Rambo: Official Site Live

The official Rambo site has gone live with the first official trailer. Rambo walks softly and carries a huge knife -- check out the background picture on the official page. - Craig

Interesting Company

A Palestinian woman walks past a wall decorated with photographs of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, bottom left, late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, bottom right, Cuba's revolutionary leader Ernesto 'Che' Guevara, center right, Barcelona soccer team, top left, and U.S. actor Sylvester Stallone, top right, displayed for sale at the center of the West Bank city of Ramallah, Monday, Oct. 22, 2007. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

SZoner Meets Sly & Frank

SZoner, Stephen Isa recently attended Seriesse International and was able to speak with Sylvester Stallone. Stephen also was able to take these pictures with him in Las Vegas on 10/20/07 at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino.

About a week earlier Stephen got a picture with Frank Stallone when he performed in New York City.

Stephen sends out a big thank you to Frank and Sly and we send one to Stephen for sharing the photos! - Craig

Randy Martinez's Rambo

Paul Wintner turned me on to the art of Randy Martinez, a Lucas film illustrator. Randymartinez.net is his site and you can see much more of his very cool art. Hopefully we'll see more here as well! - Craig

Moreno Rambo Poster

SZoner, Gerardo Moreno sent in another nice digital piece! Thanks to Gerardo for sharing. You can check out his site by clicking HERE. - Craig

Rambo Fan Poster

Here's a fan poster for Rambo made by SZoner, Jacob. - Craig

SlyCollecting.com

Last week SZoner Paul Winter sent in some pictures from his Sylvester Stallone collection. Now Paul is back with more photos of his very cool memorabilia as well as a link to his SlyCollecting.com site! - Craig

Evan Bryce's Rambo

Evan Bryce is an illustrator and colorist. I discovered his work through his sketchbook blog.

Recently Evan posted this cool black and white illo of Sly as Rambo. He later colored it.

You can see more of Evan's work in Negative Burn #6 from Desperado. Evan will also have a pinup in the Crimeland graphic novel coming in November. Of course you can also check out his site! - Craig

Rambo Fan Art

SZoner, Sherry Hutchison is back with her latest Stallone painting. She welcomes comments to Sherry_Hutchison@yahoo.com - Craig

1st Official Rambo Poster

IGN.com was the first to post this beauty. Rambo is back. -- Sorry, but I had to say it. - Craig

Rocky for the Holidays

Hey SZoners!

The holidays are quickly approaching and I wanted to remind everyone that Rocky sculptures are still available through A. Thomas Schomberg studios. These statues were created by A. Thomas Schomberg [who created the original Rocky sculpture seen in the Rocky movies] in collaboration with Sylvester Stallone and MGM studios. The sculptures make great gifts and there's a sculpture for every price range! I've had mine for nearly a year now and I smile with pride every time I pass it [several times a day]!

I've stayed in contact with Mr. Schomberg and his wife since my interview with him [part two of the interview is here] for the SZ. I recently checked to make sure that statues are still available and they are! In fact, with the holidays coming up, they are expecting a surge in sales -- so I thought it would be a good time to get your order in SZoners!

Remember, if you've purchases a statue, I'd love to post a picture of you with it! - Craig

EW: The Things They Carried

The October 19, 2007 issue of Entertainment Weekly has a piece by Tom Schierlitz and Josh Rottenberg entitled "The Things They Carried". It looks at some of the great props from motion pictures. The article leads with a two page spread of Sly's boxing gloves from "Rocky". Here's what they have to say:

Rocky Boxing Gloves The sleeper hit of 1976 and a surprise Best Picture winner, the underdog-palooka fable kick-started the career of writer-director-star Sylvester Stallone, launched a six-film franchise, and roused untold millions of couch potatoes with dreams of "Eye of the Tiger" glory. Stallone donated the gloves from "Rocky II" to the Smithsonian, but he wore these gloves in the first "Rocky", where he duked it out for 15 rounds with Apollo Creed. This pair clearly has a strong sentimental appeal for him - it has remained in his private collection for more than 30 years.
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- Craig

New Shippee Rambo Art

SZoner, Adam Shippee is back with a new painting of Sly as Rambo. Adam's e-mail is ashippee1@cox.net if you'd like to drop him a line. - Craig

Sly Fan's Collection

SZoner Paul Winter is not only the owner of Winter Talent Agency [check out his site], but also a fan of Sylvester Stallone movies.

Paul sent in a photo of him with Frank Stallone, as well as some pictures from Paul's collection: glasses from Rocky Balboa, autographed gloves and a ring signed by Sly and all of his opponents from the Rocky movies!





Paul, thanks for sharing! - Craig

Gatlinburg Sly

SZoner, Rob Hoskins checked in with the picture above and the e-mail below:

Hi Craig, Rob Hoskins here from Lexington, Ky. I recently visited the Hollywood Wax Museum in Gatlinburg Tennessee and here is what I found. Thought you'd like a look.

By the way, the site looks great! Keep Up The Good Work! - Rob

----- Thanks Rob! - Craig

SZoner @ AFI "Rocky" Screening

SZoner, Joshua Tapia sent StalloneZone an exclusive summary of his experience at the AFI "Rocky" screening:

Hi Craig, Just wanted to write in and share my incredible experience at the AFI 40th Anniversary screening of Rocky. Sorry I could not provide some photos but they were restricted and security was very tight. If we were caught with a camera we would be ejected from the theater.

So after sitting in line for hours and finally getting into the theater lobby we were able to get our hands on a AFI 40th Anniversary collectors book. Finally as we all sat down in our designated seats a member of the AFI entered the room to tell us that all the Film Legends were in a theater for a photo shoot and that they would soon be coming in for the presentation. It was at this time he told us of the surprise guest who would introduce Mr Stallone....none other than Talia Shire. The crowd responded with cheers and applause.

Finally around 7:30pm Talia Shire entered the room to applause. She took the stand and talked about how while making the film they never really said it but they all thought they were making something special. After a few more words she introduced the man himself Sylvester Stallone. As Stallone emerged from the entrance the crowd stood up to give him a standing ovation. Stallone took stepped up to the podium and thanked everyone for coming. He shared a few stories from the production about how when they showed up for the Ice Rink scene that he was told all the extras were not available, he also told us about how Talia Shire had the flu and he knew when he went in for that first kiss he knew he'd be sick the next day but he was so lost in the moment that he just forgot everything and kissed her.

Stallone finished his speech and thanked everyone again as we applauded him. As he made his way out a gentleman ran out of his seat with a copy of Stallone's last book SLY MOVES. This caused several other people to jump from there seat with stuff to autograph. Stallone being the great guy he is stopped and signed everything that was put in front of him. I saw this as my chance, i got up from my seat and made my through the crowd. As I did this the theater started to lower the lights so that people would sit down. Right before he exited i was able to walk up to him. As i approached him he looked at my hands as if he expected me to have something for him to sign. I just stuck out my hand and said "I would just like shake your hand and thank you for coming." Sly shook my hand and thanked me.

The lights went down and we watched the film. This was one of the best film going experiences i have ever had. Second would be last year when thanks to StalloneZone I got to see Rocky Balboa a week before it was released in Tampa and if not for StalloneZone I would of not of known about the AFI screening. Thanks Craig and keep up the good work. Joshua Tapia
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Thanks for the write-up Josh. What a cool experience! - Craig

Rambo: A Comparison and More

This blogger posts about the differences between the Rambo of the movies and the novel First Blood and more. - Craig

SZ Exclusive "John Rambo" Photo

The picture above is a StalloneZone exclusive photo taken on location during the filming of "John Rambo". - Craig

Leinil Yu's Rambo

Leinil Yu is an amazing talent. I never believed that I'd have the opportunity to own a Stallone piece as nice as the one above. I met Leinil at OrlandoCon and actually won a raffle for a drawing from him. You can read about that experience here. Leinil is another artist who is as nice as he is talented. He has a limited edition signed sketchbook available through Kwan Chang and you can order it here. While you're at Kwan's site, you can check out more of Leinil's art.

Thanks again to Kwan and Leinil!

Joe Bluhm's Stallone Art

Joe Bluhm is an illustrator and character designer who specializes in caricature. He's an amazing talent. I've been a fan of his work for some time now after discovering Joe's blog. Imagine my surprise when I discovered him set up at OrlandoCon. Joe is as nice as he is talented. Not only did he hit a home run with his take on Sly as Rocky [above], but followed up with the awesome Sly as Sly [below].

If you're a fan of Joe's work [if you've seen it, you must be] or of caricature, then you owe it to yourself to check out his book REJECTS. The idea behind the book is that often the "most interesting and dynamic" caricatures are rejected due to the extreme exaggeration or cutting humor. It's a great idea for a book -- especially from a talent like Joe.

Now, Understand It

SZoner, Gerardo Moreno sent in another nice digital piece! Thanks to Gerardo for sharing. You can check out his site by clicking HERE. - Craig

Sly @ AFI

Actors and directors from left, Sylvester Stallone, Jack Nicholson, George Lucas, Angela Lansbury, Tippi Hedren, Clint Eastwood, Kirk Douglas, Rob Reiner, Billy Crystal, Warren Beatty, and Julie Andrews are seen at AFI's 40th Anniversary presented by Target Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2007, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

AFI Presents

Actors and directors from front left, Sylvester Stallone, Tippi Hedren, George Lucas, Kirk Douglas, Angela Lansbury, Jack Nicholson, background left, Clint Eastwood, Rob Reiner, Billy Crystal, Warren Beatty, and Julie Andrews are seen at AFI's 40th Anniversary presented by Target Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2007, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

AFI Group

Actors and directors (L-R) Sylvester Stallone, Tippi Hedren, George Lucas, Clint Eastwood, Kirk Douglas, Rob Reiner, Angela Lansbury, Jack Nicholson, Billy Crystal, Warren Beatty and Julie Andrews attend the American Film Institute's 40th anniversary event featuring screenings of classic films in Hollywood, California October 3, 2007. The actors each introduced their past films at the screening. REUTERS/Fred Prouser (UNITED STATES)

Ron Salas' Jack Carter

Ron Salas is an extremely talented artist. He is a t-shirt designer whose work can be seen in Planet Hollywood, Hard Rock Cafe, Yosemite National Park and other places including his website. Speaking of his website, it's where I discovered his work and is a regular stop on my internet excursions.

Ron was at the recent OrlandoCon and I was fortunate enough to get on his sketch list. He can through with Jack Carter and I couldn't be happier. Post a comment on Ron's site if you're interested in a commission. His prices are right and his talent is obvious!

Sly is Superman by Alex Saviuk

Alex Saviuk, perhaps best known for his work with Stan Lee on The Amazing Spider-Man newspaper strip first studied at Will Eisner's School of Visual Arts. He entered the realm of professional comics by landing at DC on such projects as Superman, Green Lantern and The Flash. From there it was on to Marvel and a long run on various Spider-Man comics. Since leaving Marvel, Alex has worked on the X-Files comic, The Spider-Man newspaper strip, The Phantom, as well as advertising and storyboards for motion pictures.

Alex chose to draw Sly as Superman and I love the result. Alex is a big movie fan, and he knew that Sly had been in the running for the lead role. If you ever get to meet Alex ask him to SHOW you why that wouldn't have worked out so well!

Alex is available for commissions. He can be reached at actionart2004@yahoo.com -- tell him I sent ya! - Craig

Sly: Witnessed Myanmar Genocide

In an article posted today by the Associated Press, Sylvester Stallone says that he and his crew were witness to horrible atrocities while filming "John Rambo".

Sly goes on to say, "This is a hellhole beyond your wildest dreams... I witnessed the aftermath — survivors with legs cut off and all kinds of land mine injuries, maggot-infested wounds and ears cut off. We saw many elephants with blown off legs. We hear about Vietnam and Cambodia and this was more horrific."

Sly chose the location of Thailand and Myanmar [formerly known as Burma] for the location of his latest Rambo adventure because it had been identified as "the foremost area of human abuse on the planet". Sly made his feelings clear about the situation when he said, "The Burmese are beautiful people. It's the military I am portraying as cruel."

Sly is currently editing "John Rambo" for an early 2008 release. You can read the full article by clicking HERE. - Craig