“First Blood” remains one of the best action movies ever made, partly because it has more depth than your standard actioner. It seems the original script had even more layers than the final film, too. According to star Sylvester Stallone, there was a scene where it’s revealed Brian Dennehy’s Sheriff William Teasle actually fought in the Korean War, which would have further motivated his clash with Vietnam vet John J. Rambo.
Long before the days of John Wick and Jack Reacher there was John J. Rambo. The former green beret started out 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 abroad. Born out of two harrowing true stories about war veterans, Rambo was nothing like the uber macho action figure he’d become as Stallone’s movie franchise took off. But he was quite similar to the very first big screen iteration of the character.
In 1982’s “First Blood,” director Ted Kotcheff recreated the mix of action and social commentary that had characterized Morrell’s book — though much of that was down to Stallone himself. William Sackheim and Michael Kozoll wrote the original script which was then heavily edited by Sly, who took out all the killing as a way of making the protagonist more likable. Indeed, John J. remains uncharacteristically restrained throughout his first movie. While the body count ballooned with subsequent films in the franchise, Rambo didn’t kill anyone intentionally in “First Blood,” despite the fact he’s almost overwhelmed by the Washington State Troopers, the local police force of Hope, Washington, and the National Guard. But there was one edit Sly didn’t make, which he wishes would have stayed in the film.
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The Sheriff in First Blood originally had a personal vendetta against Rambo
Sylvester Stallone’s John Rambo stands on a street talking to Brian Dennehy’s Sheriff William Teasle in First Blood – Orion Pictures
Rambo started out in a relatively peaceful way for a franchise known for bombastic action and outlandish kill counts. “First Blood” depicted an action hero with heart and a troubled soul, making the inaugural film all the more interesting and much better than the all-out chaos of the sequels (“First Blood” sits at the top of /Film’s ranking of the Rambo movies). Still, Sylvester Stallone feels one aspect of the original script could have made the film even better.
In an interview with GQ, the actor recalled how John J. Rambo was initially written as “a homicidal maniac with PTSD” — a man who was “unmanageable” and who dies in the film’s closing moments to atone for all the horror he’s unleashed upon the world. But Sly didn’t very much like that characterization. “This is not a very uplifting movie,” he told GQ. “[…] so I said, why don’t we give hope? That he tries to avoid fighting. He just wants to go away, let him go. And this sheriff, his ego is such that, I’m not gonna let this nobody get away. So it was all about this manifestation of false pride on the sheriff’s part.”
But originally, Sheriff Will Teasle had even more motivation to take down Rambo. As Sly went on to explain, “They cut one thing out of the screenplay, I thought was a big mistake. The reason he hated Rambo so much, [is] because he had fought in the Korean War, and no one even thinks of the 35,000 people that died in the Korean War, almost much as Vietnam.” It was his participation in this comparatively overlooked conflict that originally propelled the sheriff in his own personal war against Rambo.
Rambo could have been a battle of the war vets
Brian Dennehy’s Sheriff William Teasle talks on a two-way radio in First Blood – Orion Pictures
When Sylvester Stallone saw the first cut of “First Blood” he was convinced it would ruin his career. But the actor suggested changes that he felt would punch up the film, including cutting most of his dialogue. Today, his view of the movie is the exact opposite. As he told GQ, “I’ve considered it, like, the best action film I’ve ever done.” Still, it’s not perfect in the eyes of its 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. “The Vietnam was […] getting a lot of wrath and ridicule,” he recalled. “So both [Rambo and Sheriff Teasle] had these complexes, but the sheriff was gonna fight his own war, the Korean War against Rambo. And so it was a personal weird vendetta and I wish they had kept that in. It was kind of interesting.”
In the final film, Sheriff Teasle merely assumes Rambo is a drifter and decides to escort him out of Hope, Washington. After the Vietnam vet ventures back into town, Teasle arrests him and leaves him to be abused by his sadistic deputies. After Rambo escapes, Teasle initiates a manhunt, making the feud between Sly’s hero and the small town sheriff more about pride than anything else.
Retaining the Korean war element would have undoubtedly made the movie better and preserved even more of the social commentary from the novel. Still, it’s not as if removing that aspect hurt the movie, which kicked off one of the most legendary action franchises in film history.
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Read the original article on SlashFilm.