Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone is an American actor and filmmaker. In a film career spanning more than fifty years, Stallone has received numerous accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a Critics' Choice Award, as well as nominations for three Academy Awards and two BAFTA Awards. Stallone is one of only two actors in history to have starred in a box-office No. 1 film across six consecutive decades.
Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg, known professionally as Jean-Claude Van Damme, is a Belgian martial artist and actor. Born and raised in Brussels, his father enrolled him in a Shotokan karate school at the age of ten, which led Van Damme to hold the rank of 2nd-dan black belt in karate, and compete in several karate and kickboxing competitions. As a teenager, he won the middleweight championship of the European Professional Karate Association in 1979 and the Mr. Belgium bodybuilding title in 1978. With the desire of becoming an actor in Hollywood, he moved to the United States in 1982, where he worked on several films, until he got his break as the lead in the martial arts film Bloodsport (1988).
Rocky IV is a 1985 American sports drama film starring, written and directed by Sylvester Stallone. The film is the sequel to Rocky III (1982) and the fourth installment in the Rocky film series. It also stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, Brigitte Nielsen, and Dolph Lundgren. In the film, Rocky Balboa (Stallone) confronts Ivan Drago (Lundgren), a Soviet boxer responsible for another personal tragedy in Balboa's life.
Hans "Dolph" Lundgren is a Swedish-American actor, filmmaker, martial artist and chemical engineer. Born in Spånga, a community in Stockholm County, Sweden, Lundgren became interested in martial arts at a young age. This would lead him to hold the rank of 4th dan black belt in Kyokushin karate and become European champion in 1980 and 1981. In 1982, while studying to get a master's degree, he became the boyfriend of singer Grace Jones. He moved to New York City with her and started taking acting classes. In 1985, Lundgren had a breakthrough role playing the lead villain as an imposing Soviet boxer named Ivan Drago in Sylvester Stallone's Rocky IV.
The Punisher is a 1989 American vigilante action-thriller film directed by Mark Goldblatt, written by Boaz Yakin, and starring Dolph Lundgren, based on the Punisher character from Marvel Comics. It was shot in Sydney, co-starring Louis Gossett Jr, Jeroen Krabbé, Kim Miyori, Nancy Everhard, and Barry Otto.
Universal Soldier is a 1992 American military science-fiction action film directed by Roland Emmerich, produced by Allen Shapiro, Craig Baumgarten, and Joel B. Michaels, and written by Richard Rothstein, Christopher Leitch, and Dean Devlin. The film tells the story of Luc Deveraux, portrayed by Jean-Claude Van Damme, a former U.S. Army soldier who was killed in the Vietnam War in 1969, and returned to life following a secret military project called the "Universal Soldier" program. However, he finds out about his past, though his memory was erased, and escapes alongside a young TV journalist. Along the way, they have to deal with the return of his archenemy, Sgt. Andrew Scott, who had lost his sanity in the Vietnam War, and became a psychotic megalomaniac, intent on killing him and leading the Universal Soldiers.
Rocky is an American sports drama multimedia franchise created by Sylvester Stallone, based on the life of boxer Rocky Balboa, which began with the eponymous 1976 film and has since become a cultural phenomenon.
The fictional character Frank Castle / Punisher, a comic book vigilante antihero created by Gerry Conway, John Romita Sr. and Ross Andru and featured in Marvel Comics publications, has appeared as a main character in multiple theatrical, several animated straight-to-video films, and three fan films. Most notably, he has appeared in two self-titled films, the first in 1989 with Dolph Lundgren in the title role and the second in 2004 with Thomas Jane in the title role, as well as Punisher: War Zone, starring Ray Stevenson.
The Expendables is a 2010 American action film directed by Sylvester Stallone, who co-wrote it with David Callaham and also starred in the lead role. The film co-stars an ensemble cast of mostly action film actors consisting of Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Terry Crews, Steve Austin, Mickey Rourke, and Bruce Willis. The film was released in the United States on August 13, 2010. It is the first installment in The Expendables film series. This was Dolph Lundgren's first theatrically released film since 1995's cyberpunk film Johnny Mnemonic.
Direct Contact is a 2009 American action film written, produced and directed by Danny Lerner, and starring Dolph Lundgren, Michael Paré, Gina May and Bashar Rahal. The film was released on direct-to-DVD in the United States on June 2, 2009.
Universal Soldier is a series of military science fiction action films. The franchise began in 1992 with Universal Soldier and as of 2012 comprises six entries. The films centered on the character of Luc Deveraux until Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning, which focuses on a new protagonist named John.
Gianni ‘Aldi’ Capaldi is a Scottish actor and film and television producer.
Skin Trade is a 2014 American action thriller film directed by Ekachai Uekrongtham. It stars Dolph Lundgren and Tony Jaa, alongside Michael Jai White and Ron Perlman. Lundgren wrote the film with Gabriel Dowrick and Steven Elder, while John Hyams performed uncredited script revisions.
Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning is a 2012 American science fiction action film directed by John Hyams, who co-edited with Andrew Drazek, and wrote the screenplay with Doug Magnuson and Jon Greenlagh. It stars Scott Adkins with Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren, who both reprise their roles from the first film, alongside newcomer Andrei Arlovski. It is the sixth and final installment in the Universal Soldier film series.
The Expendables 3 is a 2014 American action film directed by Patrick Hughes and written by Creighton Rothenberger, Katrin Benedikt and Sylvester Stallone. It is the third installment in The Expendables franchise and the sequel to The Expendables (2010) and The Expendables 2 (2012). The film features an ensemble cast of largely action film actors consisting of Jason Statham, Sylvester Stallone, Antonio Banderas, Jet Li, Wesley Snipes, Dolph Lundgren, Kelsey Grammer, Randy Couture, Terry Crews, Kellan Lutz, Ronda Rousey, Glen Powell, Victor Ortiz, Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Puncture Wounds is a 2014 American action film directed by Giorgio Serafini and James Coyne, and starring Cung Le, Dolph Lundgren, Vinnie Jones, and Briana Evigan. The film follows John Nguyen, a war veteran suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder. After he rescues a prostitute, Hollis, a local crime lord, marks them for death. It was released direct to video in the United States on March 11, 2014, followed by a limited release in other countries.
Kindergarten Cop 2 is a 2016 American comedy film starring Dolph Lundgren and directed by Don Michael Paul. It is a standalone sequel to the 1990 film Kindergarten Cop, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Principal photography in Maple Ridge, Langley, and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada took place for 28 days, from July 27 to August 24, 2015. The school at which the film was produced is Kanaka Elementary. The film was released by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment on DVD in the United States on May 17, 2016.
Creed II is a 2018 American sports drama film directed by Steven Caple Jr. from a screenplay by Juel Taylor and Sylvester Stallone. It is the sequel to Creed (2015) and the eighth installment in the Rocky film series. It stars Michael B. Jordan, Stallone, Tessa Thompson, Wood Harris, Phylicia Rashad, Florian Munteanu, and Dolph Lundgren. In the film, under the continued tutelage of Rocky Balboa (Stallone), Adonis Creed (Jordan) faces off against Viktor Drago (Munteanu), the son of Ivan Drago (Lundgren), who became responsible for the death of Adonis' father Apollo Creed in Rocky IV (1985).
Black Water is an American action thriller film directed by Pasha Patriki. It stars Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren in their fifth collaboration, specifically the second time they appear as on-screen allies. The film was released direct-to-video in the US on May 25, 2018.
Expend4bles is a 2023 American action comedy film and the fourth installment in The Expendables franchise. The film stars an ensemble cast consisting of Jason Statham, Sylvester Stallone, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Megan Fox, Dolph Lundgren, Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, Randy Couture and Andy Garcia. It is directed by Scott Waugh from a screenplay by Kurt Wimmer, Tad Daggerhart and Max D. Adams, based on a story by Spenser Cohen, Wimmer and Daggerhart.
