Before Rambo or Cobra, Sylvester Stallone’s first official action role came with the underrated thriller Nighthawks. Following the surprise success of 1976’s Rocky, Stallone has since admitted to having trouble following the movie with another hit. His directorial debut Paradise Alley was an instant bomb, while crime drama F.I.S.T. was only a modest success.
Outside of the Rocky sequels, he didn’t land another blockbuster until 1982’s First Blood. While the latter is more of a survival thriller, Stallone would soon use it as a jumping-off point for a run of action movies, including the Rambo movie sequels, Cobra and Tango & Cash. Of course, he eventually found himself somewhat typecast in the genre, while his efforts to break out into other kinds of roles – such as comedy with Stop! Or My Mom With Shoot – were met with little interest.
Rambo might be his defining action series, but it wasn’t his first action role. That goes to 1981’s Nighthawks, where he played an NYPD detective named DaSilva who is on the trail of a vicious terrorist played by Rutger Hauer. Nighthawks was only a modest hit upon release, with the film suffering through a messy production that saw one director being fired, Stallone clashing with the replacement Bruce Malmuth (Hard To Kill) and the studio cutting out many scenes just before it was released.
Nighthawks Was A Thriller Ahead Of Its Time
Despite this, Nighthawks – which got an odd reference in Rambo: Last Blood – has a cult following and is noted for its great lead performances, its snapshot of New York from the early ’80s and its action setpieces. It was also the rare thriller to tackle the concept of terrorism during this era. The project actually started life as The French Connection III, with the studio hoping to lure Gene Hackman back as Popeye Doyle; when he passed, the story was reworked. While more of a psychological thriller with occasional action scenes, it was an early sign of Stallone’s commitment to the genre. He performed most of his own stunts, including DaSilva being winched up a cable car, which Stallone later called one of the most dangerous stunts he’s ever attempted.
In addition to the behind-the-scenes tension – including Stallone and Hauer not getting along – the studio trimmed Nighthawks for violence before release. This is especially evident in the finale, where Stallone’s – who has co-starred with Dolph Lundgren many times – DaSilva lures Hauer’s villain into a trap and shoots him dead. As originally filmed, Hauer’s terrorist was shot multiple times in non-lethal places before DaSilva delivered a kill shot, but the final version trimmed this to just two bullets. Stallone would later lament the studio cuts to Nighthawks that reduced his more dramatic scenes and Hauer’s performance, which he praised. He also told Collider in 2021 it was another project – like Rocky Vs Drago – that he’d like to go back to and re-edit.
