, is a former rival of Stallone’s character Barney Ross who eventually became his ally. This backstory between their characters mirrors the backstory of the two actors’ relationship off-screen.
Schwarzenegger reprised his role as Trench with much larger roles in The Expendables 2 and The Expendables 3. The Expendables rescue a captured Trench in the opening scene of The Expendables 2 and he returns the favor by helping out in the final battle. In The Expendables 3, he appeared in the final battle once again, this time teaming up with Jet Li’s Yin Yang and Harrison Ford’s Max Drummer. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone’s most significant team-up arrived in the 2013 action thriller Escape Plan, in which they play two inmates who join forces to break out of the world’s most secure prison.