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Schwarzenegger’s superstar trajectory is fascinating. John Milius’ “Conan the Barbarian” made him a viable movie star (despite the thick accent), but his hits up until 1988 were all R-rated and not a single one cracked $100 million at the box office. When Walter Hill’s “Red Heat” did merely okay business during the summer of 1988, some wondered if Schwarzenegger’s musclebound appeal had a hard ceiling.
Then came Ivan Reitman’s “Twins.” Released during the 1988 holiday movie season, the comedy paired Schwarzenegger with Danny DeVito and grossed over $200 million worldwide. Critics weren’t blown away (it currently holds a Metacritic score of 50), but audiences fell hard for the unlikely star pairing and found Schwarzenegger’s big-hearted Julius completely adorable. Arnold suddenly had another gear. After “Twins,” he strung together three blockbusters in a row with “Total Recall,” “Kindergarten Cop,” and “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” at which point he was the king of the box office.
Hesitant to move outside of his comfort zone after the aforementioned disasters, Stallone put his head down and treaded water with “Rambo III,” “Lock Up,” “Tango & Cash,” and “Rocky V.” None of these did blockbuster business. With his two franchises clearly in commercial decline, the star knew he had to tweak his image to remain an A-list movie star.
Cognizant of what comedies had done for Schwarzenegger’s career, Stallone opted to star in John Landis’ screwball gangster lark “Oscar.” The screenplay by Michael Barrie and Jim Mulholland wasn’t exactly on the level of its 1930s and 1940s inspirations, but it was suitably bustling and stuffed with colorful characters that gave pros like Don Ameche, Tim Curry, Peter Riegert, and a then unknown Marisa Tomei (who steals the movie) plenty of room to have a ball. The supporting cast does their best to keep Stallone light on his feet, and, to his credit, he is game to mess around, but the star’s fans weren’t in the mood for a prohibition era yuk-fest.
“Oscar” made it six straight underperformers for Stallone (counting 1987’s arm-wrestling opus “Over the Top”), which meant he had to proceed with extreme caution. With the “Rocky” and “Rambo” safety net cut out from under him, a meat-and-potatoes action flick might’ve been the right call — and it would be two years later with Renny Harlin’s “Cliffhanger.” But Sly was determined to outdo Schwarzenegger on the comedy front, so he signed on to make one of the worst films … ever, really.
Schwarzenegger, meanwhile, knew he was in Stallone’s head at this juncture of their rivalry (which, per Sly, wasn’t friendly), so he did something truly diabolical that nearly killed his competitor’s career for good.
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