John Travolta, Robert De Niro, and Al Pacino were considered for the role of Rambo.
Originally, Vietnam War veteran John Rambo dreamed of playing John Travolta, who, after the success of the musicals “Saturday Night Fever” and “Grease”, wanted to get rid of the sugary look. However, Stallone, who was among the writers, did his best to remove Travolta from the project.
It was harder for the young Stallone to compete with venerable actors like Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, but his adult colleagues themselves made it easy for him. De Niro, in principle, was not ready to gain the necessary physical shape and kill himself in the gym. While Al Pacino believed that Rambo wasn’t crazy enough after the horrors of the Vietnam War, and the cast actually gave the producers a real nightmare. Film patrons appreciated the artist’s dedication, but preferred the more restrained and organic Stallone in this role.
Stallone hated the original cut of the movie
The actress was so tired of the project that she personally oversaw the creation of the final version of the picture. However, the show of the first version of the fiction, which lasted almost three hours, disappointed Stallone so much that he even offered to buy the negative of the film and destroy it.
Still, the producers managed to come to terms with the actor: they cut the screen time of the film by almost half, and also shortened the duration of Stallone’s presence in the frame. After the remake, the actor turned his anger to mercy and still considers the first movie to be the most successful part of the franchise.
Rambo dies in the book
At the end of David Morrell’s original book, Rambo dies. This was the original ending of Rambo: First Blood. But realizing the box office potential of the story and possible filming of a sequel, Stallone refused to kill his hero.
Only one character died in Rambo: First Blood
Despite the fact that the Rambo franchise is associated with extreme cruelty, Stallone’s character in the first film does not kill anyone, and in general there is only one death in the plot – an accidental result. Rambo is presented in a completely different way in Morrell’s book, in which the protagonist suffers from severe post-traumatic stress disorder and at times falls into a state of passion, destroying everything in his path. Stallone refused to portray Rambo as a killing machine, fearing that this portrayal of the character would alienate audiences who might not be able to empathize with him.
Rambo is based on a real soldier and got his character name from various apples.
Author David Morrell considered writing a book after reading about Audie Murphy’s real-life achievements in a newspaper. Murphy, II. He was a decorated American soldier during World War II and received several U.S. military honors for bravery, as well as five awards from foreign countries, including France and Belgium. Another prototype of Rambo is Patrick Tadina, a Hawaiian who served in Vietnam.
Rambo owes its name to an apple variety grown by a 17th-century Swedish settler named Peter Gunnarson Rambo. According to Morrell, while writing the book, he ate an apple that he liked very much. He asked his wife what kind of variety it was. “Rambo,” he replied. “I felt a special power in this name and thought that my hero could be named that way too,” the author later said.
Rambo’s utility knife made to order
Rambo did not have a special knife in the book; Stallone personally invented this main weapon for his hero. It also chose knife maker Jimmy Lyle, who designed the famous tool.
The player wanted the knife to be both a deadly weapon and a jungle survival tool. The exterior of the blade was copied from those carried by Vietnam War pilots.
James Cameron wrote the script for the second film, which Stallone later greatly revised.
Even before the launch of his legendary “Terminator,” James Cameron worked as a screenwriter on other people’s projects. He was the one who wrote the original version of the script for “Rambo: First Blood 2”, trying to develop the original idea in his signature semi-fantasy vein.
Stallone liked some of Cameron’s sketches, but other than that he almost completely rewrote the script and added strong political overtones to it. Despite the criticism from the authorities, the second film was especially appreciated by the then US President Ronald Reagan.
Rambo and Indiana Jones rode the same horse
It turns out that in Rambo’s past, his father has his own farm. Which explains why the Vietnam War veteran is such a good rider. On the set of Rambo III, Stallone’s character rides the same horse that Harrison Ford’s character later rode in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
The last loyalty to Rambo III changed after the 9/11 attacks.
The original closing credits for Rambo III, released in 1988, were: “This movie is dedicated to the brave Mujahideen of Afghanistan.” After the September 11 attacks, the title of the movie was changed to “This movie is dedicated to the brave people of Afghanistan”.
Rambo IV banned in Myanmar
Rambo IV is set in Myanmar, where Stallone’s character tries to rescue missionaries kidnapped by the military. Myanmar’s armed forces are portrayed on screen as negatively as possible because Stallone opposed the prevailing political regime in the country and wanted to foster anti-government sentiment. According to Stallone, the phrase from the movie “Live aimlessly or die for more” was quoted by local students at the protests.
Myanmar government predictable forbidden Sellers of movie rentals and video copies were threatened with up to seven years in prison. It was also reported that relatives of several actors from Myanmar who took part in the filming were arrested after the premiere of the tape.