On October 22, 1982, Rambo: First Blood, based on the novel of the same name by David Morrell, starring Sylvester Stallone, appeared on American screens.
1. When David Morrell came up with a name for his main character, his wife bought Rambo apples that a Swiss immigrant brought to America. That’s how the Vietnam War veteran got his name.
2. The role of Rambo could be played by actors such as John Travolta, Al Pacino, Clint Eastwood and Dustin Hoffman. But she still went to Sylvester Stallone.
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3. At the beginning of filming, the budget of the film was $ 11,000,000, but over time the amount had to be increased. Filming dragged on for a month longer than expected, and the budget was already $15,000,000.
4. Lead actor Sylvester Stallone was very dissatisfied with the film. At first, he even tried to buy a tape so that no one else would see it. However, he soon cooled down and asked the producers, if possible, to cut his face out of the film. As a result, the final version of the picture was half the time.
5. At first, Stallone asked for a fee of $3.5 million, but the producers managed to persuade him for $2,000,000. But the remaining $1,500,000 went to Sylvester as a share of the TV rental.
6. David Morrell “killed” his character in the book. However, the success of the film forced him to take up his pen again and write the second part, in which Rambo miraculously turns out to be alive and well.
7. There is also a director’s cut of the film with an alternative ending: Colonel Trautman ends up becoming Rambo’s killer (according to the original plot of the book). Test screenings were held, and it turned out that the audience did not like such an ending: the first of such screenings took place in Las Vegas. During the film, the audience liked what they saw on the screen, but at the end, when Rambo dies, the theater became incredibly quiet. And suddenly someone uttered the following phrase: “If there is a director in the hall, then I will fill his face!”.
8. “First Blood” is considered a bloody and violent film. But if you look at it, it turns out that there are only four victims: the deputy sheriff, who, through his own fault, fell out of the helicopter, and three policemen who exploded in the car when they were chasing Rambo. At the same time, in the original plot of the book, the veteran becomes the killer of at least ten people.