First blood was a big mistake

“First Blood” remains one of best action movies ever madepartly because he has more depth than your standard actor. It seems like the original script had even more layers than the final film. According to star Sylvester Stallone, there was a scene in which it is revealed that Brian Dennehy’s Sheriff William Teasle actually fought in the Korean War, which would have further motivated his clash with Vietnam veteran John J. Rambo.

Long before the days of John Wick and Jack Reacher, there was John J. Rambo. The former Green Beret debuted in the pages of David Morrell’s 1972 novel “First Blood,” where he was depicted as a tortured Vietnam War veteran haunted by his experiences overseas. Born from two poignant true stories about veteransRambo was nothing like the ultra-macho action figure he became when Stallone’s film franchise took off. But he looked a lot like the very first iteration of the character on the big screen.

In 1982’s “First Blood,” director Ted Kotcheff recreated the mix of action and social commentary that had characterized Morrell’s book — although much of that was due to Stallone himself. William Sackheim and Michael Kozoll wrote the original screenplay which was then heavily edited by Sly, who removed all the killings in order to make the protagonist more sympathetic. Indeed, John J. remains unusually restrained throughout his first film. While the death toll increased with subsequent films in the franchise, Rambo did not intentionally kill anyone in “First Blood”, despite being nearly overwhelmed by Washington State Troopers, local Hope, Washington police and the National Guard. But there’s one edit that Sly didn’t make that he wishes had remained in the film.

Rambo got off to a relatively peaceful start for a franchise known for explosive action and outlandish kill counts. “First Blood” portrays an action hero with a troubled heart and soul, which makes the inaugural film even more interesting and much better than the utter chaos of the sequels (“First Blood” is at the top of /Film’s list). Rambo movie rating). However, Sylvester Stallone believes that one aspect of the original script could have made the film even better.

In an interview with GQthe actor recalled how John J. Rambo was originally written as “a homicidal maniac with PTSD” – an “unmanageable” man who dies in the film’s final moments to atone for all the horror he unleashed on the world. But Sly didn’t like this characterization very much. “It’s not a very uplifting film,” he told GQ. “[…] so I said, why don’t we give hope? Let him try to avoid fighting. He just wants to go away, let him go. And this sheriff, his ego is such that I won’t let anyone escape. So this was a display of false pride on the part of the sheriff. »

But originally, Sheriff Will Teasle had even more motivation to take down Rambo. As Sly explained: “They took one thing out of the script, I thought it was a big mistake. The reason he hated Rambo so much, [is] because he had fought in the Korean War, and no one even thinks about the 35,000 people who died in the Korean War, almost as many as Vietnam. » It was his participation in this relatively neglected conflict that initially propelled the Sheriff into his own personal war against Rambo.

When Sylvester Stallone saw the first clip of “First Blood” and was convinced it would ruin his career. But the actor suggested changes he said could energize the film, including removing most of its dialogue. Today, his vision of the film is exactly the opposite. As he told GQ, “I consider it the best action movie I’ve ever done.” Still, it’s not perfect in the eyes of its star, who went on to explain how the Korean War aspect of Sheriff Will Teasle’s character would have added an extra dimension to his pursuit of Rambo. “Vietnam was […] a lot of anger and ridicule,” he recalls. “So both [Rambo and Sheriff Teasle] had these complexes, but the sheriff was going to fight his own war, the Korean War against Rambo. And so it was a weird personal vendetta and I wish they would have kept it to themselves. It was rather interesting. »

In the final film, Sheriff Teasle simply assumes that Rambo is a drifter and decides to escort him out of Hope, Washington. After the Vietnam veteran returns to town, Teasle arrests him and leaves him to be mistreated by his sadistic deputies. After Rambo escapes, Teasle launches a manhunt, making the feud between Sly’s hero and the small town sheriff a matter of pride more than anything else.

Retaining the Korean War element would have undoubtedly made the film better and preserved the social commentary of the novel even more. Still, it’s not as if removing this aspect harms the film, which launched one of the most legendary action franchises in cinematic history.