Warning: Major spoilers for The Expendables 4 below!

Summary

• Rambo: Last Blood's ending leaves the fate of the main character ambiguous, with the final shots showing him riding off on his horse despite severe injuries.
• In his Netflix documentary Sly, Stallone reveals the original ending had Rambo dying in his rocking chair, but he didn't want to close the film that way. He used CGI to keep the chair moving, symbolizing the character is still alive as the sequel cuts to credits.
• Stallone hates sad endings and believes his heroes should always live to see another day. He protested against killing off Rambo in First Blood and feels that ending a film with a hero's death sends a negative message.

Netflix's Sly documentary sees its subject reveal a shocking detail about Rambo: Last Blood's ending, which is hidden in plain sight within the movie. While some actors are lucky to have one iconic character, Stallone managed to create TWO. Where Rocky is a big-hearted lug who is nevertheless able to withstand inhuman punishment in a boxing ring, Rambo is a Vietnam vet who was never able to come home and switch off his killer instinct fully. Stallone played the character for the final time in 2019's Last Blood, where the former soldier takes down a vicious cartel.

Rambo movie franchise. In Netflix's Sly, the actor opens up about the impact Rocky and Rambo had on his career and his belief audiences hate seeing their heroes die.

Sly Reveals That Rambo Dies In Last Blood's Final Shot

Last Blood's finale involves the grief-stricken John Rambo luring the head of the cartel to his isolated farm, following the death of his surrogate daughter (Adriana Barraza). He slays the mercenaries who arrive one at a time, and after a hard-fought battle, the badly wounded Rambo sits in the rocking chair on his porch. The chair is still moving in the current version of the movie, but in his Netflix documentary Sly, the star reveals that as originally shot, the chair was supposed to stop moving, symbolizing Rambo's death.

Rambo: Last Blood is currently available to stream on Hulu.

In Sly, the star explains he "... started regretting the idea that this is the way this warrior goes out." He didn't want to close the film on such a down note, so in post-production, Stallone used CGI in Last Blood's ending to keep Rambo's chair rocking, so audiences knew he was still alive before the credits roll. Scenes from the previous four movies play over the end credits, closing with the image of the character mounting his horse and riding away from the farm.

Why Stallone Hates Sad Endings

A fan theory suggests this is Rambo's dying dream, and he really does away in the chair. Given that Stallone appears to be adamant he won't play the part again, it's really up to individual viewers to decide Rambo's fate, though as Stallone notes in Sly, he hates sad endings. The last time he played a major character who died was back in 1978 crime drama F.I.S.T., and in interviews following its release, Stallone stated his belief that the director made a mistake closing the story that way.

Rocky was also supposed to die in Rocky V's finale, until the studio insisted the character survive.

He felt this sent the message that evil can triumph and Stallone wants his films to have a positive message. In Rocky, he told a story about a "loser" who won despite the oods, and he protested against killing Rambo in First Blood, as he felt this sent a poor message to other Vietnam veterans. Stallone thinks many of his heroes have a certain mystical quality, which is why they always live to fight another day. This informed his decision to un-kill Rambo in Last Blood, and he even ends the documentary with the line "I just hate sad endings. Shoot me."

Stallone Should Have Let Rambo Die In Last Blood's Ending

Any Stallone movie character surviving shouldn't come as a huge surprise at this point. Expendables 4 faked the death of Stallone's Barney to add some spice to the story, and if the 2023 sequel had committed to that idea, it could have injected it will some stakes too. Last Blood might be the bleakest entry in the saga, and it feels like it's leading up to a tragic conclusion for the main character. By the final scene, his daughter is dead, his farm is destroyed and he's been shot multiple times. He laments that he tried to "come home" from the war, but never truly arrived.

Having the character away on his father's porch would have been a fitting end, and again, Rambo: Last Blood feels like it's building to this. Instead, it cops out at the last moment. This is less like it's sending the message that heroes never die than suggesting Stallone would like to keep the option of a potential Rambo 6 open. In all likelihood, the titular soldier does die shortly after the credits finish, but even if the star stated his case against sad endings in Sly, he should have been brave enough to see Rambo's arc through to its logical conclusion.