MovieChat Forums > Arnold Schwarzenegger Discussion > Has the Schwarzenegger-Stallone Feud Rei...

Has the Schwarzenegger-Stallone Feud Reignited?

posted 8 days ago by roger1 (3614)
6 replies | jump to latest

Stallone became a star first -- with a "prestige" Best Picture Oscar winner(Rocky-1976) that brought him nominations for Best Actor and Best Screenplay -- and Stallone was still a bigger star than Schwarzenegger for most of the 80s. 1985 saw "Rambo II" dominate as a summer blockbuster while Arnold's "Commando" (in the less competitive fall) made him a "B-movie plus" action star after the launch of Conan the Barbarian(purely HIS kind of role) and "The Terminator"(a classic that took some time to be so recognized.)

Somewhere around 1987 and 1988, Sly and Arnold became star equals, became business pals(Planet Hollywood) and...evidently...not-so-friendly movie star rivals. Arnold made fun of Sly for being "tricked" into making "Stop or My Mom Will Shoot" because ARNOLD suggested in the press that ARNOLD would take it. (Well, that's what Arnold said.)

Came the 90s Sly and Arnold faded a bit from their "80s muscleman star" heights, but kept the dance going for decades. They did a small movie together. Arnold cameo'ed in two Expendables(three?) They're still around in their 70s now (2024 as I post this.)

November 2024, in fact. Almost two weeks after the US Presidential election.

Arnold is aa professed Republican (that's how he ran for Governor in Cailfornia, though his administration had a lot of Dems thanks to his marriage to Maria Shriver of the Kennedy family) But he endorsed Kamala Harris for President.

I don't recall if Sly endorsed ANYONE before the election, but there he stood singing the praises of the newly elected(for a second time) Donald Trump.

Could this be Sly's revenge for "Stop Or My Mom Will Shoot"?

[–] Tam87 (1173) 8 days ago

I doubt arnold cares that sly endorsed trump. From what I've heard, they're not best friends who hang out everyday. Arnold hangs out with his body building buddies like Sven Thorsen and also Tom Arnold.

The only reason Arnold endorsed Kamala is because Trump dissed his ratings on the Apprentice and made him look like a loser, which is Arnold's worst nightmare. He wouldn't be voting for her if it wasn't personal for him.

[–] MiyagiDoMAGA (257) 4 days ago

Tom Arnold is a bodybuilder?

[–] HarlemEagle42 (17726) 5 days ago

I don't think so.

[–] moviechatterer (15583) 4 days ago

what feud?

[–] roger1 (3614) 19 minutes ago

what feud?

--

I suppose that's a good question, because to the extent that there WAS a feud...it may have been manufacturered, and BY Arnold to BENEFIT Arnold...

For instance, early on in the comedy Twins(1988), Arnold's naive bumpkin character wanders down Hollywood Boulevard. He reaches a "Rambo" poster, compares his bare bicep to Sly's bicep on the poster-- and laughs at the poster in triumph.

But you have to figure that STALLONE had to CLEAR the use of the Rambo poster...so perhaps he was in on the joke.

After all, Sly and Arnold DID front "Planet Hollywood" together, along with fellow action man Bruce Willis.

That said, Arnold kind of based his career growth on giving lip to Sly in the press. I recall Arnold -- for real or not -- saying that Sly was wearing "disco-type" clothes that were too gaudy and fake -- and mink coats and things -- betraying his working man actor roots.

And higher up on this thread, I related that Arnold felt he somehow "tricked" Sly into making the poor comedy Stop or My Mom Will Shoot by faking his OWN interest in making the film. This is the kind of "fake out mental manipulation" that Arnold used against bodybuider competitors back in the day.

So...I dunno if there was a REAL feud between Arnold and Sly, or a SHOW feud..but it does seem a bit interesting that within weeks after Arnold(ostensibly a Republican) came out for Kamala Harris, Sly actually WENT ON STAGE at Trump's victory party. Somebody trying to upstage the other? A feud reignited.

I will also note here that back in the "President Reagan 80s", when Reagan beat Democrats Jimmy Carter(a sitting President) and Walter Mondale handily(wiping out Mondale), it felt 'safer" for some movie stars -- BIG ones -- to declare themselves Republicans. All three Planet Hollywood guys -- Sly, Arnold, and Bruce -- did.

CONT

[–] roger1 (3614) 12 minutes ago

I remember on some "acheivement award" TV special, Bruce had to stand on a stage with ultra-Democrat Julia Roberts and take it as she gave him a "nice" verbal smackdown for BEING a Republican. He nodded slowly and smiled.

Came the 90s and 2000s, these big movie stars started losing their box office power and started retreating a bit from their public Republicanism. Willis flat out said he was now an "Independent." I think Sly did too. Arnold stuck to being a registerered Republican and won the California governorship as one in...2002? But Arnold gave over a lot of his administration staffing to Democrats, under the guidance of the Kennedy family into which he had married via Maria Shriver.

By the way, in those "hot Reagan 80s" I distinctly recall new young star Kevin Costner supporting Republicans -- I think his father was one. But Kevin has dropped that over the years. In the past coupla years, we saw him backing REPUBLICAN Liz Cheney versus Trump, but I think his support now goes to Dems.

Anyway, with that political backdrop, we seem to have narrowed it down to two: Arnold for Harris, Sly for Trump. Not necessarily a matter of party affiliation at all. MAYBE part of a feud.

PS. Clint Eastwood has maintained a certain Republicanism since his Dirty Harry days. He then veered into Libertarianism with a strong enviromentalist bent -- but his public attack on Obama at one of the Republican conventions brought him back into the fold. He's too much the legend -- and now too old -- to get hurt.