“Rambo is the opposite of Rocky (Balboi, the other of the iconic heroes in which he played Stallone – editor’s note). He is picked up in the middle. In every part he wants to help people, and then leaves. He lives alone and is a kind of martyr. And rather a warrior who wants to use his skills to protect people” – he said in the interview. A cult star. Fragments of this conversation can also view on Saturday morning viewers “Halo Tu Polsat”.
Few people know that before Sylvester Stallone He entered Rambo in the canon of cinema heroes, a veteran of war in Vietnam appeared in the book “The first blood” of David Morrell from 1972. He was nothing like a film soldier. Morrell described him as an overgrown, emaciated and inconspicuous psychopath who spoke a private war of the police of a small town. Detained many times by Sheriff Teasle, he kills one of the post -office in custody, and then escapes to the forest. Hunting for him, they quickly become animals, and Rambo sends them to that world without remorse. Morrella’s book was widely criticized for the brutality contained in it.
Despite the controversy (or maybe thanks to them), film studies quickly became interested in. Morrell sold the rights to the “first blood” of Columbia. He became the director of the production Richard Brooksand the photos were to start at the end of 1972. However, the project was postponed because of the ongoing Vietnam war. In the end, Brooks gave up and the laws were sold Warner Bros. This label also failed to make a movie. Finally, in 1981, the rights to the book and one of the scenarios written on its basis were taken over by Andrew G. Vajna and Mario Kassar. They chose as the director Teda Kotcheff. He proposed the perfect actor for the role of Rambo: Sylvester Stallone.
The screen Rocky Balboa was looking for new challenges at the time. The first film about a poor boxer who got a chance from fate brought him the status of a star and two Oscar nominations. His continuation was a cash hit. Unfortunately, Stallone’s other films could not do so well. He particularly survived the failure of “Paradise Alley”, his director’s debut, and “Fist” Norman Jewishbased on the life of Jimmy Hoffa. In both he played in the morally ambiguous form, not reminiscent of good -natured and naive Rocky. Since then, Stallone thought that the audience would not accept him as an antagonist. Scenario “Rambo: First Blood” He read in one night. The next morning he called Kotcheff that he was interested. However, he set one condition – the form of Rambo must be written from scratch.
Together with Kotcheff, they assumed that he would be a patriot, feeling betrayed by his nation. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the director admitted that he wanted to show the drama of thousands of veterans. “First of all, it was a very stupid war. (…) Many veterans felt guilty, felt terrible, as if they renounced their souls for nothing,” said Kotcheff. “For the right, they were suckers who lost the war – for the first time in the history of America. For the left they were killed by the killers of children. Many veterans returned to the country and realized that there was no place for them. This was what Rambo happened.” Stallone said that his hero could not kill – he was to defend himself, but not enjoy violence. In the original version of the script, Rambo deprived the lives of sixteen people. Only one person dies in the finished film, in addition without the hero’s direct participation.
Kotcheff saw from the beginning as Sheriff Teasle Brian Dennehy. In turn, for the role of Colonel Trautman – a former commander and mentor Rambo – was to be involved Kirk Douglas. However, the cinema Spartakus wanted to interfere in the script, he had, among others Your idea to end. According to Douglas, Rambo should die of the Trautman’s hand according to the book. The last shot would show a police car disappearing in the fog, and then focus on the mirror in which the figure of a colonel would reflect the characteristic bandana of his pupil.
The idea was immediately rejected by Kotcheff and Stallone. As a result, Douglas gave up the day after starting the photos. His participation in production is evidenced only by promotional posters, created before the first slap. An urgent search for his deputy began. During the weekend it was possible to involve Richard Crenna. This one did not have time to remember the script – that’s why he had to receive hints from one of the director’s assistants in his first scenes. Crenna worked so well in his role that he returned in two sequels, as well as in the “Hot Shots! 2” Rambo series.
All versions of the script assumed that – as in the book – in the Rambo final he would die. According to Morrell, his hero and the teasle pursuing him were seriously hurting each other, and the soldier was to be finished by Trautman – in the book a captain without major connections with the protagonist. Brooks intended to save a law enforcement officer, while Rambo was to die from a bullet by one of the policemen around him. In turn, the script chosen by Kotcheff and prescribed by Stallone assumed that Rambo would take his own life.
During the final confrontation, Trautman was to aim at his pupil, but unable to get on the trigger. Rambo was to break his weapon and shoot himself in his head. The stage was shot and according to Kotcheff was very moving. Then Stallone gave him an alternative solution. Motivating this with the horrors and challenges that Rambo experiences during the film, he suggested to save the hero. The director agreed. The scene of the confrontation with Trautman was cut off when the colonel was pulled out.
On the same day another one was played, in which the veteran and his mentor leave the post in which the final played. Rambo gives up, while the wounded teasle is wrapped by lifeguards. It was not without protests from producers complaining about subsequent expenses despite the already exceeded budget. Kotcheff, however, was sure that the viewers would love this ending. “A sad end is an intellectual end. And a happy end is a popular end” – he said in one of the interviews. He was right.
“The first blood” was at the top of the American box-offs for three weeks. The film costing only $ 15 million has earned over 125 million worldwide. However, the reviewers praised Stallone’s acting and the direction of Kotcheff.
The sequel was only a matter of time. “Rambo II” It premiered in 1985. He replaced the original director George P. Cosmatos. Rambo returned to Vietnam, where he was looking for American prisoners of war. He also killed 75 people. Kotcheff was not satisfied with the change of veteran looking for peace in a war machine. “This is not the hero I created. But if you want to do it, I wish you happiness, have fun” – he was to say after receiving the script.
The third part of Rambo’s adventures premiered in 1988. Both sequels were crushed by critics, but they turned out to be financial successes. After two decades, the hero returned in “Johnie Rambo” from 2008. He closed the series “Rambo: Last Blood” from 2019. Over the years, the veteran appeared in other works of pop culture. In 1985 he had an animated series, and in 2020 Stallone lent his image and voice to the creators of the game “Mortal Kombat 11”. Despite the poor level of continuation, Rambo remains next to Rocky’s most recognizable figure in the career of the actor.