The Academy Awards get the most prestige, but a certain joy comes from seeing which films and actors come out on top for the anti-Oscars, the Razzies, aka the Golden Raspberry Awards. For fans of "so bad it's good" cinema it's the highlight of the year, drawing attention to must-see movie massacres since 1980. That first year saw the Village People pseudo-documentary Can't Stop the Music take out such low-lights as The Nude Bomb and Raise the Titanic for Worst Film, Neil Diamond take home Worst Actor for his role in The Jazz Singer, beating formidable flops like Bruce Jenner (Can't Stop the Music) and Flash Gordon's Sam J. Jones, and a tight race for Worst Actress fall to Brooke Shields in The Blue Lagoon (Shelley Duvall was a nominee in the category for The Shining, with the nomination retracted in 2022 over how she was treated during filming). Since then, the Razzies has seen a wide array of (not) talent come away with awards: some one-off winners, some surprising winners, and some names that seem to be nominated perpetually. From that group, there is one name that stands as the reigning king of the Razzies, with 11 wins in over 20 nominations: Sylvester Stallone.
How Many Razzies Has Sylvester Stallone Won?
To be fair, of the 11 Razzie wins only seven were for Worst Actor - there's a Worst Director, Worst Screenplay, Worst Screen Couple, and one more, but really we're just splitting hairs (fun fact: Splitting Heirs, 1993, was never nominated for a Razzie). Sly won his first Razzie for Worst Actor in 1985's Rhinestone, playing Nick Martinelli opposite Dolly Parton's Jake Farris, a film that also won the same year for Worst Original Song for "Drinkenstein", which he sings while wearing a boldly colored Western outfit that makes him look more like he belongs in Toy Story. Way to rock them yellow pants, big man! The following year saw Stallone win three out of four Razzie Awards: Worst Actor and Worst Screenplay for Rambo: First Blood Part II, and Worst Director for Rocky IV. The only award he didn't win that night was Worst Screenplay for Rocky IV, which he lost to himself, the very definition of being kicked while you're down.
Despite a few nominations in between, Sylvester Stallone's next Razzie win was for, again, Worst Actor in 1989's Rambo III. His next Razzie win for a single performance (there's one more in between the two we'll get to next) came in 1993 for his performance in Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot, a film role that Arnold Schwarzenegger recently admitted he tricked Sly into taking. That would be his last win for Worst Actor in a film, but not his last Razzie. In 1995, Stallone and Sharon Stone won Worst Screen Couple for The Specialist, an award that ended up in a tie with Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt for Interview with the Vampire. Stallone's last Razzie win in a Worst category was for his supporting role in 2004's Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over as Sebastian "The Toymaker", a supervillain with multiple personalities. "Game... Over."
Sylvester Stallone Famously Hates the Razzies
If Stallone had a fragile ego that somehow survived that list, there's little doubt that two specially awarded Razzies succeeded in smashing it to pieces. In 1990, Stallone took home a Razzie for Worst Actor of the Decade, with performances in Cobra, Lock Up, Over the Top, Tango & Cash, and those listed above cited as meeting the criteria for the award. Even the most ardent Stallone fan would have to agree to some point that his output in the 1980s was less than stellar, or even average. More divisive, however, would be Sly's win for Worst Actor of the Century at the 2000 Awards, one of many reasons why Stallone is decidedly not a fan of the Razzies.
"Worst Actor of the Century" may be a cheeky award, but is it accurate? There are arguments for both sides, but in the opinion of yours truly it is assuredly not accurate. Rocky is an underdog story on and off the screen, emerging as one of the greatest sports films in Hollywood history. First Blood is an underrated powerhouse performance from Stallone in a movie that subverts expectations. Rocky IV connected solidly with fans, and the director's cut, Rocky IV: Rocky vs. Drago, redeems the film with a 76% rating over the original's 38% rating on Rotten Tomatoes (even the 38% suggests it didn't deserve Razzie consideration). Despite being a box-office disaster, Oscar has garnered a favorable retrospect, with Cinema Retro's Lee Pfeiffer saying the film "... has aged very well and I found it to be a delight throughout." Cliffhanger is an above-average action film, and it's difficult to fathom that the screenplay was the worst in a year that had Leprechaun and RoboCop 3. Besides, in comparison the runner-up for the number of Razzies, Madonna, scored nine wins out of 15 nominations, with only 17 film credits, meaning 88.24% of her acting career got Razzie attention, and over 50% of those were bad enough to win. Stallone? Over 80 film credits against 20 nominations, a significantly better 25% failure rate.
Lately, however, his standing with the Razzies has been much better. Since his last win in 2004, Sly has only seen a few nominations over those 21 years. And in the ultimate act of repentance, the Razzies deemed Stallone as a nominee for the Razzie Redeemer Award in 2016. The award is given to a past Razzie Award winner or nominee who has resurrected their failed career to become a respected artist once again. Up against the likes of Elizabeth Banks, Will Smith, and M. Night Shyamalan, nominated for his return to form with The Visit, Stallone emerged victorious, "from all-time Razzie champ to award contender for Creed." At long last, a Hollywood legend, whose career had been consistently recognized as the worst, took home the only Razzie Award anyone looks forward to winning.