Rambo 5-- Last Blood (From the Stone)

[CorporalClegg]

First 2 Rambo 3 Bloods

Maybe when Lin is done with Trek...

 

[Dude111]

The first movie with the character John Rambo was "First Blood". The second movie was "Rambo: First Blood Part II" making it the first Rambo movie by name and the one people seem to often think of as "Rambo".

I should've just put the long title in my post, it would've probably been clearer.

Danke buddy for explaining that!! (I think the first one (FIRST BLOOD) is the best one (Although I havent seen any others))

 

[martok2112]

Problem with audiences today is that they forget to just sit back and have fun. They want to pretentiously act all sophisticated, just so they can act like there is something that is beneath their entertainment threshold (porn and Seth Rogen movies notwithstanding). Today's audience is no more or less intelligent than audiences in the 80's....they just took on a few airs that do them no service at all....the greatest disservice being "forgetting how to simply have fun kunching popcorn and watching a good action flick."

Saw the first Rambo (not First Blood) in a theater full of loud and rowdy Marines, quite an experience!

Probably second only to seeing The Exorcist in an inner-city theater as memorable moviegoing experiences.

Ahhhh....The Exorcist...to me is, has been, and always will be the scariest film ever made.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Ya in the first one HE HAD A REASON TO FIGHT!! (They messed with the wrong guy!!)

Well, yes and no. Yes, he was unjustly harrassed by the townsfolk, but the point of First Blood was largely that his violent response was excessive, that he'd been turned into a killer who didn't know how to be anything else, and was then returned home to a society that ostracized him for being what they'd turned him into rather than trying to cure him of it. He was intended to be more a victim than a hero, which is why the film ended with his surrender (and why the book ended with his death).

As far as the film is concerned, Rambo was more than unjustly harassed. Rambo was falsely arrested by Sheriff Teasle on trumped-up charges. His experiencing flashbacks to his torture in Vietnam doesn't alter the fact that Rambo was a victim of police brutality, due to the collusion of multiple deputies, by being physically abused, assaulted, threatened, and in other ways endangered while in custody. And, a deputy (Galt), who were there justice should have already been on suspension for his crimes against Rambo, attempted to murder Rambo when he escaped.

Rambo was not responsible for Galt's death; Galt had unbuckled his seatbelt in the helicopter in his attempt to murder Rambo, and Galt even threatened to murder the helicopter pilot if he didn't help him murder Rambo. Yet dereliction of duty on the part of the helicopter pilot, in not telling the truth about Galt's behavior, perpetuated the lie that Rambo was responsible for Galt's death, which motivated the sheriff and surviving deputies and the weekend warriors all to try to kill Rambo. Shocking though some may find it, literally everything that Rambo did up to the point when he was sealed in the cave was solely in self-defense. The only person killed by this point is Galt, and Rambo isn't responsible for his death. The only seriously wounded are among those who hunted and tried to kill Rambo. The whole point of the "first blood" theme is that Sheriff Teasle and his deputies were the aggressors, not Rambo.

It was only after Rambo escaped from the cave when he went on the offensive. Rambo could have easily faded away and contacted Colonel Trautman, since he's thought to be dead (which would have been evident to Rambo given how he observed the National Guard wrapping things up), but at that point, he can't let it go and he wants to kill Teasle as much as Teasle wants to kill him. It's also possible at this point that some or all of the state troopers pursuing the truck with the M60 that Rambo had taken over are killed (the film doesn't say, but it doesn't look good for them), which could have been avoided if Rambo had simply deescalated instead.

The point is, saying that Rambo was "unjustly harassed" doesn't begin to encompass the crimes that the townspeople committed. Rambo's "violent response was excessive," if we're talking about what he did after he escaped from the cave. As for his response prior to that, it was simply only what was necessary for him to survive.

I haven't read the book, so I can't comment on that.

Added: Also in self-defense, Rambo kills three dogs that are in the service of the sheriff, not only which are used to track down Rambo, but also which Teasle and their handler Orval deploy in two waves as attack dogs on Rambo, in the first wave as the opening tactic in the posse's attempt to kill him but in the second wave under an explicit kill command after the posse's advance is stalled. This is after Galt dies and before Rambo is trapped in the cave.

 

[tharpdevenport]

The problem with Last Blood is we're apparently being mislead by the whole concept. I see on IMDb a Rambo TV series in development, with Stone is talks to repraise his role. More blood is in the works.

 

[137th Gebirg]

Anyone ever see the animated "Rambo: The Force of Freedom" series from the 80's? 70 episodes, including the 5 intro mini-series episodes. The main bad guy (General Warhawk) was voiced by Michael Ansara and there was actually an episode where he raised the old Japanese WWII battleship Yamato (in an episode aptly titled "Raise the Yamato") - which appeared in pristine condition after being in salt water for over 40 years at the time, of course - which Rambo destroyed again. I remember it being full of GI-Joe-like action and horribly contrived bad-guy naming conventions. Sgt Havoc, Cpt Scar, etc...

Ah, good times...

 

[Dude111]

As far as the film is concerned, Rambo was more than unjustly harassed. Rambo was falsely arrested by Sheriff Teasle on trumped-up charges.

Inded he was.... He was terrorised..... Alot of ppl DISLIKE military people because of how they treat ppl in other countries.... They sure treated him quite badly AND FOR NO REASON OTHER THAN HE WAS IN THE SERVICE!! (No it wasnt his fault GALT got killed,it was KARMA that got Mr. Galt (He was gonna kill him))

 

[Captaindemotion]

^ It's been a while since I saw the first film but I think Teasle just picked on Rambo because he was unkempt and scruffy, rather than because he was in the service. His being a veteran only emerged later when they stripped him and saw the dogtags, no?

 

[137th Gebirg]

Rambo was wearing an M63 field jacket with a "US Army" tag over one pocket and a non-milspec American flag over the other (where his last name should have been). It actually looked quite unused and in good shape. He had long hair (like many people did back then), but I wouldn't characterize his appearance as unkempt.

Back then, I recall it was still somewhat unpopular to dress in military fatigues due to the stigma that went with them. Teasle definitely drew a prejudicial conclusion based on Rambo's attire.

 

[Captaindemotion]

^ Ironically, in the book, Teasle was a vet of the Korean War but the film downplayed this, IIRC.

 

[137th Gebirg]

Yeah, I distantly recall that being the case. That was likely an intentional decision on the part of the producer and/or director just to make Teasle more of an angry small-town cop on a power trip. I never read the book, so I cannot speak with any certainty on the matter, but theatrically it really wouldn't have made sense for him to have also been a vet and still have such a problem bordering on hatred with Rambo, adding extreme hypocrisy to the mix on top of everything else. Vets understand how messed up war can get. Judging Rambo for things he may or may not have done without having actually looked at his billet really never made much sense to me. Particularly if Teasle may have been forced to do ethically questionable things himself - unless he was a bitter little buck-private REMF that more elite operators like Rambo shit on during his time overseas. Then I could see it.

 

[Captaindemotion]

^I've a recollection of an interview with David Morrell explaining that he came up with Rambo after reading about Vietnam Veterans suffering from PTSD and around the same time, hearing a story about small-time cops shaving the heads of hippies. He wondered what would happen if something like this happened to the a traumatized vet, many of whom looked like hippies after they got home and dropped out. In the book, Teasle didn't want this scruffy man in his nice clean town.

I can't find a link for this online, so I can't vouch 100% for it though Morrell touches on Rambo's appearance in this interview:

http://www.channelguidemagblog.com/...-david-morrell-discusses-the-icon-he-created/

I thought he would be more of a hippie, with long hair and a long beard. But I don’t visualize characters; I let audiences fill that in. … But between ’72 when the novel was written and ’82 when the film came out, the world had changed in terms of styles. And when Brian Dennehy says, “We don’t like guys that look like you come into our town,” the audiences didn’t get it. They asked, “What’s the matter with how he looks?” So there was a danger that the movie was dated … but people got over that and went with the character.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

In Teasle's office, you can see that he's won the Silver Star, the Purple Heart, and the Army Distinguished Service Cross Medal. So Teasle is clearly a decorated hero in his own way; he's not just some wannabe, you get medals like that for extreme valor and bravery in combat.

But like I said earlier, veterans of Korea and those of Vietnam are probably not going to see eye to eye anyway, since they were completely different environments with tactics to match. Teasle probably saw himself as more old-school and "clean" than Rambo.

 

[Silvercrest]

If we're not counting Galt, did Rambo explicitly kill any person in First Blood? The only place it appeared so was (IIRC) when he forced the police car to ram another car. But it looked like the police car was mostly intact (it didn't explode), and it wasn't clear there was anyone in the second car.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Rambo was wearing an M63 field jacket with a "US Army" tag over one pocket and a non-milspec American flag over the other (where his last name should have been). It actually looked quite unused and in good shape. He had long hair (like many people did back then), but I wouldn't characterize his appearance as unkempt.

Back then, I recall it was still somewhat unpopular to dress in military fatigues due to the stigma that went with them. Teasle definitely drew a prejudicial conclusion based on Rambo's attire.

Following up on this, the first problem that Teasle mentioned to Rambo that he had with him was that Rambo was wearing a flag on his clothing, the significance of which would have been that it wasn't as a part of a uniform. Although there is no legal penalty for failure to comply, the US Flag Code as amended in 1976 regarding respect for the flag recognizes the wearing of a flag patch only in certain cases, none of which applied to Rambo:

No part of the flag should ever be used as a costume or athletic uniform. However, a flag patch may be affixed to the uniform of military personnel, firemen, policemen, and members of patriotic organizations. The flag represents a living country and is itself considered a living thing. Therefore, the lapel flag pin being a replica, should be worn on the left lapel near the heart.

CRS Report for Congress, The United States Flag: Federal Law Relating to Display and Associated Questions (April 14, 2008) says:

While wearing the colors may be in poor taste and offensive to many, it is important to remember that the Flag Code is intended as a guide to be followed on a purely voluntary basis to insure proper respect for the flag.

It's a certainty that some people would have been just as offended by the wearing of the flag in unrecognized ways circa 1981, when the film took place, as some are today, if not more so. Even Federal law ironically frowned on Rambo's right to wear a flag patch the way he was.

 

[Caligula]

No part of the flag should ever be used as a costume or athletic uniform. However, a flag patch may be affixed to the uniform of military personnel, firemen, policemen, and members of patriotic organizations. The flag represents a living country and is itself considered a living thing. Therefore, the lapel flag pin being a replica, should be worn on the left lapel near the heart.

Re: athletic uniforms... I guess we've jumped THAT shark, haven't we?

 

[137th Gebirg]

Heh...yeah, like with every Olympic outfit since the 80's...

 

[tharpdevenport]

Perhaps certain kinds of replicas don't necessarily count. The code may need to be amended.

 

[Captain Craig]

Anyone ever see the animated "Rambo: The Force of Freedom" series from the 80's? 70 episodes, including the 5 intro mini-series episodes. The main bad guy (General Warhawk) was voiced by Michael Ansara and there was actually an episode where he raised the old Japanese WWII battleship Yamato (in an episode aptly titled "Raise the Yamato") - which appeared in pristine condition after being in salt water for over 40 years at the time, of course - which Rambo destroyed again. I remember it being full of GI-Joe-like action and horribly contrived bad-guy naming conventions. Sgt Havoc, Cpt Scar, etc...

Ah, good times...

I didn't realize it had that many episodes. I saw some here and there. If they were available on a streaming site, Amazon Prime or Netflix, I'd check a few out for old times sake. They ever been produced as a series DVD set?

 

[137th Gebirg]

Looks like Amazon has them, yes. 5 volumes, looks like.