A spectacular war film starring Sylvester Stallone is now available on Amazon Prime. The action star fired his director during production for a bizarre reason
It’s better not to mess with Rambo. In the case of Rambo III, not only his Soviet opponents learned this, but also the film’s first director. Sylvester Stallone thought his enemies in the movie were too beautiful. That’s no joke
War movie on Amazon Prime: Sylvester Stallone threw his director off the set
At the beginning of Rambo III, elite soldier John Rambo (Stallone) has given up the war trade. When his mentor Trautman (Richard Crenna) wants to recruit him for a secret mission in the war in Afghanistan, he refuses. Only when Trautman is captured by Soviet soldiers on the Afghan border does Rambo take up arms again.
Watch the trailer for Rambo III here:
Rambo III, with its bombastic battle scenes, is the first real war film in the series. Lead actor and producer Stallone secured a then unbelievable budget of 63 million dollars, which made the action thriller the most expensive film of all time for a short time (via Screenrant ). The Hollywood star had a clear vision for his third appearance. A vision that director Russell Mulcahy obviously didn’t share at all.
The break between the two came quickly and violently. It was triggered by a bizarrely detailed question, as Stallone later explained to Ain’t It Cool:
Mulcahy] had the job of finding two dozen brutal-looking Russian antagonists on location in Israel. The sight of them should make your blood run cold. But when I arrived, he had selected two dozen blond, blue-eyed beauties who resembled the losers of a surfing contest. I explained my disappointment, but he disagreed. So I asked him and his chiffon army to clear the field.
Mulcahy was replaced by Peter MacDonald (The Neverending Story III), who later explained that he had failed at the Rambo character (via Film International ). To all appearances, Stallone had his way in every respect. Compared to its predecessor Rambo II – The Assignment, the film was nevertheless a disappointment at the box office. While Part 2 grossed 150 million dollars in the USA, the sequel only made 53 million dollars. (via The Numbers )
Stream Rambo III on Amazon Prime Video
One of Sylvester Stallone’s biggest failures has now come true
