Spoilers for Rambo: First Blood (1982)
You could write thousands of words about the negative impact of turning First Blood into the Rambo franchise. It’s a testament to the power of money in Hollywood that a one-off film, based on a one-off novel about a deeply traumatised Vietnam veteran could be continued in a way that bears so little resemblance to the source material.
In First Blood II (George P. Cosmatos, 1985), Rambo still carries some of that trauma, but his superior set of skills reaches almost superhero capabilities as he takes out an entire Vietnamese battalion single-handedly. The sequel aims to rewrite history – Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) may not win the Vietnam War with his actions but it’s close enough for the audience.
It goes a step further in Rambo III (Peter MacDonald, 1988), where while rescuing Colonel Trautman (Richard Crenna) he saves Afghanistan from the Soviet army – a blatant piece of Cold War propaganda that becomes deeply ironic when you find out that the mujahideen portrayed in the film would splinter, leading to the rise of the Taliban; a group that would become Hollywood’s favourite enemy throughout the 2000s.
The fourth film (Sylvester Stallone, 2008) sees our ‘hero’ wipe out the entire Burmese army and Last Blood (Adrian Grünberg, 2019) has him play a deadly version of Home Alone with the Mexican cartel.
Each successive film felt like a blindly patriotic parody of the first. Where First Blood was critical of America’s campaigns in Southeast Asia and the treatment of returning soldiers, the later additions are designed to show the rest of the world as brutal, with only America’s superhero soldiers capable of delivering swift, violent justice.
One of the bloodiest action franchises starts with a film that includes just one accidental death – although the original draft by Michael Kozoll and William Sackheim had him kill 16 people. Instead, First Blood aims its critical lens at people in authority, rather than the soldiers who are given orders. Sheriff Teasle (Brian Dennehy) is overzealous, desperate to protect the small town from a drifter he perceives as a threat. It's worth noting that the Sheriff is often an elected position in America, so there’s a political undercurrent to his actions.
Trautman, carrying the weight of the American military on his shoulders, is detached and yet portrays himself as a father figure to those around him. Still, fathership could easily be swapped out with ownership, indicating how the military treats recruits. His most famous speech in the film, where he warns Teasle about Rambo’s skills, starts with him saying:
“I recruited him. I trained him. I commanded him for three years in Vietnam. I'd say that makes him mine.”
His ‘fathership’ extends only as far as to make sure his recruits do not besmirch the army. Despite keeping a close enough eye on soldiers to know when Rambo goes rogue, he’s unaware that others in the unit have died, including one who developed cancer due to America’s use of Agent Orange in Vietnam.
It's a damning inditement of people in power. Even those with only minor power – the officers serving under Teasle – are shown to throw their weight around, purposefully humiliating Rambo and then actively trying to kill him. Rambo on the other hand, does his best to avoid violence in the first half of the film.
While it’s questionable towards the end of the film, as he throws officers out of moving vehicles, purposefully rams cars off the road and blows up gas stations – all of which could easily lead to fatalities – Rambo does at least avoid killing when the chase first starts.
And if the audience has any doubt about whether Rambo intends to kill anyone, there’s a key scene before he enters the woods that highlights his desire to avoid harm. After a thrilling chase, with Rambo on a stolen motorcycle and Teasle in a seemingly indestructible police car, the car overturns.
Rambo notices this and stops the bike, looking over his shoulder at the wreck. Could it be that he’s checking to see if Teasle will continue the chase? Perhaps, but there’s no way that the Sheriff could catch up on foot, and while backup is on the way, Rambo has a few minutes before he needs to move on.
I believe there is subtler reason for Rambo stopping. He is checking to see if Teasle is okay. To see whether the Sheriff is trapped in the vehicle, or injured. Despite their differences, Rambo doesn’t wish harm on the Sheriff – he states many times that he just wants to be left alone. It’s only when Teasle scrambles out of the car that Rambo continues up the mountain, and the chase picks up pace when the rest of the Sheriff’s office arrive with hunting dogs and a helicopter.
Far from the gun-touting warrior that the sequels portrayed him as, Rambo is someone who only kills when he must. His powerful final speech and his flashbacks show how traumatised he is by the continuous violence he saw in Vietnam, his quick checkup on Teasle before continuing his escape hints at the same thing.
Director: Ted Kotcheff
Writers: Michael Kozoll, William Sackheim, Sylvester Stallone. Based on First Blood by David Morrell
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna, Brian Dennehy