Rambo (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Rambo |
| Original title | First Blood |
 | |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1982 |
| length | 93 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Ted Kotcheff |
| script |
Michael Kozoll , William Sackheim , Sylvester Stallone |
| production |
Buzz Feitshans , Mario Kassar , Andrew G. Vajna , Herb Nanas |
| music | Jerry Goldsmith |
| camera | Andrew Laszlo |
| cut | Joan E. Chapman |
| occupation | |
| |
| chronology | |
|
Successor → |
|
Rambo (Original title: First Blood ) or Rambo I is an American action film by director Ted Kotcheff from 1982 and a literary film adaptation of the novel First Blood (1972) by David Morrell with Sylvester Stallone in the lead role. The film marks the beginning of the pentalogy around John J. ( James ) Rambo. Characteristic of the series is the concept of vigilante justice - or one-man Army -Actionfilms. The film was shown in German cinemas from January 6, 1983.
action
The taciturn Vietnam War veteran John Rambo visits the last survivor of his former elite unit of the Green Berets , but learns that he has already died of cancer. He moves on and wants to get something to eat in the small town of Hope. However, when he passes the city limits, the local sheriff Will Teasle expelled him because of his shabby appearance. Rambo initially lets Teasle drive him out of town, but then turns back on foot and disregards the expulsion from the town. Teasle then arrests him as a tramp.
In the county jail, Rambo is physically abused and humiliated by the deputies . When cornered, the ex-Green Beret awakens traumatic memories of his time as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. He forcibly frees himself from his imprisonment and takes flight into the mountains. When the officers use firearms , the struggle for survival begins for John Rambo. When a deputy defies Teasle's instructions and shoots the fugitive from a helicopter, Rambo throws a stone at the helicopter in self-defense , causing the deputy to lose his balance and fall to his death. The other policemen consider Rambo to be their colleague's murderer and refuse his offer to end the matter: when Rambo asserts with raised arms that he has done no harm and does not want anyone to be harmed anymore, the policemen open fire, and Rambo continues to flee.
Driven by vindictiveness, the sheriff uses every means at his disposal. But the police hardly stand a chance against the war hero and elite fighter Rambo. Using guerrilla tactics, he incapacitates his pursuers one after the other and finally traps the sheriff. Rambo thus demonstrates the ease with which he could have killed his opponents and asks Teasle one last time to break off the chase. In the meantime, however, the matter has degenerated into a media spectacle. The State Police and National Guard are mobilized to capture Rambo. The Pentagon sends meanwhile Rambo's former instructor and commander, Colonel Trautman, to Hope, the thing to solve peacefully. He provokes Teasle when he tells him that he wants to protect the police from Rambo, not the other way around. At night, Rambo and Trautman talk to each other over a radio that Rambo took from one of the police officers. Rambo refuses to surrender and tells Trautman that the police "shed the first blood".
By talking on the radio, the police can locate Rambo and track him down the next day. When the National Guard surrounds Rambo in a mine, the soldiers blow up the entrance and are certain that they have killed their opponent. The police, the national guard and the army cortege begin to withdraw. But Rambo survived and managed to return to the surface through another exit. Instead of fleeing undetected, he now wants to settle accounts with Teasle. He kidnaps a military vehicle laden with weapons and now begins a campaign of revenge against the sheriff. He heads for the city and leaves a trail of devastation on the way to the police station. Rambo uses this chaos to sneak up on the sheriff unnoticed and seriously injure him. Trautman arrives just in time to prevent Rambo from killing Teasle. Rambo bursts into tears after a nervous breakdown . In a monologue, Rambo describes how after the war he was unable to find his way in the society that gave him no more chance. He describes how Trautman still suffers from the terrible events of the war. Eventually he gives up and is taken away by the police while Teasle is taken to the hospital.
synchronization
The German dubbing was done on behalf of Rainer Brandt Filmproduktion GmbH; Ronald Nitschke was responsible for the dialogue direction and the German dialogue book.
| role | actor | speaker |
|---|---|---|
| John J. Rambo | Sylvester Stallone | Thomas Danneberg |
| Col. Samuel Trautman | Richard Crenna | Friedrich W. Building School |
| Sheriff Will Teasle | Brian Dennehy | Heinz Theo branding |
| Cpt. Dave Kern | Bill McKinney | Manfred Grote |
| Deputy Sergeant Arthur Galt | Jack Starrett | Jochen Schröder |
| Deputy Balford | Michael Talbott | Uwe Paulsen |
| Deputy Ward | Chris Mulkey | Manfred Lehmann |
| Deputy Lester | Alf Humphreys | Hans Nitschke |
| Deputy Mitch | David Caruso | Ronald Nitschke |
| Shingleton | David Crowley | Joachim Pukass |
| Preston | Don MacKay | Manfred Grote |
Emergence
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Ted Kotcheff first worked in 1976 with the authors Michael Kozoll and William Sackheim on the film adaptation of the 1972 David Morrell novel First Blood . However, Warner Bros. believed that American audiences weren't ready for a film about the Vietnam War, which only ended in 1975.
A few years later, Kotcheff made Sylvester Stallone an offer to play the leading role. Allegedly Clint Eastwood , Burt Reynolds , John Travolta and Terence Hill had previously been considered for the role. The offer to Stallone was viewed with skepticism in Hollywood . At this point in his career, Stallone's films - aside from the two Rocky films - were all flops and not widely considered to be a broad actor. On the condition that he could revise the script with Ted Kotcheff, he said yes. Stallone's proposals were praised by Kotcheff, but removed the story from the novel. So it was Stallone's idea to let Rambo fight largely without weapons and instead concentrate on the skills he had learned in Vietnam. Furthermore, Rambo's lack of words is also due to Stallone. And while the character of John Rambo in the novel was still conceived as an ice-cold "killing machine", Stallone put it in his script as a mentally broken ex-soldier who, after serving in the army, has difficulties finding his way in civil life and in the fighting of the film despite him military training emphasizes defensive behavior: In the course of Rambo only one of his opponents dies, and this is more likely through his own fault. Rambo is more of a victim than a perpetrator.
Kirk Douglas was originally intended to play the role of Rambo's mentor, Colonel Trautman . However, he quit shortly before shooting began because the producers did not accept his script changes and was replaced by Richard Crenna .
production
The action takes place in the fictional city of Hope in Washington and the surrounding area. The filming locations were in Canada in Hope (British Columbia), in Golden Ears Provincial Park , in Coquihalla Canyon Provincial Park and in other parts of Canada (location scenes). Filming began in Hope, Canada in 1981 on a budget of $ 14 million. Stallone prepared for his role with survival and hand-to-hand combat training, among other things. He did many of his own stunts , breaking four ribs and getting burned his right hand.
Alternative endings
The injured John Rambo is shot dead by Col. Trautman in the novel. Kirk Douglas, originally slated for the role of Trautman, canceled his participation in the film when he learned that the film was going to end differently. He thought it would be more dramatic when Trautman realizes what an amoral, dangerous " Frankenstein monster " he has created and therefore kills Rambo. Stallone, on the other hand, campaigned for a different ending, since the film version does not portray Rambo as brutally murderous, but as torn and the viewers would not accept his violent death. In a first filmed version, John Rambo finally commits suicide in the presence of Trautman; however, this version was discarded after the test audience reacted very poorly to it. At Stallone's insistence, the producers approved an alternate ending, and the film received the familiar ending in which Rambo survived for regular release on October 22, 1982.
Audience success and reviews
With a worldwide box office of 125 million US dollars, Rambo is one of the most profitable films of its time. It has also received critical acclaim. From the Filmbewertungsstelle Wiesbaden (FBW) he received the award Particularly valuable , which sparked a lot of controversy. The film catapulted Sylvester Stallone back to the top of the star ranks.
“Perfectly staged, tough and exciting action film with some interesting approaches to coming to terms with the American past. The great success of the film made leading actor Stallone a mass idol. Several serial films followed, in which 'Rambo' degenerated into a comic figure as a brutal law-and-order man. "
"The classic of the law of the thumb set standards, generated a catchphrase and by 2007 resulted in three rather gross motoric sequels."
“If it weren't for the perfidious ending (in which, of all things, the anti-war protesters are blamed for Rambo's collapse), 'First Blood' could be a great film. Especially in the night scenes, which are characterized by paranoia and murderous fear (on both sides), the Canadian Ted Kotcheff shows himself to be a brilliant director. "
“So it is up to the viewer whether he wants to interpret the film, which is excellently designed in terms of direction, type-appropriate cast, equipment and milieu, but above all in the title character, as an action spectacle that only puts on a cloak of significance, or whether he is the Film takes seriously the psychological interpretation emphasized by memory images and a final monologue that a person can be experienced here who has been damaged by war. "
reception
Rambo can be described as a classic and a pioneer of the action genre, which not only resulted in four sequels, but also numerous plagiarisms. In addition, it contains a clear criticism of the political and social situation in the USA in connection with the Vietnam War:
- The sheriff himself is breaking the law by trying to "keep his district clean".
- John Rambo operated heavy equipment provided by his own country during the war and was therefore responsible for material of a very high value. After his return, however, he could no longer get a job in that very country. In Vietnam he was forced to kill people, on his homecoming there was a demonstration against the army and he was automatically punished with contempt. As a result of a series of fateful events, he was forced to use his fighting techniques, which he had trained as a lone fighter, against his own fellow men.
- Rambo ends up having a mental breakdown . He takes a view that is similar to the German " stab in the back legend " after the First World War . According to this, forces in the USA had betrayed their own troops and thereby nullified a victory ("I only did everything to win, but someone wouldn't let us win"). A similar view is held by right-wing American media, particularly Regnery Publishing , which saw the guilty among the ranks of left-wing opponents of the war. Rambo describes the war opponents as "maggots". In this respect, the soldiers deployed in the Vietnam War are heroized in the film, and the question of whether the American invasion of Vietnam is justified is not even asked.
- However, his disappointment that, after risking his life, is called a murderer at home by opponents of the war, is the real reason for the collapse.
Through the film character, the name Rambo became a synonym for a brutal , raw and insensitive personality type who uses violence to enforce his goals. The word was even included in the Duden , according to which it colloquially describes a "brutal male guy" and "muscle man".
In fact, the figure in the first film and in the book is even more differentiated than the image that has found its way into popular parlance and was presented in the sequels.
Scenes from the film were used in the 2007 British film The Son of Rambow , in which two children are animated by Rambo to make their own film.
Origin of the name Rambo
The name of John Rambo is based on the novel First Blood by David Morrell (1972). There are several explanations about the origin of the name Rambo in this context:
- David Morrell himself stated that the name came from a Rambo apple (a variety of apples common in the USA) that his wife brought home when he was looking for a suitable name for its protagonist.
- as a corruption of (Arthur) Rimbaud , a French poet with a rebellious reputation. Pronounced with an American accent, Rimbaud sounds like Rambo . This explanation, together with a reference to a variety of apples called Rambo , is what the author mentions in the commentary on the US DVD of the first Rambo film.
Sequels
The film was followed by four sequels. 1985 staged George P. Cosmatos with Rambo II - The order of the second part of the series. The script is u. a. by director James Cameron and starring Sylvester Stallone. Rambo III followed three years later . Here, too, Stallone worked on the script.
In 2008 John Rambo was released , directed and produced by Sylvester Stallone. Since Rambo dies in the novel at the end of the book, Morrell then wrote the sequels based on the first film, not his own book.
In early December 2015 it was announced that a television series entitled Rambo: New Blood was being developed. The focus of the plot would be Rambo and his son JR.
The fifth part, Rambo: Last Blood , was released in September 2019. The film, which was produced for around 50 million dollars, recouped its costs within 11 days. Morrell distanced himself from the film.
In the run-up to the start of Rambo V, Stallone promised that a sixth part would not be ruled out, provided that the fifth part should be a success.
literature
- David Morrell: Rambo. 3 novels in one volume. The three bestsellers by David Morrell for the films with Sylvester Stallone . 4th edition. Heyne, Munich 1992, ISBN 3-453-03789-8 .
- David Morrell: Rambo . 10th edition. Heyne, 1987, ISBN 3-453-02023-5 .
- David Morrell: First Blood . Warner Books, 2000, ISBN 0-446-36440-1 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Release certificate for Rambo . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , December 2012 (PDF; test number: 53 607 V).
- ↑ Rambo in the German synchronous file
- ↑ Background article Full of Role: Hollywood's Casting Carousel. Cinema , issue 02/11, p. 80.
- ↑ n-tv : The Nobody with the bright blue eyes. Terence Hill - exclusive and impressive. April 11, 2012, accessed October 3, 2016.
- ↑ Wikia - Action Movies Wiki: Rambo First Blood.Retrieved August 1, 2010.
- ↑ Deborah Cartmell: A Companion to Literature, Film and Adaptation. Wiley & Sons, 2012, p. 333
- ↑ a b FBW report from 1983. Filmbewertungsstelle Wiesbaden, 1983, archived from the original on November 28, 2007 ; Retrieved January 29, 2009 .
- ↑ Rambo. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ Rambo. In: TV feature film. Retrieved January 29, 2009 .
- ↑ Hans-Christoph Blumenberg: Bizarre . In: The time . No. 2/1983 , January 7, 1983, p. 36 ( ZEIT ONLINE [accessed April 26, 2009]).
- ^ "Support the Troops": Populist Militarism and the Cultural Reproduction of Imperial Power by Mark Rupert, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs / Treatise on the stab-in-the-back lie and the Vietnam War
- ↑ Jerry Lembcke: The Spitting Image: Myth, Memory, and the Legacy of Vietnam. Paperback. 2000, ISBN 978-0-8147-5147-3 .
- ↑ https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Rambo
- ↑ David Morrell. (No longer available online.) In: Where did you come up with the name Rambo? Archived from the original on December 31, 2008 ; Retrieved June 23, 2010 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ deadline.com, accessed December 2, 2015
- ↑ Rambo: Last Blood. September 25, 2019, accessed September 25, 2019 .
- ↑ Rambo 6: Stallone has a call for another sequel. June 21, 2019, accessed August 17, 2019 .
Web links
- Rambo in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Rambo at rotten tomatoes (English)
- Rambo at Metacritic (English)
- Rambo in the online film database
- Rambo in the German dubbing file
- Rambo on Filmmusikwelt.de
- Roger Ebert Review (Engl.)
- Comparison of the cut versions FSK 16 Marketing - UK version , FSK 16 VHS Marketing new edition - FSK 16 DVD by Rambo - First Blood at Schnittberichte.com