Category: First Blood

Ted Kotcheff: Rambo’s Alternate Ending

Craig / / 2012, First Blood


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

Curtis Emde’s “Bridge to Hope”

Craig / / 2012, First Blood, Sly Fan

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

Craig / / 2012, Celebs, First Blood, Rambo, Rambo 2, Rambo 3

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!


Top 10 Macho Movies of the 80’s

Craig / / 2012, First Blood, Honors, Rocky 4

Krystal Clark over at Screen Cave posted her choices for The Top 10 Macho Movies that Ruled the 80’s.  Both Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sly scored two movies in the top ten, but guess who came in at #1.  Yep, Sly for First Blood.  Here’s the list with the rationale for Sly’s films.

10.   Road House
09.   American Ninja
08.   Rocky IV:  “I must break you.” It’s been 26 years since Rocky IV’s release and those words still send chills down our spine. The movie isn’t a masterpiece but what it lacks in sensible dialogue it makes up for in spirit. It was Rocky Balboa versus Ivan Drago. It was the U.S. versus The Soviet Union. It was blonds versus brunettes. You get the picture. 
07.  Missing in Action
06.  Predator
05.  Escape from New York
04.  Die Hard
03.  Blood Sport
02.  Commando
01.  First Blood: John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) is the ultimate ‘80s action hero. He’s a loner. He’s quiet. And he happens to be an expert in guerrilla warfare. After being tormented by a corrupt sheriff, Rambo taps into his survival training to fight back. As one man, he takes on 200 police officers and still manages to come out on top. How? Because he oozes machismo! If you send in 200 men against Rambo, don’t forget one thing – “a good supply of body bags.”