Terminator: Dark Fate star Arnold Schwarzenegger sat down with Jimmy Kimmel this week, and he took the chance to make a friendly jab at fellow action star Sylvester Stallone.

The Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger rivalry fueled some of the greatest action movies of the 80s and early 90s. The pair spent the better part of a decade constantly trying to one-up each other—bigger guns, better kills, and more (muscle) definition. Similar films like Commando and Rambo: First Blood Part II both came out in 1985, which means the action stars were competing for box office revenue. Today, the two legends are good friends; however, people never get tired of asking them about their competitive heyday. And with Schwarzenegger out promoting his new Terminator movie, it was perhaps inevitable that this topic would come up.

Schwarzenegger made an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live this week to promote his latest film, Terminator: Dark Fate. He first touched on his daughter’s recent marriage to Chris Pratt and the California wildfires, which forced the cancelation of the Terminator premiere in Hollywood. Schwarzenegger assured Kimmel that he was doing fine after evacuating his home Monday.  “That’s nothing for an action hero, come on!” he said. “I’m a positive person. I’m happy that my house hasn’t burned down.” The conversation then turned to the aforementioned rivalry. Kimmel asked about a prank Schwarzenegger once pulled on Stallone, which involved Schwarzenegger convincing Stallone to make the 1992 action-comedy flop Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot. He explained how in the early 90s he started experimenting with comedies like Kindergarten Cop and Twins, which obviously meant Stallone needed to branch out as well. Around this time, Schwarzenegger was approached with the script for Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot, a movie about a cop whose mother makes his job more difficult than it needs to be (starring Estelle Getty). He immediately realized the film wasn’t for him. After the interview went online, Stallone himself even fired back on Twitter.

“I read the script, and it was a piece of s—. Let’s be honest. I say to myself, I’m not going to do this movie…Then they went to Sly, and Sly called me, have they ever talked to you about doing this movie? And I said, yes, I was thinking about doing it. This is a really brilliant idea, this movie. When he heard that, because he was in competition, he said, ‘Whatever it takes, I’ll do the movie.’ And of course the movie went major into the toilet.”

Already, the clip from the interview has more than 2 million views on YouTube. Clearly, a lot of people love Schwarzenegger’s tongue-in-cheek jab at his friend Stallone, courtesy of Jimmy Kimmel. The internet is ablaze with nostalgia lately, particularly for classic 80s fare. The original Terminator movie came out in 1984, and it helped cement Schwarzenegger’s status as an action movie hero. In the years to come, Schwarzenegger would graduate from box office star to Governor of California, an incredible journey.

Schwarzenegger and Stallone’s box office rivalry is something that will be remembered in the annals of cinematic history. Whether they are making The Expendables movies together or remembering the good old days, the two will always attract a lot of attention. This week has reminded us of not only the star power of Schwarzenegger and Stallone, but also of how far they’ve come—from rivals to lifelong friends.

MORE: Rambo: Last Blood’s Final Kill Pays Off 1981 Stallone Movie

Source: Jimmy Kimmel Live

  • Terminator: Dark Fate Release Date: 2019-11-01