10 Reasons That Prove Sylvester Stallone Is Underrated

9. He Writes And Directs

Many film-makers write and direct, and some actors do it too, and Stallone has regularly done it for years, since 1978 in fact with Paradise Alley. While you can perhaps look at some of the films he written and or directed as poor in comparison with a William Goldman or a Martin Scorsese but is he really aiming for the same audience? In terms of his directing duties, there's been four of the Rocky films, the four that grossed the most at the worldwide box office, and there was The Expendables, which ticked many boxes for the fans of eighties action cinema. And Stallone has also gathered screenwriting credits, and a good degree of acclaim for political trade union drama F.I.S.T, all three Expendables films and Jason Statham's recent Homefront. Admittedly, there have also been flops between the hits, including the ill-judged Saturday Night Fever sequel Staying Alive, Dolly Parton comedy Rhinestone and Rambo III, but which screenwriters can claim to have an unblemished copy book? The thing is, Stallone usually tries to write for a mainstream audience: his films are invariably fun, and always come with a commitment to engagement. Whether it's Rocky taking on Russian man-mountain Ivan Drago or punching Terry Funk through a window in Over The Top, he does at least try and play to an audience that wants to go to the cinema and switch off or a Friday night DVD with a takeaway. The Godfather films are perennial favourites among most cinephiles, but are they a good watch after a hard week at work? Probably not. Equally, Werner Herzog is great but you couldn't kick back and eat a pizza to Woyzeck. Stallone makes feel-good films for these moments, which is a fair old slice of the home box-office. Also, let's not forget, he was nominated for a Best Screenplay Oscar for Rocky too. Granted, we can't forgive him for Staying Alive, but still...