Jason Statham And Sylvester Stallone's Gritty 2013 Crime Thriller Is Prime Video's Latest Obsession

When Sylvester Stallone wrote "Rocky" as a way to launch his career, he infused his script with plenty of heart and character development, revealing himself to be a talented writer with a sensitivity for which fans of his action filmography don't always give him credit. That said, there's no doubt that the man has a talent for bombastic action. 1982's "First Blood," in which his John J. Rambo debuted, was all the better for having Stallone in the lead role, with the star making changes to the script by removing much of the macho posturing in favor of a more restrained approach. Stallone added what became the defining feature of "First Blood" to the script, and ever since, has been crafting engaging action tales.

As the years went by, however, Stallone frequently embraced a formulaic approach. The retired badass with the "I don't do that any more" attitude exists, in part, due to Stallone's movies, and in the 2000s, he leaned into that persona. It worked with 2008's "Rambo," but had grown stale by the release of his flop "Rambo: Last Blood," which culminated in a grizzled John Rambo defending his home against an onslaught of villains.

This wasn't the first time Stallone had provided us with an action hero "Home Alone" sequence. Between "Rambo" and "Last Blood," he wrote 2013's "Homefront," in which his "Expendables" collaborator Jason Statham plays Phil Broker, a former DEA agent who moves to what seems like a quiet small town after a botched job in which his actions led to the death of his boss's son. The widowed ex-drug enforcement officer is driven to leave his former life behind for his nine-year-old daughter, Maddy (Izabela Vidovic), but he soon finds that their new town isn't quite as quiet as it seemed. After Maddy gets into a fight with a school bully, things escalate to the point that Broker finds himself in a conflict with local drug lord Gator Bodine (James Franco). In true Stallone fashion, Broker is forced to embrace the life he thought he'd left behind in order to defend his family, which essentially means blowing a bunch of bad guys to hell when they try to invade his home. Apparently, Prime Video subscribers can't get enough of this tried and tested action formula, as "Homefront" is now charting on the streamer.

"Homefront" hit theaters back in November 2013 and made $51.6 million against a $22 million budget. Directed by Gary Fleder, the film was a modest success and certainly wasn't the worst thing Stallone has ever been involved in (that unfortunate honor might go to one of several terrible video games based on Stallone projects). Now, "Homefront" is back for the streaming age, and once again, it's doing pretty well.

According to FlixPatrol, a site that tracks streaming viewership across the various platforms, "Homefront" has been climbing the Prime Video charts in the United States all week. The movie debuted in the number seven spot on May 11, 2025 and has been gaining ground ever since. On May 13, it hit number six before rising to number four the following day. As of Friday, "Homefront" is now at number two in the U.S. and at this rate is likely to take the top spot in the coming days. The film is also charting in Canada, where it sits at number 10 at the time of writing.

That isn't enough to get "Homefront" charting worldwide, as it's currently only ranking in those two North American countries. But on the overall chart for the U.S., which takes into account both films and series, "Homefront" is number three, right behind "Reacher." If Prime Video subscribers keep streaming Jason Statham's actioner, we might even see him topple Alan Ritchson's ex-military policeman, which would be quite the feat considering season 3 of "Reacher" broke a huge Prime Video record and has proven to be one of the streamer's most popular recent releases.

Sylvester Stallone has become a prolific writer ever since he penned the 90-page script for "Rocky" in just three days back in the mid-'70s. His writing contributions haven't always been as stellar as the inaugural "Rocky" movie — just take a look at "Rocky V," which almost killed the franchise and which Sly himself has said was terrible (though there are those that argue Stallone is wrong and "Rocky V" is good). But if anything, his sheer output is impressive.

"Homefront" isn't exactly Stallone's most impressive writing effort, but it's also not his least. It's a paint-by-numbers actioner in the sense it features an action star playing a guy with a talent for punching people who just wants to be left alone. But there's enough in "Homefront" to prevent it becoming the kind of blunder that "Rocky: Last Blood" turned out to be, from James Franco, who's clearly having a ball playing drug lord Morgan "Gator" Bodine, to Jason Statham himself, who's never missed a step when it comes to action choreography.

The movie has a 42% on Rotten Tomatoes, which isn't exactly the best advertisement. But considering we've seen much worse, including the time Stallone's gritty sci-fi superhero movie "Samaritan" and its 38% RT score topped the Tubi charts, you could do a lot worse than giving "Homefront" a go.