"First Blood"(1982)
Clint Eastwood, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Steve McQueen, Mickey Rourke, John Travolta and Nick Nolte all turned down the lead role in the adaptation of David Morrell's novel at various points in the 1970s. I'll bet they all would have worn shirts with sleeves. I'll bet they all would have kept those shirts on. Enter Sylvester Stallone, the mumbling, muscled-up megastar eager to take a break from battling Mr. T and Carl Weathers. Stallone saw Rambo as a much more sympathetic figure than Morrell did, and extensive rewrites reflected this, as well as emphasizing the action and removing his suicide(this unused ending can be seen on YouTube). Veteran character actor Richard Crenna replaced an uncooperative Kirk Douglas during preproduction(Spartacus saw himself as the star) to land his signature role as his former commanding officer Colonel Trautman. Brian Dennehy is equally memorable as the surly sheriff extremely adverse to scruffy drifters with large hunting knives.
"First Blood" topped the box office for three weeks after it's October release, and thanks to the exploding early '80s aftermarket of video and cable, the film picked up even more fervent followers in the comfort of their own homes. Director Ted Kotcheff constructed a lean, mean thriller that deserves a mention every time the genre's finest offerings are discussed. The effect that Rambo had on Stallone's career can't be overstated- not only is this first outing the best action movie he ever made, it's success caused him to drop any pretense of being a 'serious' actor(even though he is very good here) that may have been lingering since "Rocky" upset the '76 Academy Awards. The MTV generation didn't want tears, they wanted total carnage, and Sly was poised to serve as one of the decade's chief providers.
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| This is what 1980s iconography looks like. |
"Rambo: First Blood Part II"(1985)
The highest-grossing film in the franchise was unleashed, rather appropriately, on Memorial Day weekend, and featured it's statuesque star at the height of his improbable superstardom("Rocky IV" came out just six months later). Fun fact- James Cameron co-wrote this sophomore effort, but Sly stepped in to infuse patriotism and politics and extract the elements he didn't like(a proposed mental hospital opening and a young sidekick). Stallone had his finger on the pulse, and knew the real draw lie in the cathartic joy of watching Rambo refight the Vietnam War singlehandedly(we get to win this time). Julia Nickson is the closest we ever got to a love interest, and the Singapore beauty did a nice job in the role. Director George P. Cosmatos made the ultimate one-man-army movie, and that 37% on RT is merely the result of uptight critics sorely in need of some context. Would Schwarzenegger have killed as many people in "Commando"(70%) if not for Rambo's return to the jungle? I don't think so.
"Part II" was the second biggest moneymaker of 1985, behind "Back to the Future", and THE biggest hit of Stallone's career to this very day. When President Reagan namedropped Rambo in a foreign policy speech, the character had entered a realm of cultural significance that few entertainment products can lay claim to. I'll bet you forgot that there was an animated series and a line of toys that put a dent in G.I. Joe's bottom line. John Wayne wishes he could wave the flag as intensely as John J. Just tell me where the next batch of bad guys are, and I'll be there with bells on.
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| "You take Dundee, I'll take Roger Rabbit". |
"Rambo III"(1988)
Stallone got into the best shape of his life and tore through Soviet-occupied Afghanistan in the inevitable third installment, the most violent(and most expensive) movie ever made circa 1988, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. There's a few reasons that "III" underperformed in theaters despite these aesthetic upgrades and fan service- Sly's repetition wasn't limited to the gym as his popularity was beginning to wane, he was still portraying Russians as repugnant villains with the Cold War ending, and there was fierce competition at the ticket counter("Big", "Crocodile Dundee II", "Who Framed Roger Rabbit"). It has to be noted that the late '80s action apex known as "Die Hard" also came out that summer. John McClane was much more human(and more interesting) than Stallone's stoic creation. The writing was on the wall.
"Rambo III" is satisfying enough for series devotees(Jerry Goldsmith's score and Peter MacDonald's direction are both high caliber), but there didn't seem to be any more demand for the chiseled Commie killer as we entered the 1990s. Why work out, when you can wear a fake muscle suit like Michael Keaton's Batman? Stallone didn't have an answer, as he gradually slid to fourth place in the action hero hierarchy behind Arnold, Bruce and Keanu. Rambo was looking like a relic from a bygone era where all you needed was blood and bullets, and a fourth film looked like an impossibility. The character was figuratively right back where he started, a lost soldier without a war. It may have taken awhile, but he WOULD find another one.
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| You're never too old to rip someone's throat out. |
"Rambo"(2008)
Twenty years after he assisted those Afghan freedom fighters(an awkward plot device post-9/11), Rambo was back on the big screen where he belonged. Reenergized by the success of "Rocky Balboa"(and inspired by ugly real world events) Sly knew the time was right for a resurrection of his beloved Green Beret. Age is irrelevant, because Rambo is a force of nature, and that's never been truer than when he took a boat ride to Burma to wipe it's evil regime off the face of the earth. We should all thank Sly for pushing the R-rating as far as it can go as a director, while other hard-edged heroes went all PG-13 on us(take that, John McClane). This movie is brutal and unapologetically violent, and I mean that as a compliment. I'll take Rambo IV over "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" any night of the week.
Stallone recently said that Rambo is officially retired. Can we really believe that he won't make a fifth eventually? The resurgent legend has a full plate, and "Last Blood" is unlikely, but as long as he's living and breathing, it could happen. If it doesn't, that's fine. Rambo is still one of the greatest characters in film history, and that's not nostalgia talking. It's a fact. You can look it up. Liam Neeson can kiss my ass, and Robert Downey Jr. isn't kicking anybody's without CGI. Rambo never needed that. He'll use his bare hands if he can't find his bow 'n' arrow. Now bow before John Rambo.
Updated Sept 2019
"Rambo: Last Blood"(2019)
Sadly, Stallone stumbles in his fifth and(hopefully) final adventure as filmdom's preeminent super-soldier. There seems to be an ideological battle breaking out between squeamish "liberal" critics and the character's coarse mostly-male fanbase(par for the course in Trump's America). I sit somewhere in the middle. The story had potential- a relaxed Rambo returns to his old ways when a friend's daughter is abducted by a vile sex trafficking ring in Mexico. But the 89-minute execution smacks of straight-to-DVD dross, with brutal bad guy deaths and very little else. I can't believe a talented director wasn't available to craft a classy epilogue for a pop culture icon. Adrian "Get the Gringo" Grunberg wasn't that guy.
Rambo literally ripping the heart out of one his one-dimensional foes was just a step too far, even for a franchise never known for subtly(I hope you like beheadings). A dozen nameless henchmen are routinely and hastily dispatched at his heavily-boobytrapped Arizona ranch during the "Home Alone"-style finale. Some will enjoy the blunt carnage, others will have no desire for "Last Blood Part II". I'll be the least surprised person on the planet if Sly squeezes in a sixth film before his 80th birthday. He'll surely go one more round as Rocky first. Could Rambo ever receive a "Creed"-like relaunch, complete with a torch-bearing apprentice? They drew first blood...
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