'I must break you!' These are Dolph Lundgren's best 10 films...

November 3 is a milestone moment for Dolph Lundgren. The Swedish action man is celebrating his 65th birthday and he has been a big screen star for almost four decades after being persuaded to take up acting by his ex-girlfriend Grace Jones. From 'Rocky IV' to 'Minions: The Rise of Gru', these are Dolph's top 10 films...

Dolph's breakthrough role came as the fearsome Soviet boxer Ivan Drago in the 1985 film. In the movie, Drago takes part in a titanic fight with Sylvester Stallone's Rocky Balboa after killing Rocky's best friend Apollo Creed - played by Carl Weathers -and the statuesque star put Sly in hospital as they traded blows on set. Stallone said: "Dolph Lundgren put me in the hospital for nine days. I knew I was in trouble when I showed up and nuns meet you at the ICU." Lundgren later joked: "I think it was like an insurance scam or something. I mean, I did hit him. And in those days, I was in pretty good shape!"

The Swedish star played the lead role of He-Man in the 1987 superhero film. The movie is based on the best-selling Mattel toy line of the same name. Expectations for the film were high but it proved to be a critical and commercial failure – although it now considered to be a cult classic. Dolph reflected in an interview with Yahoo's Role Recall: "It was weird playing a toy. In those days comic strip characters were not looked at as big movie franchises."

Lundgren starred as Soviet Spetsnaz operative Lieutenant Nikolai Petrovitch Rachenko in the 1988 action film directed by Jospeh Zito. Dolph's alter ego is sent to assassinate an anti-communist rebel leader in Africa but ends up siding with his enemies instead. The film was controversially shot in South West Africa with the support of apartheid-era South Africa. A sequel was released in 1994 but the story was unrelated to the original and Lundgren did not feature.

Dolph featured as Frank Castle/The Punisher in the 1989 picture based on the Marvel Comics character. The movie was met with a negative response but The Punisher has since been played on screen by Thomas Jane, Ray Stevenson and by Jon Bernthal in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

Dolph teamed up with fellow action hero Jean-Claude Van Damme in the 1992 flick. The movie told the story of two soldiers who were killed in Vietnam before being resurrected from the dead in a secret military experiment that creates superhuman warriors. Van Damme and Lundgren were involved in a physical and verbal altercation at the Cannes Film Festival but it was later revealed to be a staged stunt to promote the movie.

The actor played assassin Karl 'The Street Preacher' Honig in the 1995 film. Dolph featured alongside Keanu Reeves in the movie that takes place in a dystopian 2021 where the world has been ravaged by a tech-induced plague and is dominated by mega corporations. The movie received unfavourable reviews from critics but was used as the template for 'The Matrix' by the Wachowski sisters.

Dolph plays military veteran Gunner Jensen in the 2010 action movie in what was his first theatrically released film for 15 years. The star teamed up with action legends Sylvester Stallone - who created the franchise and asked his friend to star - and Jason Statham in the film, which follows a group of elite mercenaries tasked with overthrowing a Latin American dictator who turns out to be supported by a corrupt former CIA agent. He reprised the roles in the subsequent sequels and is due to star in the upcoming fourth film.

Dolph returned to the superhero genre with his role as King Nereus in the 2019 DC film. He recalled how both he and Jason Momoa - who plays the titular hero - were "suffering a lot" when shooting underwater scenes for the movie. Dolph said: "The thing is, hanging in that harness, you know, it cuts into certain parts of the male anatomy. And the heavier you are, the worse it gets, so me and Jason were suffering a lot." He will reprise the role in the sequel 'Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom'.

Lundgren reprised the role of Ivan Drago in the 2018 sequel to the 'Rocky' spin-off 'Creed'. In the film, Donnie Creed (Michael B. Jordan) – under the tutalage of Rocky – faces off against Drago's son Viktor (Florian Munteanu). Donnie is the son of Apollo Creed, who lost his life in the ring at the fists of Ivan. Drago and Rocky had been set for a fist fight in the movie but it was cut from the production, much to Sly Stallone's disappointment. Dolph told CinemaBlend.com: "Stallone was really upset, he wanted it in there. But I guess it broke the flow of the picture somehow, so there you go."

Dolph voiced the character of Svengeance in the 2022 animated flick. He was part of an all-star voice cast that includes Steve Carell, Russell Brand and Jean-Claude Van Damme in the prequel to 'Despicable Me'. The movie was praised by critics and grossed over $934 million at the worldwide box office.