KEY POINTS:
Sylvester Stallone narrowly avoided being shot while filming John Rambo on the border of Myanmar.
The 61-year-old actor was left shaken after witnessing "horrifying" scenes while shooting on the Salween River between Thailand and conflict-ridden Myanmar, also known as Burma.
Stallone told the USA Today newspaper: "We had shots fired above our heads. We were told we could get seriously hurt if we went on.
"I witnessed survivors with legs cut off and all kinds of land-mine injuries, maggot-infested wounds and ears cut off. We hear about Vietnam and Cambodia but the results of this conflict are more horrific.
"This is a hellhole beyond your wildest dreams."
Myanmar's army has waged a long-running brutal war against ethnic groups in which soldiers have destroyed villages, raped women and killed innocent civilians.
Stallone returned to the US eight days ago having spent six months in the region, mostly in the Salween River region - the only route into Myanmar from Thailand.
The crew left the area shortly before the vicious crackdown last week against the largest pro-democracy protests in Myanmar in two decades.
The film, which Stallone directs and stars in, sees Rambo taking a group of mercenaries up the Salween River in search of missing Christian aid workers in Myanmar.
Stallone is now editing John Rambo, which will be released in January 2008.
- BANG! SHOWBIZ
