The first Rambo film is distinctly different from its sequels. It is much more serious, and there is a reason for that: The character was inspired by a real soldier.
What is Rambo all about? Most of you probably think of crashing action, many explosions, and countless defeated enemies when you hear the name “Rambo.”
Rambo 2 and 3, as well as the subsequent films, have shaped the image of the patriotic macho fighter. However, John Rambo’s (Sylvester Stallone) story began quite differently. Anyone who has seen the first film knows: The ex-soldier was not always as cool and hardened as in later installments of the series.
On the contrary. In Rambo from 1982, originally titled “First Blood,” we are dealing with a war veteran.
A soldier who served in the Vietnam War and is now, back home, struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder. However, the character is not completely fictional but is based on a real person who lived.
Sylvester Stallone had a rival for a long time: Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The inspiration for Rambo came from a highly decorated veteran
Who inspired the character? Actually, the first film in the Rambo series is an adaptation of the novel “First Blood” by David Morell. The protagonist of the story was inspired by an American soldier.
More specifically, by Audie Murphy. He was active on the American side in World War II and fought in places like Sicily and France. In fact, he wasn’t even supposed to go to war because he was too young. However, he managed to do so with forged documents.
By the end of the war, Murphy had received all the honors from the U.S. Army and is now considered a highly decorated American soldier.
Sylvester Stallone later regretted one film.
What does this have to do with Rambo? Back in the USA, Murphy, just like Rambo in the film, struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder. He suffered from insomnia, depression, and always kept a gun next to his pillow. He took medication for nightmares, and friends described him as moody and prone to violence.
At least Murphy managed to start a second career as an actor. He also documented his war experiences in a book.
John Rambo is also an ex-soldier who struggles to cope with life after the war. In the film, he is a broken personality, and far from being the cool action hero of later installments.
While he uses the skills he learned in the war to fight, employing guerrilla tactics to survive against his adversaries in the forest, he doesn’t look glorious doing so.
That changed in part two, where the dark concept of the first film was abandoned in favor of silly stories and exaggerated action. While that has its charm and entertains for a while, the depth of the first film was never reached again in the series.
By the way, Audie Murphy died in a plane crash in 1971. So, he never got to see “Rambo.” Sylvester Stallone was jealous of a co-star in another film.
