THE TWO RAMBOS
Before the invincible hero and cinematic action symbol "John Rambo" was created, there was a young man -- a loner -- without a first name that populated the pages of David Morrell's fiction novel, First Blood.
Rambo was, in fact, "some nothing kid for anybody knew, standing by the pump of a gas station" in a small town. For some reason, that sentence in the opening paragraph of Morrell's novel conjures up the memory of that famous black and white photo of James Dean leaning against on old gas pump with a Coke bottle in hand. Much like Dean, Sylvester Stallone's cinematic portrayal of John Rambo -- the name John was given to him in the transition from novel to film -- has become a certified piece of Americana. But the Rambo that most movie-goers remember is much different than the character that Morrell and film director Ted Kotcheff intended in their telling of First Blood and the superhero that came later in the Rambo sequels.
The popularization of Rambo as a war machine and particularly violent character may have come from then President Ronald Reagan who, in 1986, referred to the Rambo films in his suggestion to what America should do in a precarious situation in the middle East. President Reagan had obviously used his White House screening room to take in Rambo: First Blood Part II. Certainly, the Rambo that Reagan was referring too was much different than the character in the novel or even the character in the first film. The original Rambo was a troubled soul. A wanderer. A character that sought inner peace.
The original Rambo refrained from violence until it found its way to his doorstep. Even then, his reaction wasn't entirely his own. It was the product of the U.S. Armed Forces that failed to prepare soldiers for their transition from Vietnam back into the streets and culture of America. When you think about what that transition must be like for soldiers, it is certainly frightening. Yes, the real Rambo wasn't about being sent in on daring missions to extradite prisoners of war. He wasn't about dodging every bullet fired at him from more than 200 or so soldiers that must have been in pursuit. The original Rambo -- book or film -- fought his battle on the inside and when the Sheriff materialized as an adversary. Rambo's biggest foe was himself and his memories from the Vietnam war.
Both the First Blood novel and film do a surprising job of getting inside Rambo's head. Of course, that's a bit easier in book format where readers can actually read the thoughts of the characters. The film, however, transports us directly into Rambo's mind and his memories of being tortured by Vietnamese soldiers in a prison camp. Kotcheff carefully shows us every painful moment that Rambo encounters. When Rambo first escapes to the woods, his simple act of rubbing his arms to keep warm let us know it's cold and he's feeling it. Each situation affecting the character's psyche in various different ways. He shows Rambo's dramatic fall from the cliff ledge through the evergreen branches. The camera, nearly in close-up, captures the self-application of first aid when Rambo sews the bloody gash on his shoulder. This is all done in an attempt to humanize Rambo, to make viewers sympathetic to his situation and draw clear parallels to the common pain that we have all felt, such as the cold. In any event, we could somewhat relate to his turmoil.
Now, try relating to the Rambo that follows in the sequels. Suddenly, Rambo is much, much different. In Rambo: First Blood Part II, Rambo seems to symbolize the brave warrior that some us wish we could be at times. He's a character that could smash all of our own personal bullies in one wallop. He's a character that can accomplish something that our entire Armed Forces units could not accomplish -- he wins the Vietnam war for us.
The biggest difference in the Rambo characters that have been created comes in the final scene of First Blood when Rambo stops fighting and surrenders. It takes some convincing from his former commanding officer, Colonel Trautman, but he eventually surrenders. In that last scene, Rambo realizes that the war he is fighting can not be won. But here, he is not concerned with the war against the Sheriff. Instead, the focus shifts to the war inside himself. When Trautman stoops to embrace Rambo, he is not holding a former Green Beret who lost his gun fight. Trautman is holding a tortured soul who is just beginning to realize that he has taken the wrong approach to battling his inner demons. His more than just a piece of machinery that malfunctioned -- he is person who may never recover from his experiences at war. Rambo is much different in this scene than at any point in the film. Rather than epitomizing what we might want to become, here, he becomes the war that we lost and a character that we would never want to be. Compared to the sequel, Stallone gives us a very different way of dealing with the U.S. loss in Vietnam. Here, we as viewers feel his pain. Together with Rambo, we admit that we lost.
Both Rambos serve their purposes. One is pure fantasy, the other helps us achieve a different level of understanding the conflicts within our heroes that return from war. You decided which films accomplish that theme better.
Perhaps, if fictional heroes were laid to rest, Rambo would in fact have two head stones with different dates of birth and death. One for the original character created by David Morrell and realized on film by director Ted Ketchoff. And the other Rambo. The super hero. Rest in Peace Rambo:
1971 (date of the novels publication) to 1985
and
1985 (date of the first sequels release) to present.
Essay by Kevin Kuzma