10 Shocking Movie Twists That Nearly Happened

1976's Rocky may be the film that made Sylvester Stallone, but First Blood is the one that made him an all-time action hero.

Sly stars as John Rambo a tough-as-nails badass whose PTSD from the Vietnam War sends him into survival mode against a small-town sheriff's brutal treatment.

Guns, knives, chases, helicopters, and even literal cliff-hangers - First Blood wrote the 1980s action playbook, and kicked off an entire franchise for which Rambo would be the namesake. He ultimately surrenders while still on top, reckoning with the trauma of the war, and allowing himself to be taken into federal custody. Not the happiest ending, but not the worst.

Based on David Morrell's 1972 action-thriller novel of the same name, the film originally matched Rambo's fate to his literary counterpart, killing the character off rather than allowing him to become a sequel-spawning behemoth. Alas, having already worked the kinks out of the character during production in order to make him more sympathetic and audience-friendly, Stallone became quite attached to Rambo. Despite filming a suicide scene, Stallone and director Ted Kotcheff felt this was a grim twist too many, and the rest is history.