had it all. looks, skills, cool vibe.
shoulda been at least as big as denzel or will smith, imo
i like him in jaws 4 and heartbreak ridge. very funnys.
shareHe's been very successful behind the camera as Director though, right?
I've never seen SOLO, but it seemed like this movie killed his acting career. I'd like to watch it someday, you really can't beat those 90's action movies.
Meh.. Likeable actor somewhat but wasnt really funny like Murphey. Wasnt Suave like Young Denzel Washington either. Will Smith kind of always been a joke IMO.
Carl Weathers should have been bigger though. Action Jackson really showed his potential as a lead. Wesley Snipes had a pretty decent career and I think he had some acting chops which he showed early on in King of New York. Lawrence Fishburne was another solid actor in the 90s but I would say his best performance was Deep Cover. Also had old timers like Sidney Poitier, Yaphet Kotto, Morgan Freeman floating around so its not like there werent a lot of solid black actors. Also had Sam Jackson making his way through. A bit overated IMO but a decent actor. There were others. Don Cheadle etc.
I do think Carl Weathers could have done more though. Action Jackson should have gotten a sequel.
Mario Van Peebles best film to me was always "Gunmen". Very forgotten and classic action film with a ton of great cast members...Patrick Stewart, Dennis Leary, Christopher Lambert.. all had great chemistry onscreen. Also a very solid and forgotten Director named Deran Sarafian that made some classics in the 80s/90s.
Peebles did some directing as well if my memory is right. He didnt just act. Could he have been bigger..maybe. Quite a bit of solid competition around back then. I think he did as well as he could given what was available. He wasnt what I would call a serious actor in terms of Drama so a bit limited maybe. Gunmen is very much a Buddy Cop or 48 hours film in terms of plot (Not style) film and he seemed to do well when having better actors to work from. His work in Heartbreak Ridge outside of his scenes with Eastwood isnt very spectacular.
Overall he always seemed like a fairly decent guy. Dont remember hearing about him ever being difficult. If he was set on directing he has a true love for film so he has that going for him. Maybe he has some good stuff out there I have not seen.