Sylvester Stallone has revealed the ‘Heartstopper’ knife, the giant new blade the title character will use in Rambo 5: Last Blood. The original First Blood was based on a novel, which depicts the small-town war that breaks out between disturbed Vietnam veteran John Rambo and an arrogant sheriff. Rambo is much more violent in the book and racks up a large body count before finally being shot dead in the finale. The movie was originally offered to actors such as Dustin Hoffman and Gene Hackman before Stallone – who was struggling to find a hit project outside of the Rocky movies at the time – signed on.

Stallone felt First Blood was such a disaster after seeing an early three-hour cut he genuinely offered to buy it off the producers so he could destroy the print. Thankfully he calmed down and suggested the movie be recut to remove most of Rambo’s dialogue and trim any scenes that didn’t drive the story forward. The movie became a surprise smash, and Rambo himself would go on to become an iconic action hero throughout the 1980s. His last appearance was in 2008’s Rambo, which found the former soldier leading a rescue mission to Burma.

Related: Rambo 5 Officially Titled Last Blood

Stallone is reprising the character one final time for Rambo 5: Last Blood, where a friend tasks him with rescuing his daughter from a vicious Mexican cartel. There are certain elements fans have come to expect from a Rambo movie, be it his signature headband or bow and arrow, and that also includes a large knife. Now Stallone has unveiled the ‘Heartstopper’ on his Instagram profile, which Rambo will no doubt employ in creative ways against the cartel.

Rambo’s knifes get bigger and nastier with each new instalment, so it’s good to see a series tradition is living on. While fans are eagerly awaiting Rambo’s final mission, news recently arrived Stallone is turning an unused concept for the fifth movie into a solo project. He’s adapting horror/action novel Hunter, which finds a tracker hunting down a lethal, mutated creature, which at one point he considered retrofitting into a Rambo movie. He later decided a monster movie was too much of departure for the series.

Stallone is coming off a bunch of back to back sequels; 2018 saw him return for Escape Plan 2 and Creed 2, and after he finishes Rambo 5: Last Blood he jumps straight onto The Expendables 4. Hunter and dark superhero project Samaritan will see him moving away from franchise movies beyond that.

More: Rambo 5: Stallone Shares First Look Set Photos

Source: Sylvester Stallone