Rambo

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This article is about The Sylvester Stallone character and films. For other uses, see Rambo (disambiguation).

Rambo is a saga of popular action films starring Sylvester Stallone, based on the characters created by David Morrell in his novel First Blood. The films are: First Blood (1982), Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), and Rambo III (1988). A fourth film, titled Rambo IV: Pearl of The Cobra, is expected in 2007. The films focus on a troubled Vietnam War veteran, John J. Rambo, who is greatly skilled in all aspects of survival and guerilla warfare.

In popular culture, the name has become an eponym for a tactic of mindless aggression or, alternatively - a heroic, robust person.[citation needed]

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Contents

[edit] Character

The fictional character of John Jay Rambo was born on July 6, 1947 in Phoenix, Arizona of Native-American/German descents. After high school, he joined the United States Army on July 1966. Rambo was deployed to South Vietnam in September 1966. He returned to the U.S. in 1967 and began training in the Special Forces at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. In late 1969, Rambo was re-deployed to Vietnam. In November 1971, Rambo was captured by North Vietnamese forces near the Chinese-Vietnamese border. At the POW camp, Rambo was tortured along with other American POWs. Rambo escaped captivity in May 1972, but was then re-deployed. Rambo was discharged on September 17, 1974. In his return to the U.S., Rambo discovered that many civilians hated returning soldiers from Vietnam.

About eight years later, Rambo has difficulty adjusting to civilian life (presumably after losing his job managing motor vehicles) and wanders the country as a drifter. From this point on, he would go through a day that changed his life perhaps more than Vietnam did.

Rambo finds out that a fellow member of his unit died from cancer due to Agent Orange exposure. Shortly after finding out about the loss of his friend, Rambo runs afoul of Will Teasle, the sheriff of a small Washington State mountain resort town called Hope. Teasle arrests Rambo for vagrancy and resisting arrest, and brings him back to the station, where he is beaten by police officers. During the beatings, Rambo has flashbacks to his time as a prisoner of war. Rambo assaults the officers and escapes from the police and heads into the mountains on a stolen motorcycle.

A small band of deputies venture into the woods to capture Rambo. After Rambo incapacitates the deputies using guerrilla war tactics, Teasle calls in the National Guard. Rambo's former commanding officer, Colonel Sam Trautman warns the searchers that it will be dangerous to capture Rambo, due to his combat training and experience.

When the National Guard unit finds Rambo holed up in a mine entrance, they fire a shoulder-launched M72 LAW (rocket-propelled grenade) at him. Unbeknownst to his pursuers, Rambo survives the explosion and cave-in. He crawls through tunnels in the mine and finds an exit near a main road. Rambo steals an M60 machine gun from the National Guardsmen and returns to Hope, where he destroys a gas station, telephone junction boxes, power lines, and a local store.

Rambo finds Teasle on the roof of the police station. As Rambo moves towards Teasle to kill him, Colonel Trautman tells him that his mini-war is over. Rambo breaks down sobbing and Trautman convinces Rambo to turn himself in.

[edit] Films

[edit] Animated series

[edit] Video games

[edit] Controversy

The Rambo movies are often criticized for being mindless violent pictures. The tone of the first film is also different from the other two pictures which are in comparison more violent. Rambo II and Rambo III are the most frequent targets for criticism. According to the Guinness Book of Records, Rambo III even broke a record as the most violent film ever made with 221 acts of violence and over 108 deaths.

On August 19, 1987 things turned out for the worse when the English village Hungerford fell victim to a man who was allegedly inspired by the film Rambo (although it was later determined that he had never seen the film) and starting shooting in the street. 16 people were killed and an even greater number were wounded. After this violent act, the man committed suicide. (See Hungerford massacre) Many people used this incident as evidence that movies, including the Rambo series, have a violent impact on people.

[edit] Additional information

  • The Japanese title of First Blood is Rambo (ランボー). 'Ranbou' in Japanese, incidentally, means 'violent/rough'.
  • There is an actual family of Swedish origin that bears the name Rambo. The name was taken by Peter Gunnarsson (1612-1698) and comes from Ramberget (87 m), located on Hisingen, in northwestern Gothenburg. Some of them have had a military career.
  • Peter Gunnarsson Rambo brought apple seeds to America with him from Sweden. The Rambo Apple is still grown in several of the northeastern states in USA.
  • The name 'John Rambo' (according to the author David Morrell) came from the author Jean Arthur Rimbaud (sometimes pronounced 'Rambo') and the Rambo Apple.
  • The bow used in Rambo II is based on the Ram model by Hoyt, later marketed as the Rambo. Coincidentally, Hoyt's logo is an apple.
  • There was another character named Rambo, who was played by Tomas Milian in Italian crime movie Il Giustiziere sfida la città, several years before First Blood was made. Milian had actually read the First Blood novel and thought the name sounded appropriate for an action hero. The two characters are actually completely unrelated. The film was later released in the American video market as Rambo's Revenge.

[edit] Significant pop culture references

  • In Gremlins 2, Gizmo watches the scene in Rambo: First Blood Part II where Rambo uses a bow with explosive-tipped arrows, and later dresses up like Rambo, complete with bow and arrow. This is perhaps an in-joke reference to the fact that Gremlins 2 was scored by Rambo composer Jerry Goldsmith.
  • In the action comedy movie Hot Shots! Part Deux, Charlie Sheen's character is a parody of Rambo. (The plot structure of the entire film echoes that of Rambo III and Richard Crenna, who played Colonel Trautman in all three Rambo films, plays a parody of his own role as well.)
  • In the computer game Soldat, the "Rambo mode" gametype gives the first player to get a kill a bow and arrow capable of killing in one hit. Other players become the "Rambo" when they kill the current "Rambo". Players are only rewarded for fragging the Rambo.
  • The album Night of the Living Drag Queens by punk band Frankenstein Drag Queens From Planet 13 features a song called simply 'Rambo', which begins and ends with samples from various Rambo films, and directly references the plot of (mainly) the first movie, observing of the Sheriff's "When they fucked with Rambo, they fucked up". This song is consistent with the FDQ's constant lyrical references to often lurid horror and action films.
  • During the 1989 coup d' etat in the Philippines, members of the "Reform the Armed Forces Movement", led by Gringo Honasan, were called RAMBoys.[citation needed]
  • The Dead Kennedy's featured the song "Rambozo The Clown" on their 1986 album Bedtime For Democracy.
  • The Warhammer 40K miniatures battle game features a faction of the Imperial guard, the Catachans, who are modeled after Rambo (and other Vietnam-era soldiers), even to the extent of sporting red headbands.
  • Stallone's Character Ray Tango, in the movie Tango & Cash, refered to rambo as a "pussy".

[edit] Music

The original scores for all three films were composed and conducted by Jerry Goldsmith. The music from the second film was performed by the National Philharmonic Orchestra and the music from the third by the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra. Goldsmith's main theme for Rambo was the basis for the end title song "It's A Long Road," performed by Dan Hill, part of the "First Blood" soundtrack.

The music for the first film is harsher and more dissonant than that for the sequels, as is keeping with the tone of the film. As such, it bears more of a resemblance to Goldsmith's output of the 60s and 70s than it does most of his work in the 80s. The first film's score does use electronics but is primarily orchestral while the sequel scores incorporate heavier use of electronics. The second film's score is the most popular, being that it is the most exciting. The music in the third film is an extension of the style used in the second, but with a few new themes. Both sequels feature new themes for Rambo that are based on elements found in the original "It's a Long Road" theme, which is also heard in its original form in each film as well.

  • Jerry Goldsmith on Rambo (listen)

[edit] External links

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