Naturally, if someone enjoys the five film Rambo saga, they should also check out fellow A-list action classics Die Hard and The Terminator (and Terminator 2: Judgment Day). But, let’s face it, if someone has sat down to watch First Blood or Rambo: First Blood Part II more than once, they’ve certainly sat down to do the same with those Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger classics. What follows are other excellent action classics and minor classics that aren’t as frequently associated with the action flick A-list. They come close, but there’s little doubt that when someone says, “Think of the most famous action film,” they’re less likely to spring to mind than Nakatomi Plaza, Rambo’s bloody tour of Vietnam, or the T-800.
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While special consideration wasn’t actively given to fellow Sylvester Stallone movies, he unsurprisingly pops up. After all, while he’s branched out over the years, action still has proved to be his bread and butter.
Cobra
A major financial success for The Cannon Group, the distributor of cheap and often critically bashed actioners such as Missing in Action and Invasion U.S.A., Cobra is actually what the Eddie Murphy classic Beverly Hills Cop was supposed to be. But, when Stallone’s vision for Beverly Hills Cop started to get a bit too grim, the project was reworked and ultimately ended up as this, the ultra-violent tale of LAPD Lt. Marion “Cobra” Cobretti, who has found himself in the crosshairs of a sadistic murder cult.
In some respects, Cobra hasn’t aged particularly well. Its entire philosophy seems to be that the answer to everything is a slew of bullets. Long story short, it pairs as well with the Dirty Harry movies as it does Rambo: First Blood Part II.
Rent Cobra on Prime Video.
Commando
Conan the Barbarian and The Terminator put Arnold Schwarzenegger on the map in a big way, but his first true action-hero movie was Commando. It remains one of his better films to this day and, when it comes to one-liners, it’s quite possibly at the top of the heap.
The key to the Rambo films, at least the sequels, is the notion that he’s a man who can’t be killed. He’s flesh and blood, sure, but he can pretty much go through an entire army and only get a few paper cuts. That’s the exact type of movie Commando is, as well, and it knows it.
Stream Commando on Prime Video.
The Expendables 2
The Expendables 2 isn’t just the apex of its franchise because the first film is only average and the third and fourth are atrocious. It’s the apex because it’s quite possibly one of the most no-holds-barred action films ever released, and it is exactly what it wants to be (and what the Stallone-directed first film nearly was). Not to mention, Jean-Claude Van Damme absolutely runs away with the movie as the terrifically and aptly named Vilain.
At the very least, The Expendables 2 was the one where they managed to get every last ’80s action star (besides Steven Seagal, but he wasn’t particularly missed). To an extent, it’s still Stallone’s show, but for more than in the original film, those around him get to have their characters fleshed out a bit, even if they still never end up being more than caricatures. This is especially true of Dolph Lundgren, who in the 2010 film was treated the same way Jeremy Renner was in The Avengers. But here he gets to reference his own scientifically inclined brain and shows himself to be the prime example of what makes the first Expendables sequel work so well. It’s not just a play on not these stars’ films, but their real-life personalities as well.
Rent The Expendables 2 on Prime Video.
Taken
The film that turned Liam Neeson into a bonafide action star, Taken stands as one of the few movies that debuted in the dumping ground month of January, yet performed like a summer movie season release. Of course, Neeson was already a star before Taken was released, but it served as something of an alteration to his career, kicking off a long stream of solo action adventures where he functioned as a one-man wrecking ball.
The same could certainly be said of John Rambo and what that did for Stallone’s career. Rambo was a far different character from Rocky Balboa, and it too kicked off a string of action star vehicles like the aforementioned Cobra. So, like The Marksman, The Commuter, and A Walk Among the Tombstones, Taken goes well with one of the Rambo films on double feature night.
[RELATED: Liam Neeson Thought Taken Would Go Straight to DVD When First Released]
Rent Taken on Prime Video.
Homefront
Inexplicably released in theaters during the Thanksgiving holiday season, Homefront seems a lot like a Rambo film for good reason. The script by Stallone himself was initially intended to be the fourth Rambo movie. Fortunately, the world ended up getting 2008’s underrated Rambo, instead.
Having John Rambo become a DEA agent (and a father) would have been a massive leap for the character, one that would have been hard to stomach. But, as a Jason Statham vehicle? It’s right up his alley, and outside some spotty work from James Franco, Homefront is up there with Parker and The Beekeeper as one of Statham’s better mid-budget solo actioners.
Stream Homefront on Max.
What do you recommend would pair well with First Blood? Let us know in the comments below!
