If we had a nickel for every time Netflix brought out a documentary this year about an 80s action hero who co-starred in 2013 prison actioner Escape Plan, then we’d have two nickels – which isn’t a lot, but it’s crazy that it happened twice, right? Never one to be outdone by his old nemesis Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rocky and Rambo legend Sylvester Stallone is following hot on the heels of Arnie’s eye-opening doc Arnold with his own tell-all, rags-to-riches retrospective, Sly. Check out the trailer for the documentary below;
Helmed by Springsteen On Broadway filmmaker Thom Zimny, Sly charts the peaks and pitfalls of Stallone’s near-half-century-spanning career both on and off screen. From rising up back on the streets of New York City as an angry kid seeking escape in the movies, to the remarkable underdog story of his Oscar-winning self-written and starring Rocky, to today – many films, franchises, and millions of dollars later – Sly’s story is something of a cinematic fairytale.
This only makes it all the more fascinating to see the Expend4bles star just as readily reflecting on the sacrifices he’s made and the regrets he has from 50 years in the business as celebrating his many triumphs in this trailer. “When you’re a truly absorbed filmmaker you put things before your family and the repercussions are quite devastating,” Sly confesses at one point over shots of himself laid up in a hospital bed, before adding: “Now I realise that’s all that fuckin’ matters.”
Elsewhere in the trailer – which also contains glimpses of rare archival footage from Rocky’s opening day and scarcely-seen photographs of a young Stallone – we get a first proper look at the impressive array of talking heads Zimny has assembled for this doc. Alongside Sly himself, we see Schwarzenegger, Henry Winkler, Talia Shire, Stallone’s family – most recently seen elsewhere in reality show The Family Stallone – and Quentin Tarantino offering their own ruminations on one of Hollywood’s last action heroes.
The trailer ends with Stallone talking about how, by giving a voice to his frustrations, he’s able to try and speak for millions more who often go overlooked in society at large. “I’m in the hope business,” he says with a smile. Well, business is booming Sly – we’re filled with hope that this will be unmissable when it hits Netflix on 3 November.