Sylvester Stallone Calls This Movie “One of the Worst Films in the Entire Solar System”

Sylvester Stallone is a Hollywood icon whose rise to fame was fueled by his determination and storytelling prowess. After struggling with uncredited minor roles in films like Klute, Bananas, and MASH*, Stallone’s breakthrough came in 1976 when he wrote and starred in Rocky. The film’s immense success spawned five sequels and established Stallone as a defining figure in American cinema. His action hero persona was further cemented by the Rambo franchise, which he co-wrote and starred in throughout the 1980s.

But even legends have their missteps. One of Stallone’s most notorious career lows came in the early 1990s with a series of box-office bombs and critically panned comedies. Among these was the 1992 film Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot, a buddy cop comedy directed by Roger Spottiswoode. Despite grossing $70 million worldwide, the movie was universally panned by critics and audiences alike, marking one of Stallone’s most infamous flops.

The Schwarzenegger Prank

What makes Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot even more infamous is a revelation from Stallone’s longtime action rival, Arnold Schwarzenegger. During a 2017 panel at Beyond Fest, Schwarzenegger admitted he feigned interest in the film solely to lure Stallone into signing the “really bad” script.

“I read the script. It was so bad… So I went in—this was during our war—and I said to myself, ‘I’m going to leak out that I have tremendous interest,’” Schwarzenegger explained. His ploy worked perfectly: “Sly is signing now to do this movie,” he heard soon after. “And I said, [pumps fist] ‘Yes!’”

Stallone’s Verdict: A Cinematic Catastrophe

In a 2006 interview, Stallone didn’t hold back when describing the film:

“The worst film I’ve ever made by far… maybe one of the worst films in the entire solar system, including alien productions we’ve never seen… a flatworm could write a better script than Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot. In some countries—China, I believe—running Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot once a week on government television has lowered the birth rate to zero. If they ran it twice a week, I believe in twenty years China would be extinct. Does that put it in perspective?”

Such biting humor perfectly captures Stallone’s disdain for the film, which remains a sore spot in his otherwise celebrated career.

Other Missteps and the Rocky Legacy

Before Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot, Stallone faced criticism for Oscar (1991), a period comedy that earned him a Golden Raspberry nomination for Worst Actor. The film was a rare attempt for Stallone to break away from his tough-guy image into comedy, but it fell flat critically and commercially.

Though Rocky V (1990) was also a box office disappointment, Stallone’s overall legacy remains intact. His contributions to action cinema and his creation of enduring characters like Rocky Balboa and John Rambo continue to be celebrated worldwide.

The Takeaway

While Stallone has delivered countless memorable performances and become a symbol of perseverance and grit, Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot stands as a notorious blip on his résumé. His brutally honest, humorous condemnation of the film not only reveals the actor’s self-awareness but also reminds us that even the biggest stars stumble.

For fans curious about this infamous film, the trailer serves as a time capsule of a Hollywood misadventure—one that Stallone would clearly prefer audiences to forget.