Sometimes it seems that nothing can stop Sylvester Stallone. Though he’s now 72-years-old, he can still pack a punch, with the upcoming release of Rambo 5: Last Blood seeing the iconic hero taking on Mexican drug cartels. If it follows in the footsteps of the excellent (and incredibly violent) 2008 Rambo, it should be a real shot in the arm for the action genre. But action this high-octane has apparently been taking its toll, with Stallone explaining the following on Instagram:
It’s been a long time since I’ve been in the gym because I’ve been out there doing Rambo, which caused a lot of damage. So now I’ve got to fix things.
I’m not surprised that the actor’s had to take some time to recover. After all, what we’ve seen of the film so far indicates that age hasn’t slowed Rambo down one bit, as he’s apparently going to be spending a lot of time on horseback and engaging in the vicious close-quarters combat he’s famed for.
While the novelty of seeing older actors in action films has worn off a little through over-exposure, Rambo 5 sounds as if it’s taking an interesting approach to what nearly fifty years of living life on the edge has done to John Rambo. Word is that we’ll find him on an isolated ranch in Arizona with a nurse helping him deal with his PTSD. That Rambo is mentally traumatized by what he’s seen and done isn’t new to the series (it’s basically what First Blood is about), but it’ll be interesting to see a much more vulnerable side to a character who’s considered the height of machismo.
I think knowing that Stallone has physically suffered to get this movie into theaters will make the elderly Rambo‘s battle that much more touching, too. After all, while he might be able to take down legions of soldiers and criminals, he can’t slit Father Time’s throat.