"...Arnold and I invented it, declares Stallone. Im serious. People go: Youre egotistical. No, we invented it. We came up with the idea of wall-to-wall action from the moment you got there. You knew you were in for a roller coaster. We stumbled upon something. The audience responded to it. It was man against man. Thats why we do it and we still do it because its in our blood."
Stallone concedes that what cinemagoers want has changed even if they havent. But with the popularity of The Expendables films, it seems the hunger for old-fashioned action flicks might be re-emerging.
"The audience today has become more appreciative of the artistry of technology," says Stallone. Our genre is somewhat a thing of the past that we continue to do but eventually maybe history repeats itself and itll come around.
These other films [such as The Avengers] are so expensive. If they dont work, the studios are in trouble. Ours, if they dont work, well, theyll at least break even.
Despite their ages, they continue to hone their bodies. I work out like I always do every day and I get to the set well-rehearsed so I can do the scenes, says Schwarzenegger, a former Mr Universe and seven-times Mr Olympia.
I did that when I was 30 and Im doing it now. But if someone asks me to jump from a tree and land in boxes, I let the stunt guy do that because if I miss them, Im in deep trouble.
Stallone chips in: Ive had 11 operations but that comes with the territory. We have joint problems because of all the years of bodybuilding but our muscles are very strong. How you register how old you are is how old your body is. Weve been tested and we are about 25 years behind the curve. This is what I keep telling my wife: You know were about the same age now.
So, how long can they go on for? Neither seems in a hurry to call it a day.
We are anomalies because no one in film history has continued to do action films past 55, says Stallone. We are a different breed.
You do your work until you cant do it any more, Schwarzenegger adds. When you find something you love to do, ask yourself the question: Why would I now stop doing it?
I think we can go on until the audience goes: Urgh, God theyre so ugly to look at, says Stallone. We could definitely go on into our seventies for sure.
http://metro.co.uk/2013/10/18/arnol...tallone-we-invented-the-action-genre-4150549/