San Diego Comic-Con, 2013 Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone attend the Escape Plan premiere. This is the first film in which Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger appear together. The film is titled Escape Plan. That film, set in America, spanned the 1980s. Former adversaries who later became business associates and surgery partners benefited from the action genre’s glorious days. Compared to their counterparts Bruce Willis, Kurt Russell, and Mel Gibson, they were the ideal Hollywood couple, more easily reduced to clichés and more generally known. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester StalloneHowever, the dispute over who was a better beefcake has only become more subtle over the years, as the whims of post-golden age success have constantly shifted our image of the Schwarzenegger/Stallone divide. To chronicle the current state of the big 1980s action-guy controversy, we divided their two careers into their constituent parts and selected a winner using scientific methods. You might be shocked by the results!

 Box OfficeLet’s start with the one metric that is genuinely quantifiable: the box office receipts for the two stars’ respective films. With a $1.8 billion career gross, Sylvester Stallone won this accolade from BoxOffice.Mojo only barely outperformed Arnold Schwarzenegger’s $1.7 billion total. Unfortunately, the figures are incorrect, just like any other number. (Very accurate falsehoods. (My apologies). Schwarzenegger grossed $1.7 billion at the box office despite having made significantly fewer films. Six years after his breakout performance in Rocky, Stallone received his first non-Hercules lead role in Conan the Barbarian. Stallone, Schwarzenegger Take Cannes Back to Action Hero Glory Days – The Hollywood ReporterSchwarzenegger spent most of the 2000s on sabbatical in Sacramento. Schwarzenegger’s average is significantly higher because he earned nearly as much money with fewer films and in a considerably shorter period of time. Let’s award Arnold the title and score these metrics.So, Arnold SchwarzeneggerThe Impact of Their Star Persona on CultureRocky is, in some ways, a shadow of itself in every sports film. Either it’s an underdog story like Rocky, or it’s brazenly anti-Rocky, but even those films gradually become Rocky productions. Rocky is like Moneyball for managers. Warrior blends two different Rocky films into one. The narrative of Any Given Sunday revolves around how even the most well-paid, swaggering, pretentious, and un-Rocky players secretly think a lot like Rocky. Stallone’s innocent eyes embodied the notion of The Little Guy triumphing in Rocky and First Blood. The issue is that Stallone abandoned that persona for the majority of the next two decades. The Little Guy wasn’t the person he wanted to be. His ambition was to get enormous. He wanted to be Arnold Schwarzenegger.Everybody others did as well. Arnold Schwarzenegger reinvented masculinity in the 1980s. He was a living machine, an animated version of Charles Atlas, and an unstoppable force. For a major period of their childhood, every American male under the age of 45 aspired to be Arnold Schwarzenegger. Stallone did as well: The strain of Schwarzenegger’s impact is palpable as the Italian Stallion’s biceps develop during his 1980s sequels.So, Arnold SchwarzeneggerFranchise Hardiness.Both the Conan and Terminator film series, which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger, are now in various states of rebooting. One excellent Conan, two fantastic Terminators, and unnecessary sequels followed. Stallone starred in both Rambo and Rocky. Rocky produced two classics (the first and the amusing Cold War cartoon Rocky IV), two mediocre films (the surprisingly sensitive Rocky Balboa and the edging-toward-camp III), and two unneeded sequels. Rambo: First Blood Part II is horrible and faultless, First Blood is brilliant but dated, and the other Rambos are unnecessary.Stallone gets credit for how long his two main franchises have been successful—more than three decades!—despite the fact that Terminator is the finest series overall. Furthermore, the director and star of a potential Oscar nominee both want to create a Rocky spin-off. Furthermore, Stallone produced The Expendables, which may have united the action star franchises of all other actors under his supervision.Outcome: StallonePartnersSchwarzenegger has worked with John McTiernan, the typical Hollywood action film director, on multiple occasions. He also co-directed one picture each with auteurist madmen Paul Verhoeven and John Milius. There’s also the issue with James Cameron, the King of the World. Cameron has directed eight films, three of which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger and are considered legendary megahits. Stallone, on the other hand, regularly collaborates with writers and filmmakers who share his preferences.So, Arnold Schwarzenegger