While Sylvester Stallone might have witnessed stratospherical levels of success as the fabled struggling boxer, Rocky Balboa, he’s amassed just as much popularity, if not more, as the troubled and traumatized war veteran, John Rambo

But had it not been for the actor’s creative wisdom and indispensable insight into the character along with the original conclusion of First Blood, then perhaps it wouldn’t have blossomed into an action franchise at all. After all, you can’t make a film series with a deceased protagonist, now can you?

Sylvester Stallone Saved Rambo From A Gruesome Fate

Despite being subjected to mixed reviews, Ted Kotcheff’s First Blood was a massive box-office hit, a movie that would later go on to yield an action franchise worth millions and one that would lodge itself as a certified classic over the years. But that’s all thanks to the leading man, Sylvester Stallone, who single-handedly saved it from annihilation with the help of nothing but his artistic prowess.

While Rambo gets shot at the end of First Blood, the wound isn’t fatal enough to bring forth his end, a scene that had originally been penned differently. Contrary to how the film is wrapped up, Kotcheff, 92, had initially planned for the character to kill himself, but Stallone, 76, didn’t see eye-to-eye with him on that. If anything, the latter believed that it would be an utter waste for the former Vietnam veteran to have gone through endless agony only to end up dead.
Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo
“[After we were done shooting], Sylvester got up and said, ‘Ted, can I talk to you for a second?’ He said, “You know, Ted, we put this character through so much. The police abuse him. He’s pursued endlessly. Dogs are sent after him. He jumps off cliffs. He runs through freezing water. He’s shot in the arm and he has to sew it up himself. All this, and now we’re gonna kill him?”

And little did Kotcheff know, Stallone presented an excellent argument, the gravity of which lingered in the former’s mind until he was finally convinced to trust the action icon’s vision of the movie. The only problem? The change of plan was heavily frowned upon by the producers, something that ultimately resulted in a full-fledged conflict on the set.

The Producers Butted Heads With the Director

Determined to do justice to the character and his legacy, Kotcheff shot the alternate ending on the very same day that he filmed the original one from the script. But the producers, Mario Kassar and Andrew Vajna weren’t pleased with this decision in the least, or as the Bulgarian-Canadian filmmaker put it, they went “bloody nuts” at it.

Since the producers had agreed on First Blood depicting “Rambo’s suicide mission,” they didn’t want Kotcheff to tweak the conclusion or incorporate any drastic, last-minute changes such as this one. Not to mention, they’d already surpassed their production budget and gone over schedule. But the director wasn’t one to budge either.
First Blood (1982)
“I said, “Listen, you a*sholes, I don’t take any sh*t from producers. I’m only gonna take two hours, I promise you. And then, when the American distributor wants a happy ending, which I’m sure they will, you won’t have to spend a ton of money bringing the whole cast and crew back — in March, in bad weather — at that time, you’ll be kissing my ass in gratitude!”
And well, he was right, or rather, Stallone had been right, because when they held a test screening of the movie with the scripted denouement, the audience unanimously detested it. So, it was probably for the best that they changed the ending for good.

First Blood can be rented or purchased on Apple TV+.

Source: Entertainment Weekly