This movie has probably had the harshest criticism of any action movie I can remember. It is rarely shown on television and Stallone hardly ever talks about it. All of Stallone's other movies have been released on DVD again and again every year, Cobra has been released maybe once or twice. I wonder why, as I've seen a lot, lot worse than this.
Stallone had just had his biggest year ever at the box office in 1985 with the one-two punch of "Rambo: First Blood Part II" and "Rocky IV." The late George P. Cosmatos, director of "Rambo II", also directed this film and there were high hopes for it. However, it was a critical and box office failure. I don't know why, it's far superior to most other action movies from 1986.
Stallone wrote the script for "Cobra." It's allegedly based on a book by Paula Gosling, but I don't recognize anything from that book in this movie. I think Stallone just took the basic premise of a cop protecting a woman and going on the run with her. The serial killer aspect is entirely Stallone's and doesn't feature in the book.
The main problem with the film is that it apes "Dirty Harry" too much from its rule-bending cop on the trail of a vicious killer, right down to casting Andy Robinson and Reni Santoni from Eastwood's movie in it. It's even made by the same studio - Warner Brothers. Having said that, "Cobra" is better than most of the "Dirty Harry" sequels (It's certainly better than "The Enforcer" and "The Dead Pool.") It also has the coolest poster of any of Stallone's movies (Stallone looks like he's auditioning for Arnold's role in "The Terminator" on the DVD cover!)
Perhaps one reason people don't like this film is that they take exception to the casting of Stallone's then-wife, Brigitte Nielsen as the heroine.
There are also some laughable "tough guy" moments (delivered seriously) like when Stallone rips a guy's vest and tells him he's bad for his health. Perhaps Stallone was believing his own press at that stage and he was getting too big for his boots after dominating the box office the year before.
The photography by Ric Waite is excellent if a little too MTV. The score by Sylvester Levay is also good, you wonder why he never did more movie music.
If you like Stallone and you like action movies, you'll like this. It's a perfectly agreeable time-waster.
Stallone had just had his biggest year ever at the box office in 1985 with the one-two punch of "Rambo: First Blood Part II" and "Rocky IV." The late George P. Cosmatos, director of "Rambo II", also directed this film and there were high hopes for it. However, it was a critical and box office failure. I don't know why, it's far superior to most other action movies from 1986.
Stallone wrote the script for "Cobra." It's allegedly based on a book by Paula Gosling, but I don't recognize anything from that book in this movie. I think Stallone just took the basic premise of a cop protecting a woman and going on the run with her. The serial killer aspect is entirely Stallone's and doesn't feature in the book.
The main problem with the film is that it apes "Dirty Harry" too much from its rule-bending cop on the trail of a vicious killer, right down to casting Andy Robinson and Reni Santoni from Eastwood's movie in it. It's even made by the same studio - Warner Brothers. Having said that, "Cobra" is better than most of the "Dirty Harry" sequels (It's certainly better than "The Enforcer" and "The Dead Pool.") It also has the coolest poster of any of Stallone's movies (Stallone looks like he's auditioning for Arnold's role in "The Terminator" on the DVD cover!)
Perhaps one reason people don't like this film is that they take exception to the casting of Stallone's then-wife, Brigitte Nielsen as the heroine.
There are also some laughable "tough guy" moments (delivered seriously) like when Stallone rips a guy's vest and tells him he's bad for his health. Perhaps Stallone was believing his own press at that stage and he was getting too big for his boots after dominating the box office the year before.
The photography by Ric Waite is excellent if a little too MTV. The score by Sylvester Levay is also good, you wonder why he never did more movie music.
If you like Stallone and you like action movies, you'll like this. It's a perfectly agreeable time-waster.