Thayer David

The only remaining evidence that Sylvester Stallone might have had a respectable career, this 1976 Oscar winner (for Best Picture, Director, and Editing) is still the quintessential ode to an underdog and one of the best boxing movies ever made. After writing the script about a two-bit boxer who gets a "million-to-one shot" against the world heavyweight champion, Stallone insisted that he star in the title role, and his equally unknown status helped to catapult him (and this rousing film) to overnight success.

Based on the Jules Verne novel, a scientist leads his exploration party on a dangerous journey in an attempt to reach the center of the earth. With him, among others, are his Icelandic guide, one of his students, and the widow of a geologist, a former colleague and competitor, who steals his information in an attempt to beat him to the earth's core. Along the way the group are confronted by any number of obstacles and perils: extreme heat and cold, gale force winds, and tremendous floods, as well as experiencing the awesome and sublime beauty of hidden realms never before seen by man.

Clint Eastwood held the dual role of director and star of this 1975 spy thriller, which makes up for sluggish pacing with a breathtaking climax on a treacherous peak in the Swiss Alps. The plot kicks into gear when Eastwood, playing a retired assassin, is recruited back into a secret organization to avenge the murder of an old friend. He's then blackmailed into making a second "hit"; this time his target is one of three men who will be attempting to conquer the Eiger, a dangerous peak in Switzerland.