'I really didn't want to die for this movie'
As the new Rambo movie blasts its way onto screens this week, Sly himself was in London to promote it. In a surprisingly thoughtful and candid mood, he spoke to Cassam Looch about the return of his classic action hero.
What were the main problems you faced when making a movie like this in such a volatile location?
I really didn’t want to go over there and make the movie. We were receiving death threats and it wasn’t just aimed at me, so I was happy to take a pay cut and film it in Acapulco! You know, I really didn’t want to die for this move. When we shot Rambo 2 we shot it in Mexico and that was supposed to be Vietnam, but anyway I’m glad that we finally filmed this close to the Burma (in Thailand) and managed to get so mane Burmese to be in it.
How much did you know about the situation in Burma beforehand, and what has the reaction been like?
For a film like this you have to do tons and tons of research. The free Burmese ranchers and their websites have a lot of material and it literally changes hour by hour. It’s amazing that these atrocities aren’t as well known, as they should be. You know, we had messages from students saying how much pleasure they get from seeing something, which is more visual than the standard news footage. They also said that the violence in the film is nothing compared to what is actually going on there.
Do you think it is too violent?
Now I know that some people have said its gratuitous violence in this film. I don’t think it is. Gratuitous to me is a film about 10 teenagers being chased around in the woods by a man with a meat cleaver. This film is about war, and a civil war at that — which, as we know, for some odd reason tends to be more violent than any other type of war. I haven’t been to Burma yet because I know they won’t let me, not a chance.
It’s been a while since the last Rambo movie. How does he compare to the characters of today, and how has the world changed since then?
Action films today are very different from 20 years ago from when Rambo 3 came out. I think the Bourne movies are great and that Paul Greengrass is amazing. The movies are very technology based, but back then it was very, very simple. In a way that’s why I thought it was interesting to revisit Rambo because a whole generation won’t have seen that old-school ‘high-noon’ type modern western where it's savage and who is the bigger savage? When we did Rambo 3 I wanted to show Russia’s Vietnam in Afghanistan, then two weeks before the film came out Gorbachev comes over to the White House, hugs Reagan and kisses Nancy on the cheek, all of a sudden I’m a red-baiter! I would get booed when I walked into a press junket in Australia.
Was it harder this time around, considering none of us are getting any younger?
When it comes to age you know you guys are a lot tougher than you think. I’m lucky because I have goals and I’m under pressure to perform. If I didn’t have that I’d be happy to throw 25 croissants down my throat and wash it down with a pint of beer, trust me. For me to be Daniel Day-Lewis or Russell Crowe you know, look I don’t do what they do and they don’t do what I do. It took me many years to figure that out, you have a speciality and you can end up looking like a total fool if you don’t realise that you can’t do everything.
First Rocky and now Rambo, are there any other characters you’d like to revisit?
Of my other movies, I think the biggest mistake ever made was the sloppy handling of Judge Dredd. I thought that it could have been a fantastic, nihilistic and interesting vision of the future. That still kind of bothers me. I also think Cobra could be an interesting one on a certain level, only because I always thought of him as Bruce Spirngsteen with a badge! I guess I also wouldn’t mind seeing if my character in Copland lived happily ever after.
You received a great reception at the premiere and at the BAFTA awards. You also mentioned how much you liked British cinema, what are your favourites?
My favourite movie is probably Lion in Winter, I just love that movie. I think Peter O’Toole is a genius. The British film industry has had to use its brains where as our movies are incredibly stupid. I also just saw Son of Rambow, I love that movie actually. That’s what the kids start off as and then they grow up into Rambo! (Stallone laughs, we think he’s kidding…)
• Rambo is out now — read our review