Sylvester Stallone has been a defining part of American film for nearly four decades. He has made an impact on world entertainment in a surprisingly diverse range of capacities – as actor, writer, producer, and director – all while maintaining a monolithic presence. With The Ultimate Stallone Reader, this icon finally receives concerted academic attention. Eleven original essays by internationally-known scholars examine Stallone’s contributions to mainstream cinema, independent film, and television. This volume also offers innovative approaches to star, gender, and celebrity studies, performance analysis, genre criticism, industry and reception inquiry, and the question of what it means to be an auteur. Ultimately, The Ultimate Stallone Reader investigates the place that Sylvester Stallone occupies within an industry and a culture that have both undergone much evolution, and how his work has reflected and even driven these changes.

Are you ready to be a contender? Sylvester Stallone's action–oriented program for getting fit and eating right is also a revealing portrait of one of Hollywood's biggest stars. Sly Moves is more than just a handbook on fitness and nutrition. It's a provocative and candid inside look at the trials and triumphs of one of Hollywood's most famous stars. Throughout his career, Sly has always been body conscious, and as he experimented with intense training methods for various films, he has learned – often the hard way – what works and what definitely doesn't. His goal here is to help readers change harmful fitness habits, learn to counter reckless eating, and appreciate who they are even when they don't feel much like action heroes. Part 1 is a history of Sylvester Stallone's physique, as the Rocky star shares stories about his being bullied as a child, finding comfort and strength at the gym, and then later, the wild ride of fad diets, crash–training regimens and workout disasters that fringed on obsession. Part 2, The Sly Moves workout, outlines four exercise programs: classic, advanced, women's and hardcore. The workouts only require a commitment of about three hours a week (exactly the same amount of time Sly works out). The Sly Moves eating plan (Part 3) is Sly's nutrition guide, highlighted by a unique meal plan for a lifetime of good eating. Part 4 gives Sly an opportunity to inspire and encourage readers to make Sly Moves part of a long–term picture of health, fitness and wellbeing, with tips on everything from keeping goals and relaxation techniques to lessons learned from The Contender.

After cracking the ribs of his insanely jealous sparring partner, the once-down-and-out heavyweight moves on to the title fight with Apollo Creed

Sylvester Stallone teaches us with his films to overcome any limit and obstacle, to face any enemy and any difficulty. He teaches us to start from scratch, to fight and to continue to live. Never give up.

With his sculpted physique and brooding good looks, Sylvester Stallone remains the quintessential movie star. In this biography--based on exclusive interviews with Stallone, his outspoken mother, his second wife, and a host of fellow celebrities and friends--this most private of public figures is revealed. Frank Sanello looks not only at Stallone's personal life, which fans will find as compelling as any of his action pictures, but also at his film career, from cartoon icon to failed comic actor to re-energized action hero. Frank Sanello has written biographies of Sharon Stone, Tom Cruise, Eddie Murphy, Will Smith, and Steven Spielberg. A former film critic for the Los Angeles Daily News, his work has also appeared in The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and People.