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MEMORIES:
kmarie remembers...Stallone was doing his thing in the 80's! The Rambo flicks rocked! 'I'm coming for you'. More »
Posted on 11/05/07
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Although the word Rambo translates to “violence” in Japanese, the name for which the lead character in First Blood is known came from was based on a brand of apples. John Rambo first appeared in novel form in 1972. The book, by David Morrell, was about a lethal killer too instinctually scarred by Vietnam to be accepted into society. The John Rambo of the book takes his own life, so the original cut of the film included a scene where he meets his demise. But test audiences voiced their negative reaction, so producers chose to let him live and become a movie legend.
Because his work outside of the Rocky films (two of which were already released) was paltry at best, Sylvester Stallone was originally bypassed in favor of John Travolta, Steve McQueen, Clint Eastwood, and Al Pacino. Dustin Hoffman was considered as well when Mike Nichols (The Graduate) was vying for the director’s chair, but opted out because of the script’s violence.
The story introduces the world to John Rambo, a Medal of Honor recipient turned drifter trying to cope with civilian life and the deaths of his comrades in arms. Arrested for vagrancy by small town Sheriff Teasle (Brian Dennehy), Rambo is taken to the town lockup, where several of Teasle’s deputies begin to beat him. As flashbacks take Rambo back to the tortures he endured in Vietnam, his killer instincts are unleashed on the deputies as he turns the tables and escapes into the mountains on a stolen motorcycle. Clinging to their wounded pride, a group of deputies take off after Rambo only to find themselves outmatched by an expert guerilla tactician.
With order spiraling out of control, Teasle calls in the National Guard for an all-out manhunt. In response to the call, the government also sends the man who trained Rambo, Colonel Sam Trautman (Richard Crenna), as an advisor. Despite two hundred armed men, Trautman begs the sheriff to leave Rambo alone. When their explosive efforts fail to capture him, Rambo returns to the town, reeking havoc before Trautman can finally reach him in the hopes of talking him into surrender.
Stallone was reportedly so disgusted with the first cut (and in particular, his performance) that he tried to buy the footage so he could destroy it. When that failed, he begged the producers to edit as much of his character out as possible and let the other characters tell the story. The result not only created a fantastic final product, but also set a precedent for future action films.
After showing just a forty-minute edit of the film, the international rights were sold in less than five minutes. The result box office tally that brought in almost $80 million overseas (compared to just under $50 domestically) and made Stallone a worldwide star. Critics also by and large hailed the film for its surprisingly poignant depiction of a man scarred by the Vietnam war. In fact, it wasn’t until the first of two sequels followed, Rambo: First Blood Part II) came out in 1985 that Rambo became the iconic action figure currently recognized in popular culture. A sequel from another franchise, Hot Shots Part Deux, would go so far to spoof the Rambo franchise that they cast Richard Crenna in the process to reprise a variation of his role.
