Category: First Blood
Want to Own a Piece of the “Rambo Bridge”?
Recently, SZoner, Reegs aka Raven sent in the following:
- Hi Craig
- I was wondering if you could help me at all? As you may have read in my Junk In Your Pockets thread, was that I was awarded along with a few others, a sculpt made from parts of the Rambo bridge. It was a huge surprise to get it, and it for me was just about the ultimate collectors item for the movie apart from Sly’s screen used costume or knife. Although I was honored and ecstatic with the gift, I knew right away what I had to do with it, so as I was at the mike accepting it, I gave it back, asking that it went to Camp Skylark, which is a local Hope charity sponsored by the Fraser canyon Hospice, which is a summer camp for children who have lost a parent through death.
- It is now in Inge Wilson’s (Hope visitor center) safe keeping, and will be auctioned off very shortly, with that in mind pal, would you be able to maybe make an announcement about this on your front page on this site? Any help would be very much appreciated buddy, the more people know about the auction, hopefully the more money can be raised for this worthy charity.
Happy to help. It was great of you to donate your piece. Hopefully a true fan will end up with it! – Craig
Coverage of the Hope, First Blood Anniversary Celebration
I recently received the following e-mail from SZoner, Curtis. Curtis was at the recent celebration of the 30th anniversary of the filming of First Blood. Here’s what Curtis had to say…
- Hello Craig,
- How’s everything? As you probably already know from other S-Zoners who were there, the First Blood event in Hope took place over the (Canadian) Thanksgiving weekend at the beginning of October. At the 25th anniversary, I was the only one taking video…this time, the organizers were making their own documentary, there was a team of professional documentary makers from Seattle (I think) up to record the events, and Herve from France was doing plenty of filming too (with some very impressive gear). I felt a bit embarrassed with my puny little camera!
- My wife Silmara is originally from Brazil, so a Brazilian entertainment website, Omelete, commissioned some photos, video and an article about the anniversary from us. The article is in Portuguese, but you’ll be able to enjoy the video – just three minutes of highlights from the weekend.You can check it out here.
- Feel free to post the link on your site if you think it’ll be of interest to other Stallone/Rambo fans.It was a good weekend – the weather was lovely – in fact, Hope was the warmest place in Canada that weekend! – but some hardcore fans were disappointed the town wasn’t as dark and gloomy as it was in the movie. However, the following week, they’ll be pleased to know, was indeed cold and rainy – the landscape became, as Stallone describes it in his First Blood DVD commentary, “melancholy,” allowing Rambo-esque feelings of being lethal to come through.
- That’s all for now – thanks and enjoy your Sunday,
- – Curtis
Thanks for the update, Curtis. The video was well done. Eagle-eyed SZoners will spot SZoner, Raven in the video! – Craig
Ted Kotcheff: Rambo’s Alternate Ending
On October 15, 2012, Complex Pop Culture posted an interview with Ted Kotcheff, director of First Blood. Here’s a tidbit:
- We shot the suicide ending, and then Sylvester came up to me and said, “God, what we’ve done to this character, he jumps off cliffs, he’s chased by dogs, he’s shot and he has to sew up his own arm. After all of that, we’re gonna kill him?” One thing about Sly, he always had a popular sense of what audiences wanted to see. I said, “We’ve always conceived of it this way.” He says, “Do you want to come back here three months from now when the distributor asks for a happy ending?” I said no. [Laughs.]
– Craig
Behind the Scenes of “First Blood”
On October 6, 2012, The Province posted Sylvester Stallone’s Movie First Blood a Huge Deal for Town of Hope that talked about the filming and had six photos and a link to Secrets Behind the Scenes of Sylvester Stallone’s First Blood. – Craig
Sly’s Top Ten Best Movies
On August 10, 2012, IGN posted their choices for Sly’s Top 10 Best Movies. Click on the link and let the debate begin. – Craig
Curtis Emde’s “Bridge to Hope”
Several years ago SZoner, Curtis Emde sent me a short video that he made about his trip to Hope, British Columbia. Curtis is a huge Rambo/Stallone fan and the video was a thank you for posting the information about a 25th Anniversary Celebration of First Blood that was being held in Hope.
Recently Curtis returned to Hope, along with Rambo/Stallone fans from around the world, to celebrate the last days of the “Rambo Bridge.” Curtis brought along his video camera and has pulled together a very well made fan film called The Bridge to Hope and you can see it here for free. Well done, Curtis!
David Morrell and Rambo
One of the best things about creating and running the StalloneZone is the people I “meet” because of it. This week I received an e-mail from one of my all-time favorite authors, David Morrell. Mr. Morrell is probably best known to fans here for creating Rambo in his novel First Blood. [Mr. Morrell has written over 30 books in a wide range of genres and all are excellent.]
Mr. Morrell wants Stallone fans to know that his newly designed website has a Rambo page and that he recently finished up revisions of his novelizations of Rambo, First Blood Part II and Rambo III [both of which will contain lengthy introductions].
Check out Mr. Morrell’s site and if your interested in some of his other novels, pick any of them because you can not go wrong!
Edinho Maga: Sly from First Blood
Earlier this week I received an e-mail from SZoner, Edinho Maga, who wanted to share his latest sculpture with us. It’s a life-size bust of Sly from First Blood. Like all of Edhino’s art, it’s too cool.
Lance Sawyer Draws First Blood
Lance Sawyer makes his second appearance at the StalloneZone, this time with his riff on Sly as John Rambo from “First Blood.” I’ve been a fan of Lance’s art for a while. Recently I had a chance to purchase a few sketches from him and I could not be happier in how they turned out!
If you’d like to see more of Lance’s art, you can right here.