First Blood - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of First Blood or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to First Blood

[frederick]

In the film, John Rambo is suffering from a mental disorder due to the trauma he's experienced in the Vietnam War. He is suffering from depression and PTSD. Rambo becomes depressed when Delmar Berry's unfriendly mother informs Rambo that Delmar passed away. Rambo has flashbacks of being in a prison camp in Vietnam and being tortured when Galt, Ward and some other deputies abuses and tortures him, tries to dry shave him which causes him to go berserk.

[bessie]

The first name John was given to Sylvester Stallone's character for the movie. In David Morrell's novel, the character is known only as Rambo. Also the iconic knife that Rambo carries is not mentioned in the novel.

[maureen]

Sheriff Will Teasle and his potbellied appearance and aggressive characterization and his position as policeman is akin to that of 'Batman' comic character Harvey Bullock. Like Teasle for detesting Rambo for being a Vietnam vet and a drifter to arrest him for, Bullock detested Batman for being a vigilante and wants to arrest him for it.

[ivan]

Only Rambo film in which John Rambo doesn't use a bow and arrow.

[miriam]

David Morell, the author of original novel, stated that he prefers this film over his novel.

[gabriel]

Chuck Norris said in an interview that the makers of Rambo at one point brought up the possibility of him playing Rambo.

[maureen]

Sylvester Stallone hated the first cut of the film so much that he tried to buy the film back and destroy it. When he couldn't do that, he suggested that the producers cut much of his part and let the rest of the characters tell the story. That cut the movie time in half and set a precedent for future action movies.

[jesus]

In the movie, Will Teasle is a Sheriff. In David Morrell's novel he is the Chief of Police.

[bessie]

Richard Crenna would later spoof his Colonel Trautman character (especially Trautman's part in Rambo III (1988)) in Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993).

[ruby]

Sylvester Stallone later starred in another action film which his character is brutalized by a corrupt authority figure who abuses his power - Lock Up (1989). In the film, Stallone stars as an imprisoned mechanic nearing the end of serving his prison sentence who is transferred to a top security prison by a corrupt prison warden (Donald Sutherland) who seeks vengeance upon him and allows his prison guards and one of the convicts to abuse, brutalize and harshly treat him, which soon pushes Stallone's character too far and he sets out to confront the warden for his corrupt behavior and his motive for taking revenge against him.

[aaron]

The film is set in December 1981.

[veronica]

The only time John Rambo actually kills is when he's hunting for food. He hunts and kills a wild boar in the forest.

[liam]

In 2020, Sylvester Stallone revealed that statues of the character of John Rambo were put up in Hope, British Colombia, the location where this film was shot.

[tamara]

There were 26 drafts of the script, before Sylvester Stallone wrote the final script.

[steve]

The large piece of rotten canvas that Rambo finds in the woods and cuts into a makeshift coat was in fact not a movie prop, but a real piece of rotten canvas found by the film crew during the movie's production. Since there was only one piece, Sylvester Stallone joked about how the canvas became a treasured prop on the set. After filming ended, Stallone kept the rotten canvas and still has it in his possession to this very day.

[carl]

Director Ted Kotcheff had previously directed Brian Dennehy in Split Image (1982).

[liam]

There is dispute over whether Stereo or Mono were used for the film's video/DVD releases. To date, there is only one Stereo home video release of First Blood.