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4) Rocky (1976)

The film that ranks fourth for Stallone would be the film which essentially started his career. Sometimes people forget that Sylvester Stallone actually was nominated for Best Actor the first time he played Rocky Balboa over 30 years ago. Despite what his career would go on to be, this is a movie that is delightful in many aspects. First, the story is one that embraces the rags to riches ideas of hard work and taking caring of the opportunities that come up. When Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), heavyweight champion of the boxing world, needs someone to fill in for the fighter he was supposed to fight on New Year's Day, he puts the "Italian Stallion" Rocky Balboa in the spotlight. During the course of the film, Creed does not prepare for the fight as he normally would, while Balboa relies on the elderly Micky Goldmill (excellently played by Burgess Meredith) to help him get ready. The relationship between Rocky and Micky reflects the desire of any young athlete. Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of the film is its ending. The underdog Balboa manages to go the distance with Creed, but audiences are dealt an ending where the good guy doesn't win. Rocky won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1976.

5) Rambo: First Blood II (1985)

Sure, this film is purely based in the Cold War, and it plays on a lot of stereotypes from the 1980s, but it is the definitive Stallone action flick and it earns the final spot in his top five. It is definitely open to criticism for exploiting the issue of American prisoners of war in a shallow way, but it provides a lot of memorable action. At the beginning of the movie, John Rambo is offered to go on a mission for the US government to Vietnam or remain in prison. He accepts but is told not to engage the Vietnamese, nor to attempt to save any prisoners of war he finds. Rambo goes on the mission, finds the POWs, and all hell breaks loose. The film was targeted to the young men of the 1980s and they absolutely loved many of the movie's sequences. Adolescent males loved it when Rambo took out a Vietnamese Patrol Boat all by himself. They cheered the hero on and felt proud of their country when Rambo actually found the POWs. American teenage boys cringed when the government tried to leave him behind. The most memorable scenes in the flick have Rambo escaping from his captors and engaging the enemy in the thick underbrush of the rainy wet jungle. Critics did not embrace the sequel to Rambo: First Blood as much as audiences, but it was an undisputed success. With muscles bulging, Stallone led Rambo: First Blood II to over $300 million worldwide.

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