Where I Watched It: Netflix

English Audio Description Provided By: International Digital Center

Written By Valerie Hunter

Narrated By: Kimberly Chatterly

Already this year, I’ve seen documentaries dedicated to Wynonna Judd, Pamela Anderson, Michael j Fox, Rock Hudson, Albert Brooks, Mary Tyler Moore, Judy Blume, and some guy named Mr. Chow. That’s not to count out docuseries like Beckham or Arnold. So, Sly is for some reason a drop in the bucket this year, and in the same year where Arnold had a three hour limited series. Sly can just be edited into one film?

This covers the same distance, starting off with Sylvester Stallone as a bright eyed bushy tailed hopeful dreaming of making acting his career. There’s some talk about the struggle, and as the years go by, his life, but this really is a film that is primarily dedicated to those who love Stallone for either Rocky or Rambo.

I was disappointed at how the majority of Stallone’s career he seemed unwilling to talk about. For a while, he was out. Done. And we skip that phase of his life altogether, where he had a film called Detox, that became Eye See You, and just kinda died on home video. No mention of classics like Stop Or My Mom Will Shoot, Judge Dredd, or Bullet To The Head. he doesn’t even celebrate some of his success stories like Copland, which is a very underrated film. It’s all just Rocky and Rambo, and some nods to a few others like The Expendables.

It didn’t feel complete. It felt honest, as Sly talks ton the camera a lot, and is emotional at times, but for the true Stallone fan, I wanted to know about the other movies. I wanted to know about the less obvious choices, as I actually enjoy some of them. I think Stallone is more than just a franchise machine, but this documentary seems to want to only tell that story.

The audio description here doesn’t have much to go with, as Stallone is most of the talking, but I did notice at the beginning when Stallone is the first person on camera, the narrator avoided using his name. What for? I know it’s the script, and i know sometimes filmmakers get input into what to include and not, but it’s a documentary about Sylvester Stallone. if you had fucking Charlton Heston on screen, I might have been thrown off. Then by all means, surprise me. But I clicked on a documentary about Sylvester Stallone, assuming it’s not some absurdist nonsense that manages to never show the topic of discussion. He’s right there. If I could see, I’d recognize him, and if i was watching this with sighted people, the goal of audio description is to bridge the gap. If I have a sighted spouse, and we decide to Netflix and chill, I should be able to recognize Stallone at the same time as them, not later on. Even if he was shrouded in shadow, or had his back turned, i think a fan of his would still recognize him. he’s a prolific actor in a film that is about, and titled, him.

Aside from that baffling beginning, the rest isn’t bad. but I just do not understand hiding Stallone for even a second. Ridiculous.

It’s not my favorite documentary of the year, and i wanted Sly to cover more of his career. Bringing in Arnold Schwarzenegger for some color commentary was a nice touch, but Stallone also randomly appears in Arnold. They just traded off.

Final Grade: B