You know that feeling when you finally get something you’ve waited thirty years for, and it’s... weirdly different than you imagined? That’s basically the vibe of every stallone and schwarzenegger movie. For the entire 1980s, these two were the North and South poles of Hollywood. They didn't just compete; they straight-up hated each other. Stallone once said their DNA actually loathed one another.
Then 2013 happened. We got Escape Plan.
It wasn't a cameo like in The Expendables. It wasn't a passing of the torch. It was the first time both names were at the top of the marquee together. To understand why that movie matters, or why their joint scenes in the Expendables trilogy feel so electric, you have to look at the decades of pettiness that came first. It’s a story of ego, a very expensive restaurant chain, and a legendary prank involving a script so bad it almost ended a career.
The Cold War of Action Cinema
Before they were buddies sharing a hospital room—an actual photo they posted back in 2012 that broke the internet—they were trying to bury each other. In the '80s, the "stallone and schwarzenegger movie" wasn't a reality. It was a fantasy. They checked the trades every morning to see who had the bigger budget, the bigger guns, or the lower body fat percentage.
Arnold actually tricked Sly into making one of the worst movies ever. Seriously.
Schwarzenegger read the script for Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot. He thought it was garbage. Pure trash. So, he leaked a rumor that he was "dying" to do the film. Stallone, desperate to snatch a win from his rival, jumped in and signed the contract immediately. Arnold just sat back and watched the reviews tank. That’s the level of psychological warfare we're talking about. You can't make this stuff up.
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Turning Points and Planet Hollywood
The thaw started with burgers. In the early '90s, they both invested in Planet Hollywood. Suddenly, they were forced to fly around the world together to open new restaurants. It turns out, when you’re stuck on a private jet for twelve hours with the only other person on Earth who understands what it’s like to be a global action brand, you start to get along.
Every Stallone and Schwarzenegger Movie Ranked by Impact
If you’re looking to binge their collaborations, the list is actually shorter than you'd think. They spent so much time avoiding each other that we only have a handful of projects where they share the screen.
Escape Plan (2013): This is the definitive stallone and schwarzenegger movie. Sly plays Ray Breslin, a guy who breaks out of prisons for a living. Arnold is Emil Rottmayer, the mysterious inmate who helps him. It’s got that grimy, industrial '80s feel but with 21st-century tech. Watching Arnold speak German while losing his mind in a solitary confinement "hot box" is peak cinema. It’s the only film where they are true co-leads from start to finish.
The Expendables 2 (2012): In the first movie, Arnold just had a two-minute cameo in a church. It was a tease. In the sequel, he actually picks up a gun. The scene where they’re in the Smart car—Arnold rips the door off because he’s too big for the frame—is hilarious. It’s self-aware. They knew what the fans wanted.
The Expendables 3 (2014): By this point, the novelty was wearing off a bit, but the chemistry was still there. Arnold’s character, Trench, is basically a recurring gag, but his "Get to the chopper" callback is the kind of fan service that keeps these franchises alive.
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Why Escape Plan Still Holds Up
Honestly, Escape Plan is better than people remember. It’s not just about muscles. It’s a logic puzzle. The "Tomb" is a prison ship in the middle of the ocean, and the way they use a makeshift sextant to figure out their latitude is actually kind of smart. Jim Caviezel plays a fantastic, cold-blooded warden who treats the two legends like lab rats.
The movie grossed about $137 million worldwide. Most of that came from overseas because, let’s be real, the world still loves seeing these two together. It proved that even in their 60s, they could carry a film without relying entirely on CGI or younger actors.
The Science of the "Sly-Arnold" Dynamic
Why does it work? It's the contrast. Stallone is all grit, heart, and mumbling intensity. He’s the underdog, even when he’s winning. Arnold is the machine. He’s the unstoppable force with the dry one-liners. When you put them in the same frame, you get a balance that most modern action movies lack.
There’s a nuance to their later work that wasn't there in the '80s. You can see the mutual respect. In Escape Plan, there’s a scene where they have to stage a fake fight. They’re really hitting each other, but there’s a wink to the audience. They’re two old lions having one last roar.
The Missing Masterpieces
It’s a bit of a tragedy we never got a stallone and schwarzenegger movie in 1987. Imagine a Tango & Cash style flick but with the Terminator and Rambo. There were scripts. There was a project called Gale Force that floated around for years. Schedules never lined up. Or maybe the egos were just too big for one trailer park back then.
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Actionable Takeaways for Movie Buffs
If you're diving into the filmography of these two giants, don't just look for the explosions. Look for the shifts in their relationship.
- Watch the Cameos First: Start with The Expendables (2010). The church scene is only a few minutes long, but the tension is real. You can feel the decades of rivalry in that room.
- Appreciate the "Late Style": Don't dismiss Escape Plan. It’s the most "human" we've seen them. They aren't invulnerable superheroes; they're aging men using their wits.
- Check out the Documentaries: The Netflix documentary Sly and the limited series Arnold both dive into their feud. Hearing them talk about each other now is genuinely touching. They went from wanting to kill each other to being each other's biggest supporters.
The era of the "stallone and schwarzenegger movie" might be winding down as they move into their late 70s, but the impact is permanent. They defined a genre, then they redefined what it looks like to age gracefully in a business that usually throws you away at forty.
If you want to see the best of them, skip the sequels to Escape Plan (Sly stayed, but Arnold didn't, and the quality dropped). Stick to the core collaborations. You'll see two guys who realized, eventually, that they were better together than they ever were apart. It’s a Hollywood ending that actually happened in real life.
To truly appreciate the legacy, go back and watch Rocky and The Terminator back-to-back. Then put on Escape Plan. The evolution of these men—from icons of stone to actual friends—is the best story Hollywood ever told.