First Blood Was A Big Mistake

“First Blood” remains one of the best action movies of all time, in part because it has more depth than your average action movie. The original script seemed to have more layers than the final film as well. According to star Sylvester Stallone, there was a scene in which it was revealed that Brian Dennehy’s Sheriff William Teasel actually fought in the Korean War, which would have further catalyzed his conflict with Vietnam vet John J. Rambo.

Long before there were John Wick and Jack Reacher, there was John G. Rambo. The former Green Beret first appeared in the pages of David Morrell’s 1972 novel First Blood, where he was portrayed as a tortured Vietnam War vet haunted by his experiences overseas. Born from two harrowing true stories about war veterans, Rambo was nothing like the macho action figure he became as Stallone’s film series took off. But it was quite similar to the first version of the character on the big screen.

In 1982’s First Blood, director Ted Kotcheff recreated the mix of action and social commentary that characterized Morell’s book — though much of that is down to Stallone himself. William Sackheim and Michael Kozoll wrote the original script which was then heavily edited by Sly, who cut out all the killing as a way to make the protagonist more likable. In fact, John J. remains uncharacteristically restrained throughout his first film. While the body count swelled with later films in the series, Rambo does not intentionally kill anyone in “First Blood,” despite the fact that he nearly overpowers Washington state troopers, local police forces in Hope, Washington, and the National Guard. But there was one edit that Sly didn’t make, which he wishes had stayed in the film.

Rambo started out relatively peacefully in a series known for bombastic action and bizarre kill counts. “First Blood” depicts an action hero with a troubled heart and soul, which makes the opening film much more interesting and better than the overall chaos of the sequels (“First Blood” is at the top of the Rambo film genre). However, Sylvester Stallone feels that one aspect of the original script could have made the film better.

In an interview with GQ, the actor recalled how John G. Rambo was initially written as a “homicidal maniac suffering from PTSD” — an “uncontrollable” man who dies in the film’s closing moments to atone for all the horror he unleashed on the world. But Sly didn’t like that characterization very much. “This is not a very great movie,” he told GQ magazine. “[…] So I said, why don’t we give hope? He’s trying to avoid fighting. He just wants to leave, let him go. And this warden, his arrogance is that I won’t let anyone escape. “So it was all about this show of false pride on the part of the sheriff.”

But originally, Sheriff Will Teasle had a greater motive to take down Rambo. As Sly continued to explain, “They left one thing out of the script that I thought was a big mistake. The reason he hated Rambo so much, [is] “Because he fought in the Korean War, and no one even thinks about the 35,000 people killed in the Korean War, almost as much as Vietnam.” It was his involvement in this relatively overlooked conflict that originally prompted Sharif into his personal war against Rambo.

When Sylvester Stallone saw the first trailer for “First Blood,” he was convinced it would ruin his career. But the actor suggested changes that he felt would affect the film, including cutting out most of its dialogue. Today, his view of the film is exactly the opposite. As he told GQ, “I considered it the best action movie I’d ever done.” However, he’s not perfect in the eyes of his 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. “It was Vietnam […] “They were subjected to a lot of anger and ridicule,” he recalls. [Rambo and Sheriff Teasle] He had these contracts, 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’d kept that. “It was kind of interesting.”

In the final film, Sheriff Teasle assumes Rambo is a hitchhiker and decides to escort him out of Hope, Washington. After the Vietnam vet returns to town, Tessel arrests him and leaves him abused by his sadistic deputies. After Rambo escapes, Tessel launches a manhunt, making the feud between Sly’s hero and the small-town mayor more about pride than anything else.

Keeping the Korean War element would have undoubtedly made the film better and preserved more of the social commentary from the novel. However, it’s not as if removing that aspect did any harm to the film, which kicked off one of the most legendary action sequences in cinematic history.