What if that poster from ‘Last Action Hero’ was real?

Man, computers can do anything these days. Not only can they apparently rise up and send cyborg androids back into time to kill our best and brightest. They also can be used to digitally superimpose the likeness of different actors into famous action movie scenes.

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone have long been tied together in terms of box office giants, friends and counterparts for many competing franchises. It’s hard not to dive deep into hypothetical discussions of how cool it would have been to see Arnold in First Blood, or Stallone in Total Recall.

Now, thanks to the #DeepFake programs from digital video hackers like Youtuber Ctrl Shift Face we can finally see some of this magical “what-if” wizardry come to life. Check out this Deep Fake video of Sylvester Stallone in the famous biker bar scene from Terminator 2.

Terminator 2 Starring Sylvester Stallone

And dear god is this video creepy. At times you can see the Deep Fake program struggling to do its masking, but for the most part many of the shots look absolutely perfect. Not only does it put Stallone’s face onto Arnold’s very recognizable Mr. Universe body, but it also matches skin tone, expression and appropriately de-ages Stallone. It’s quite odd to as Arnold’s square jawline also continues to come across, but oddly merges perfectly with Stallone’s gaunt cheekbones.

Here are a few screengrabs to look at some of the shots in more detail.

The Stallone Terminator Poster

Fittingly, the video starts with a clip from Last Action Hero in which young Danny Madigan tries to prove Jack Slater (played by Arnold) that he’s in fact Arnold Schwarzenegger. Only to find out that Arnold does not exist in his timeline/universe/whatever. Ever since that made-up poster of Stallone on Arnold’s signature T2 motorcycle fans have been yearning to see a version of Terminator 2 with Stallone as the T-800.

As to the discussion of what The Terminator and Terminator 2 would have been like with Sylvester Stallone instead of Arnold, it really creates a whirlwind of conflicting views and opinions. Firstly, a Stallone original Terminator probably never would have happened – or it would definitely not have been the same. Arnold was much more unknown at the time and the role was eventually tailored to fit his aesthetic and acting ability (as well as speaking ability).

Curious though, what are your thoughts on how a Stallone Terminator would have looked or have been different?



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