COBRA at HOLLYWOOD TEEN MOVIES

Book Description: "Male Fitness Stars of TV & the Movies"
Legends of Health & Fitness are non-fictionalized stories that present the lives of contemporary, health and fitness role models for young adults. These are the stories of real men and women who, despite busy lives, find time each day to ensure their health. Each book in the series begins with a chapter that gives a history and background of the sport or career and ties the sport to health and fitness. Legends of Health & Fitness are apropriate for all middle school and high school students who want to lead a healthy and fit lifestyle. The book, Male Fitness Stars of TV and the Movies profiles Sylvester Stalone, John Travolta, Bruce Willis, and Wesley Snipes. Fitness is paramount to the careers of these four superstars.

Book Description: "Stallone - A Rocky Life"
With his sculpted physique and brooding good looks, Sylvester Stallone remains the quintessential movie star. His love life has drawn as much attention as his $2 billion-grossing films--after a long-suffering first wife and a philandering second, his current spouse is a supermodel 25 years his junior. And between each marriage, he has courted a catwalk's worth of women straight from the covers of Vogue. Now, in this new biography--based on exclusive interviews with Stallone, his outspoken mother, his second wife, and a host of fellow celebrities and friends--this most private of public figures is revealed. Frank Sanello looks not only at Stallone's personal life, which fans will find as compelling as any of his action pictures, but also at his film career, from cartoon icon to failed comic actor to his latest incarnation as overweight anti-hero in the critically acclaimed "Cop Land." A thoughtful, highly engaging portrait. Frank Sanello has written biographies of Sharon Stone, Tom Cruise, Eddie Murphy, Will Smith, and Steven Spielberg. A former film critic for the Los Angeles Daily News, his work has also appeared in The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and People.

"Cobra", is an ultra-violent cop thriller, directed by George P. Cosmatos, the hot action director of Stallone's explosive blockbuster "Rambo: First Blood Part II". Stallone plays Marion Cobretti, a match chewing supercop who takes on cases that make other dectectives squirm. Cobretti is unsympathetic when it comes to serial killers & psychos. His most memorable words are spoken, in the film's violent opening sequence, when he confronts the supermarket killer (Marco Rodríguez), "You're the disease. I'm the cure." The screenplay was also written by Sylvester Stallone.

The Cobretti character is Stallone's version of "Dirty Harry". Andrew Robinson who played the villain (Scorpio) in the original "Dirty Harry" also makes an appearance in this one. He plays Detective Monte, an unlikeable cop, who has conflicting views with Cobretti. It is nice to see Stallone punch him out in the final scene.

The plot sees Stallone on the trail of a vicious serial killer, who looks like a psychotic version of Arnold Schwarzenegger. He is played by Brian Thompson & is referred to in the film as the "Night Slasher". Stallone's wife at the time, Brigitte Nielsen, model turned actress, co-stars as Ingrid, a witness Cobretti has to protect from the "Night Slasher". Amidst all the mayhem, director Cosmatos, even finds time to include an MTV-style music montage showcasing Nielsen's modelling experience.

A hi-octane, shoot-em-up ending, sees the "Night Slasher" & his gang arrive at a town in search of Stallone & Nielsen who are hiding out in a motel room. Gunfire & blood shed ensue as they escape in a pick up truck. Nielsen drives while Stallone stands in the back & guns down the crazed bikers. An action sequence that would make Johnny Rambo proud. The finale takes place in a darkened warehouse, where Stallone battles with the "Night Slasher" in a one on one confrontation. The gruesome ending sees the villain impaled on a hook, before being sent into an incinerator. In the final frame Stallone & Nielsen ride off into the sunset, no, not on their horses, on his motorbike that is.

It is rumoured that Stallone was the first choice to play the lead in 1984's "Beverly Hills Cop", the film that gave comedian Eddie Murphy his most famous on-screen role. After the success of "Beverly Hill Cop", realising that he had made a mistake, Stallone decided to make his own cop film & the result was "Cobra". Although not as successful & criticised for its extreme violence "Cobra" is sure to please Stallone fans. It grossed around $50 million at the US Box office in its time. It has also become a popular title on video rental shelves & on the late night cable TV circuit.

Like Sylvester Stallone's Rocky and Rambo, the hero of Cobra is another origianl: Lt. Marion Cobretti, a one-man assault force whose laser-mount submachine gun and pearl handled Colt .45 spit pure crimestopping venom. Rambo: First Blood Part II director rejoins Stallone for this thriller pitting Cobretti against a merciless serial killer. The trail leads to not one murderer but to an army of psychos bent on slashing their way to a "New Order"- and killing the inadvertent witness to their latest blood spree. Fortunately, Cobra is her protector. And full-throttle screen excitement doesn't get any better.

Cobra(1986) VHS
Cobra [DVD](1986) DVD
Dull movies are a disease and Stallone is the cure! Watch Sly, as two-fisted, quick-triggered L.A. cop Cobra, as he shoots, blasts, punches and mauls his way through the ranks of a murderous gang terrorizing the streets. With Brigitte Nielsen, Reni Santoni. 87 min. Widescreen and Standard; Soundtracks: English, French, Spanish; Subtitles: English, French, Spanish; audio commentary by director George P. Cosmatos; "making of" documentary; filmographies; production notes; scene access; theatrical trailers.