So, after all that back-and-forth regarding Sylvester Stallone’s latest work (and my own... let's say, lukewarm enthusiasm), I found myself looking backward for a bit of inspiration—since nothing else was really sparking my interest. That Rambo series about the Vietnam veteran, John J. Rambo, has always been sitting right at the top of my list of favorites from growing up, so, since I had some extra downtime, I figured it might be cool to run a little poll... seeing as I can see (read: notice) people starting to argue over which installment actually holds up best. Anthony Smith3, we’ll get back to our deep dive on The Expendables once I’ve had a chance to rewatch it.😉
Alright, let's start from square one. Back in 1972, a virtually unknown writer named David Morrell published a novel called First Blood, which details a small-town police force clashing with a misfit Vietnam veteran. Even though Morrell himself said the idea came from spending countless hours talking to friends and hearing about the struggles they faced after returning from Vietnam—back when there wasn't even a formal definition for PTSD—and that the story was meant to be a critique of American societal hypocrisy, it turns out the "critique" (and the readers) mostly just saw First Blood as another standard action flick made for pure entertainment...
First Blood (1982) TrailerA reputation like that doesn't take long to reach Hollywood, where the rights were quickly snapped up. But, the actual production stayed stalled for nearly a decade until the well-known producer duo Andrew G. Vajna and Mario Kassar (who were basically newbies at the time) decided to step in and take charge. Famous for Rocky Balboa, Sylvester Stallone saw a chance to do something different with this unhinged Vietnam vet character, but that's when the production headaches truly began. The role of Colonel Trautman was originally set to be played by the legendary Kirk Douglas, but after filming a few scenes, he dropped out, leaving the part to the reliable Richard Crenna, for whom it became perhaps a career-defining role. That's when Stallone decided to tweak the script. Originally envisioned as a standalone project, First Blood was meant to be a faithful adaptation of the book, where Rambo isn't playing hide-and-seek with the cops, but rather just killing everything in his path. Fearing the audience wouldn't go for that kind of portrayal, Sly shifted the story so that Rambo doesn't kill anyone—which is almost ironic, considering how he changed things in the final installment where the character kills nearly a hundred people. Not wanting to take any risks, the producers also swapped the original ending—where Colonel Trautman kills his own student—for something softer and simpler, something Stallone didn't quite agree with at the time. The movie ended up being a financial success, though maybe not on the level of some other big titles, but definitely exceeding expectations. Critics were split, though. Some praised the intense pacing and tension, while others argued that we shouldn't be giving cinematic idols to actual maniacs. Either way, we didn't have to wait long for the sequel...
Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)TrailerSo, First Blood Part Two hits theaters three years later and ends up being this massive, totally unexpected box office smash... mostly thanks to a huge wide release and some aggressive marketing. But there’s actually a bit of an origin story here. The producers originally went back to the original author to see if he had any ideas, and it was Morrell who suggested sending Rambo right back into Vietnam—where, you know, the guy is basically a fish in water. There’s also this real-life story that kind of served as the movie's foundation. Back in the early '80s, a mercenary named Gritz went public claiming he was part of a mission to pull POWs out of modern-day Vietnam (he even knew the exact location), but as soon as he and his crew touched down, someone pulled the rug out from under them. To this day, Gritz maintains it was the US government shutting things down because they didn't want to reopen old wounds... if anyone wants the full scoop, you can find the details in the book "70 Greatest World Conspiracies," which pretty much became the backbone of the sequel. James Cameron eventually got involved too, bringing his own take on the script, though Stallone ended up tweaking things so much that nobody really knows for sure who wrote what since everyone tells a different version of the story... anyway, the sequel definitely borrows bits from the first one. Since Russian villains are a lot easier targets for audiences to root against, that famous sequence where Rambo uses camouflage and hides in the brush basically copies almost everything from the original novel—except instead of dodging American cops, we're dealing with Russian soldiers. It's actually why David Morrell ended up doing a novelization of the film (and he did one for the third one too—he's probably the only writer to ever write sequels to his own original work like that). Without all the heavy drama, opting for more direct action and bigger spectacles—some might even say it's a bit dumber—the "Part II" absolutely crushed it with audiences, even while critics were busy burying it under a mountain of bad reviews. The success made the lead character a global icon, and gave us that classic phrase
One man army that people always use to describe Rambo's whole vibe.
