Trimming down a substantial portion of a movie in order to make it fit for a theatre release has often backfired for studios, with one major example being Zack Snyder’s Justice League. But it seems one of the most influential action movies is the biggest anomaly to this practice.
After rising to prominence through Rocky, Sylvester Stallone cemented himself as one of the biggest Hollywood names of the 80s, thanks to the success of 1982’s First Blood. Although the later sequels failed to replicate the success of the original, if Stallone didn’t step in during the production of the first one, there might not have been a Rambo franchise to discuss.
Sylvester Stallone Saved First Blood by Trimming It Down to Half
Surprisingly the original cut for First Blood was almost 3-hours long, contrary to the 93 minutes version that saw the light of day. But it appears, fans are fortunate to witness the shorter cut of the movie, which Stallone intended as opposing to the longer version that the actor hated. Recounting the production of First Blood, Sylvester Stallone expressed the first cut of the movie was unwatchable, claiming it’d have killed his career.
And in fear of witnessing his career falling apart, the Rambo Star demanded some substantial changes, the prominent one being the removal of his dialogues, which he absolutely despised. Stallone recalled,
“I was pontificating throughout the thing. For example, I shoot an owl, and then the owl drops, I go, ‘Take that, you mouse-munching motherf*cker… I said, ‘Here’s a good idea: Cut out all my dialogue. Every line. And have other people talk about you—which by the way is not a bad way to live in general. Other people fill in the blanks. Like the Greek chorus, you know, and I think that works really well.”
This resulted in the revamped version clocking at almost half the run-time of the first cut, and all cheap pop-culture references were removed in favor of delving more into Rambo’s PTSD.
The Wasted Potential of the Rambo Franchise
Even though the first entry in the Rambo franchise is considered one of the greatest action movies ever made, the franchise as a whole failed to reach the heights it should have. Unlike Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky, which keeps on ascending to new heights with each new entry, the Rambo IP kept sinking low with every new release, with 2019’s Rambo: Last Blood failing to earn decent scores among critics.
Underneath the heavy gunfire, First Blood told the tragic story of an American War Hero’s pain and torment, who is dealing with PTSD, making it more than just yet another loud soulless action flick. But the later entries in the franchise did nothing but plummeted the first one’s legacy, eventually diluting the IP in the process.