Stallone: 'I lost touch with reality'

Sylvester Stallone has claimed that he made panned sequels Rambo III and Rocky V because he let fame go to his head after becoming a star.

The 61-year-old's action career fell into a slump after releasing a series of increasingly far-fetched additions to his movie franchises.

He has recently been praised for restoring integrity to his iconic roles with last year's acclaimed Rocky Balboa, the sixth instalment of the franchise, and the upcoming third sequel to Rambo.

But the actor admitted that he had lost touch with reality while making the previous sequels and had failed to maintain the character of the original films.

He said: "When you're kind of a nondescript, unknown, inconsequential actor and all of a sudden you're famous, it's very easy to lose touch there.

"You keep pushing the envelope, but there is a limit, and the audience retreats."