Cobra The Rewatchables
Cobra poster
Cobra

Half-Assed Internet Research

Beverly Hills Cop origins; Stallone's conduct on set; Fair Game source novel; X-rating threat; final-scene location; Stallone's 1950 Mercury; Herman Schneider knife; Drive toothpick homage; stalled TV series; body count

In the discussion (12)
Approx. transcript time · 00:07:08Read transcript
  • Stallone's rewrite of the Beverly Hills Cop script was too expensive, explosive and humorless, so Eddie Murphy was brought in; Stallone kept the renegade-cop idea and made it into Cobra.
  • Cinematographer Rick Waite answered Stallone's complaint about delays by blaming Stallone fooling around with Brigitte Nielsen and showing off for his bodyguards; Stallone cleaned up for about two weeks.
  • Director George P. Cosmodos is described as a figurehead with Stallone effectively directing, and supporting cast and extras were reportedly forbidden to talk to Stallone on set.
  • Brian Thompson, who plays the Night Slasher, repeatedly asked Stallone about the character's backstory and was finally told the guy's just evil.
  • Stallone's mumbling required subtitles; he ran amok for about two months with nobody stopping him, and Thompson, a trained theater actor, was left with no motivation for the role.
  • The source material was the novel Fair Game by Paula Gosling, which was changed a lot, later made into a movie with Cindy Crawford and William Baldwin, and tied to Beverly Hills Cop's origins.
  • The movie almost got an X rating for violence, not sex.
  • The final scene was shot at the Pacific Coast Club in Long Beach; the car was a 1950 Mercury owned by Stallone, with three replicas built for the chase scenes.
  • Knife designer Herman Schneider made the Night Slasher's knife at Stallone's request; with finger holes and spikes like brass knuckles, it is called one of the best weapons in any core action movie and something drawn on school folders.
  • Drive's director was a huge fan, and the main character's toothpick was a Cobra homage.
  • A TV-series remake was mentioned with 2019 (transcribed 'Stallone animated in 2019'), but nothing had happened after two and a half years.
  • The body count is 52, with 41 killed by Marion Cobretti.