Roles That Rocky Actors Probably Want Us To Forget About

As the all-time champion of sports sagas, the "Rocky" story is also among the longest-running movie franchises in Hollywood. Created by star Sylvester Stallone when he was nearly penniless, the first film landed in 1976 to critical acclaim and turned him into an overnight A-lister (and Academy Award-nominated actor). He quickly churned out a number of sequels, with the series seemingly concluding in 1990 with "Rocky V." But like most franchises, it came roaring back in the 21st century, with "Rocky Balboa" reviving the boxing champ for one more round in 2006.

But for an encore, Stallone handed the reins to director Ryan Coogler and star Michael B. Jordan for a spinoff series, beginning with "Creed" in 2015, then a sequel in 2018, while "Creed III," helmed by Jordan himself, is due in 2023. Across six decades, "Rocky" has made stars out of many in its cast and provided others with career-defining parts. 

But each of them has a role they aren't quite as proud of and while they might have fighting words for us for pointing them out, we're ready to take the challenge. So let's get into the ring and rumble because we're highlighting the worst movies from the cast of the "Rocky" films that they probably want you to forget about.

Playing Ivan Drago in "Rocky IV" is actor Dolph Lundgren in what proved to be his breakout role following his debut feature role in 1985's "A View to a Kill." An actor whose physical presence is as fear-inducing as his cold stare, Lundgren became a force in action movies into the 1990s, with a string of underrated flicks like "Universal Soldier." Over the years his career has been rocky, to say the least, and he has a number of movies he might want to bury. But one that stands out more than most is the 1998 film, "The Minion."

As the dawn of the new millennium approached, there was a strange wave of action movies centered on religious doomsday prophecies, and "The Minion" was one of them. But unlike Schwarzenegger's "End of Days" or Johnny Depp's "The Ninth Gate," this film is completely nonsensical and just plain awful. It centers on Lukas, a member of an ancient order tasked with preventing the apocalypse. With a goofy-looking spiked glove, Lukas heads to New York City where he must do battle with the Anti-Christ.

Unfortunately, "The Minion" isn't just bad but completely misuses Lundgren. While the star is always at his best when he's a surly, quiet warrior, here he's given far too much clunky expository dialogue. Between his poor performance, a surprising lack of action, and special effects that don't even hold up for the time, the former Drago is probably hoping nobody rented this one.

In the "Rocky" films, Apollo Creed may be Balboa's buddy in the ring, but his closest pal is Paulie, the blue-collar grump who sticks by his side through thick and thin. He's played by actor Burt Young, and like many in the cast, counts his role in the franchise as his most famous part. Still, he has appeared in some other classics, with small roles in "Chinatown" and "Once Upon a Time in America." But into the late '80s and '90s he had a number of lackluster efforts, but few as bad as 1989's "Beverly Hills Brats."

Led by "A Christmas Story" child star Peter Billingsly, the film follows Scooter, a teenager from Beverly Hills. Scooter is frustrated by the lack of attention he gets from his father (Martin Sheen) and stepmother (Terry Moore), and the scorn he receives from his spoiled brother and sister. In an effort to get be appreciated by his good-for-nothing snobby family, Scooter hatches a scheme with the help of petty miscreants Clive and Elmo (Burt Young and George Kirby) to fake his own kidnapping. 

It's all a pretty by-the-numbers caper, but things don't work as they should. The jokes don't land, the plot is predictable and worse still, it's incredibly boring, barely entertaining enough to be a Sunday afternoon TV movie. Low on laughs, "Beverly Hills Brats" just can't compete with the kinds of classic '80s romps that it's clearly aspiring to be.

"Rocky III" sees Stallone's boxing champ facing off with a wrestler known as Thunderlips, played by pro wrestling superstar Hulk Hogan in his feature film debut. But outside of "Rocky III," Hogan — real name Terry Bollea — made almost exclusively awful movies including "Mr. Nanny" and "3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain," and any number of them could qualify for this list. Still, there's definitely one that stands out above the rest ... or perhaps below it.

The stinker in question is the 1996 kids' Christmas comedy, "Santa with Muscles," a movie that even on paper sounds absolutely dreadful. In the film, Hogan stars as Blake Thorn, a wealthy entrepreneur who goes on the run from the police. While hiding beneath a Santa Claus outfit, Thorn gets bonked on the head and suffers amnesia, and comes to think that he's actually the real Santa Claus. But if you think that was the extent of the stupidity, think again, because we're just getting started. 

On top of the amnesiac wrestler who thinks he's Santa, there's also an orphanage that's hiding a treasure trove of powerful energy crystals and a mad scientist named Ebner Frost (Ed Begley Jr.) who wants to get his hands on them so he can take over the town. Frankly, we're not sure how this even got made. Though Hogan has plenty of scandals in his career he probably wishes we'd forget, "Santa with Muscles" might top the list.

Following the return of the franchise in 2006 with "Rocky Balboa," the story of Stallone's title character was deemed concluded, and spinoffs seemed the natural next step. In came "Creed," from writer and director Ryan Coogler, and he cast his "Fruitvale Station" star, Michael B. Jordan, as Adonis Creed, the now-adult son of Rocky's old pal Apollo. The film made Jordan a bonafide superstar and garnered enough praise (scoring 95% on Rotten Tomatoes) that he could put behind him his most embarrassing role as the Human Torch in the disastrous superhero reboot, "Fantastic Four."

"Fantastic Four" was actually released just months before "Creed," but its rocky road to the screen had been full of so many troubles it seemed like it was in production for a decade. Helmed by indie darling Josh Trank, the film initially was said to be a darker, more horror-inspired reinvention, but studio meddling and behind-the-scenes drama led to extensive reshoots that turned it from an intriguing sci-fi flick into an incomprehensible mess (per Yahoo).

Toss in some grossly racist backlash from some fans (as noted by Variety) to a nightmarish production and critical drubbing, and we can't imagine that Jordan is terribly proud of it, even if he doesn't necessarily regret it. "I look back at the film as a learning experience. Every film isn't going to be a home run," Jordan told IGN in 2016.

In the "Creed" films, Michael B. Jordan's relationship with aspiring singer Bianca Taylor is more than a mere subplot but it sits at the heart of the movies. To play this crucial role, director Ryan Coogler turned to Tessa Thomspon and it would wind up being her breakout film. But while she's since gone on to stardom in the MCU in "Thor: Ragnarok" and films like "Annihilation," Thompson can't be thrilled that audiences are now looking back at her earlier films. That's because among them they'll find the 2010 horror flop, "Exquisite Corpse."

To make matters worse, more recent re-issues of the film have played up Thompson's role in the film despite her having a relatively small role. The movie tells the story of a scientist named Nicholas (Steve Sandross) who has developed a procedure to revive the dead and hopes to use it to bring his girlfriend (Nicole Vicius) back to life after a deadly drowning incident. But this is no zombie movie, instead an attempt at psychological horror. Because to keep her alive, he must go on a killing spree and extract a chemical from post-coital victims. Yes, you read that correctly.

Beyond the ludicrousness of its baffling story logic, the movie fails because it's just painfully dull. In the film's relatively short run time, cardboard characters do a lot of standing around spewing awkward dialogue at an excruciatingly slow pace.

The star of the "Rocky" franchise, Sylvester Stallone, is also the creator of the entire franchise, having written all six original films. With a long career that continues in 2022, where he stars in the Tyler Sheridan series "Tulsa King," Stallone has his share of duds, but while we could go the easy route and talk about his most famous flop, the eye-rollingly awful "Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot!," we think there's another earlier film in his career he probably wants us to forget about, and it's one many may not even remember.

"Rhinestone" is the ill-conceived 1984 musical comedy co-written by Stallone himself, and co-starring country music legend Dolly Parton. Parton plays Jake Farris, a frustrated singer who performs at a dingy club called The Rhinestone. To get out of her contract with club owner Freddie (Ron Leibman), Jake makes a bet that she can turn any old schlub into a star. Freddie takes the wager and plucks city cab driver Nick Martinelli (Stallone) from the streets, and now Jake has two weeks to turn him into a string-strumming, country-crooning heartthrob.

If you ever wanted to see Rocky Balboa in a shiny fringed jacket and a mullet singing and dancing on stage in a sleazy nightclub, "Rhinestone" delivers. But what it doesn't provide is entertainment, as it's a downright cringe-inducing experience that will have you mortified for the "Rocky" star as he laughably tries to pass himself off as a country glam rocker.