FMC 132: Cobra Directed by George P. Cosmatos and Written by Sylvester Stallone

June 6, 2022

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Welcome to Filmmaker Commentary Episode 132, where Reginald Titus Jr. and Casey G. Smith dive deep into the 1986 action flick, “Cobra.” This episode offers a fascinating look behind the scenes of a Sylvester Stallone vehicle that, while a global box office success, received a remarkably harsh critical reception at the time. You’ll hear about the film’s surprising financial performance compared to Stallone’s other 80s blockbusters, revealing a unique chapter in Hollywood history.

What We Cover

Explore “Cobra’s” surprising nomination for six Golden Raspberry Awards, challenging its reputation as a critical failure.
Unpack the film’s financial success, contrasting its domestic box office disappointment with its strong worldwide gross.
Examine Sylvester Stallone’s unparalleled career height in the 1980s, where his name alone guaranteed a massive audience.
Discuss director George P. Cosmatos’s filmmaking approach and the on-set dynamics, including actor Brian Thompson’s candid critique.
Delve into specific deleted scenes and script changes, like a more violent ending and elements from the “Beverly Hills Cop” script, that could have significantly altered the film’s tone.
Analyze how “Cobra” embodies a fusion of Stallone’s iconic “Rocky” and “Rambo” personas, creating a unique vigilante character.

Key Moments

0:50 – Discover the film’s director, George P. Cosmatos, and Sylvester Stallone’s surprising writing credit, based on Paula Gosling’s novel “Fair Game.”
1:11 – The hosts react to “Cobra’s” six Razzie nominations, including Worst Picture and Worst Actor.
2:02 – A discussion highlights Stallone’s incredible box office power in the 80s, placing “Cobra” within his string of massive hits like “Rocky IV.”
3:39:00 – Learn about the impact of deleted scenes, such as severed hands sent to police and a more graphic villain demise, on the film’s tone.

Gear & Films Mentioned

Cobra (1986)
Rocky (franchise)
Rambo (franchise)
Tombstone
Beverly Hills Cop
Top Gun
Neighbours (soap opera)
The Deadliest Decade: The 90s (TV show)
Physical (TV show)
The Boys (TV show)
Mask (1980s cartoon)
Catwoman Hunted (DC Animation)
My Next Guest Needs No Introduction (David Letterman show)
Sly’s motorcycle
VHS tapes

Listener Questions

How did “Cobra’s” box office performance stack up against Sylvester Stallone’s other major hits of the 1980s?
What insights from the director’s commentary reveal the on-set tensions and creative control during “Cobra’s” production?
Were there any deleted scenes or script changes in “Cobra” that could have significantly altered the audience’s perception of the film?

Join us on Filmmaker Commentary next time as we continue our deep dive into the world of film production and storytelling.

Full Transcript

Read the full transcript

Full Episode Transcript
This episode of Filmmaker Commentary the 1986 action film "Cobra," directed by George P. Cosmatos and written by Sylvester Stallone, exploring its box office performance, critical reception, and production insights.

Introduction and Film Overview
Reginald Titus Jr.: Filmmaker Commentary episode 132. Welcome to Filmmaker Commentary, where we give you insights from our favorite filmmaking commentaries. These commentaries can be heard on your DVD and Blu-rays of your favorite movies. We'll show you how you can use these commentaries and apply them to improve your video production and filmmaking techniques. All of this here on Filmmaker Commentary. I'm your host, Reginald Titus Jr.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Welcome to another episode of Filmmaker Commentary. I'm Reginald Titus Jr., I'm joined with...
Casey G. Smith: Casey G. Smith. Welcome back, sir.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Good to be back, sir. And today we're talking about Cobra, 1986.
Reginald Titus Jr.: And just a reminder, we are still on Spotify.
Casey G. Smith: That's right. Check us out on Spotify. Filmmaker Commentary.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yes, indeed. Um, 1986, Cobra. It was directed by George P. Cosmatos, uh, written by Sylvester Stallone. He did the screenplay, uh, which was based on a novel called *Fair Game* by Paula Gosling. That's true. Wow. Um, we'll get into that a little bit later.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I did look in the awards section on IMDb and it had, it was nominated for six Razzie Awards.
Casey G. Smith: Ouch. Worst Picture, Worst Actor, Worst Actress, Worst Supporting Actor, Worst Screenplay, Worst New Star.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, and ouch. And didn't win anything. Just nominated, no other awards around the world, nothing. It's just, it is what it is.
Casey G. Smith: Yes. It is what it is.
Reginald Titus Jr.: So, what do we, what do we have for budget?
Casey G. Smith: Uh, Cobra came in at a budget of, I'm sorry, you have to back up a budget of 20 estimated $25 million. Okay, okay.
Reginald Titus Jr.: A lot of that was on the screen. Explosions and things like that.
Casey G. Smith: A lot of that was in Stallone's pay, I'm pretty sure. Because at this, at this point Stallone was, he was the guy. He was the box office star. He was the highest-paid actor in Hollywood. This is Stallone roughly at his, at his height. Like kind of like peaking at, at his height.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Cause uh, what Rocky is he on around this time?
Casey G. Smith: He'd already done, let's see, well, by he'd already done Rocky '86. He'd already done Rocky 4 by this point. Okay, so he's, oh, he's Rocky. Yeah, he'd already, I mean, Rocky, I mean, uh, Rambo 3 would come out in '88 or '89. But yeah, from Rocky fame, he was, So he's A-list, basically at this point and the highest paid A-list. Yeah, from Rocky and Rambo, like, he was, he was the, he was the guy. Yeah, I thought, I thought I saw some Rocky hooks during the villain fight.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, I felt, I felt like this character had, had a, it was Rocky and Rambo. Like both those two guys like, boom, like fused into, uh, Marion Cobretti.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Man. Um, and then the box office made what, about 160 million allegedly?
Casey G. Smith: Allegedly, from some of our sources. We checked a couple of places, ladies and gents. And it was a little bit inconclusive, but we think from a worldwide standpoint, from some of the sources we looked at, that this grossed 160 million worldwide. And even in the commentaries and so on, it made mention of the worldwide gross. And there's plenty of imagery showing that this thing played all over the world.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah. And I was looking through the Wikipedia, they were referencing a New York Times article basically saying that this film felt like it was a, a, a flop in a way or disappointment, um, because it only made 48 million or 49 million, uh, US, but internationally, you know, it brought us money in. Um, and even the critics, you know, we were listening to Siskel and Ebert early, and, uh, oh, they both trashed it.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, there was definitely a had a, it had mixed reviews. And even the director made, made mention of that as well, but mentioning it being financially viable, it wasn't a flop. But again, as far as some of the other numbers that Stallone had been doing at the time, uh, in the '80s, I mean, he had films that were just domestically reaching over 100 million. So for this to not hit that at that time, is definitely a bit of a disappointment. Again, Rocky 4, which came out in '85, was 128 million. Rambo part, Rambo First Blood Part 2 was 150 million.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yikes. And that's all US?
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, that's just domestic.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Oh, okay.
Casey G. Smith: Rocky 3 back in '82 was 125 million in the US.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Come on now.
Casey G. Smith: And of course the first, uh, sorry, that was Rocky 3 that made 125 million. So, yeah, I mean, Rocky 2 made 85 million. Even still that's more than what Cobra did. Now, he has he had some other smaller films that didn't bank that much. So not everything Stallone did was a smash hit, but if if Cobra had have done more, definitely it could have been ways uh for for a franchise.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Mhm.
Casey G. Smith: So, but they decided not to, which was okay 'cause it's, yeah, we'll talk about that.
Reginald Titus Jr.: We'll talk about that soon. We'll talk about Cobra, but until then, let's talk about news and movies watched.

News and Media Watched
Casey G. Smith: So in the news, according to Variety, Top Gun is expected to only have a 33% drop in the box office from last weekend through this weekend, which is really good. When you have a film that debuts, if you can, you know, do better than, uh, you know, even a 50% drop is considered good. But to only do 33% drop, that's that's that's pretty amazing. So expect Top Gun to, to have a big box office this weekend. Also, according to Deadline, Guy Pearce is one of several Australian actors returning back to the finale of a soap opera called Neighbours, which a lot of pretty big Australian actors got their start from. Other actors rumored to also be returning for the final episode of, uh, Neighbours include Margot Robbie, Liam Hemsworth, and Russell Crowe.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Wow, the budget just shot up.
Casey G. Smith: For sure, for sure. And then also according to IndieWire, as the the drama and circus that was the uh Amber Heard and Johnny Depp uh defamation case that came to a close this weekend with uh Johnny Depp being uh awarded uh punitive and uh, what's the other kind of damages? The other damage, basically total damages uh of 15 million but then being capped at about 10 million.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah. And then, and then is she like awarded like maybe 2 million based on some, some other thing. I don't know. A lot of legal jargon.
Casey G. Smith: Indeed, indeed. But nonetheless, he comes out on top, but I think they both lost in all this.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, neither neither of them come out looking rosy by, by any means, but Holy smokes. Publicity, yeah, rough.
Casey G. Smith: And, you know, Hollywood's a fairly forgiving town. They'll, they'll get work or maybe a reality show or something.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Oh, Johnny Depp is, he'll be fine.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, playing concerts and all that.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Oh, man. The Amber Heard situation though, it's bad.
Casey G. Smith: I think she'll be fine with time. Again, Hollywood's pretty for pretty forgiving.
Reginald Titus Jr.: We like to see a what we do like to see is a comeback story.
Casey G. Smith: We like to see people fall, too. Let's be honest. Like people like to see people fall and then come back. Like the the people somebody rises up gets big. And then people start saying, I'm I'm tired of seeing this person, that person. And then they want to see him fall and then watch him make that comeback.
Reginald Titus Jr.: But I never heard of Amber Heard, but I do, when you told me like who she was, I was like, oh, and that one in Aquaman. Okay, that she looks nothing like that lady when you see her like in court, regular as a regular person. Like, oh, you look nothing like that character. Uh, but I didn't know her name, you know what I mean? But I knew, you know, the other star in that in that film. Um, and my favorite comeback story is Robert Downey Jr. You know, all the stuff that he went through and then seeing his comeback story, him get clean and all that stuff. I think America like to see see that. But one thing America doesn't like is cheaters.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Oh, man. I would like to see