Category: First Blood

First Blood Celebration

Craig / / 2007, First Blood, Honors

Hey SZoners, This came in and I thought many of you would be interested…

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Greetings from Hope, British Columbia, Canada … birthplace of John Rambo as a world renowned film screen character!


“First Blood” was filmed in our community in 1981 and the film was released into theatres in 1982 – so 2007 marks the 25th anniversary of the film and we are celebrating that October 5th to 8th, 2007 with a variety of activities … do you think your website readers would like to know more about the special film screening, the souvenirs that will be available, the film location tours, the Rambo look-alike contest, the First Blood art contest & more!?

They can email me at destinationhope@telus.net and I will fill them in on the details….

Inge Wilson

Destination Hope & Beyond Services

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Hard to believe it’s been 25 years! – Craig

First Blood 2nd Best

Craig / / 2007, First Blood, Honors

The June 24, 2007 issue of The Calgary Sun has an article by Kevin Williamson who lists his choices for the Top Ten Action Films of the 80’s. First Blood comes in second and here’s what he has to say:

2. FIRST BLOOD (1982): Sylvester Stallone’s brutish, brooding alter-ego is now indefensible as anything but a churlish Reagan-era joke. But this inaugural outing, in which the psychologically scarred Vietnam vet John Rambo runs afoul of a hick police force, is, in retrospect, remarkable for its comparative restraint.

Click HERE for the full article. – Craig

Gerardo Moreno’s Rocky and Rambo DVD Packages!

Craig / / 2006, First Blood, Rambo 2, Rambo 3, Rocky, Rocky 2, Rocky 3, Rocky 4, Rocky 5, Sly Fan

Gerardo Moreno checked in to the SZ with pics of his design work for a Rocky and Rambo dvd packages sold
overseas.

If you’d like to see more of Gerardo’s work; he specializes in illustrations [traditional and digital], graphic design,  as well as sculpture and photography; then check out his website and tell him I sent you! – Craig

Rambo Action Figures

Craig / / 2005, First Blood, Rambo

My buddy, Randy Martin [who has the coolest art collection] gave me a heads-up on a couple of new Rambo action figures that would soon be available.

The first is actually Colonel Troutman from First Blood and the second is John Rambo. Although a bit pricey,
they would look cool in any Stallone fan’s collection.

You can see more about the figures HERE and HERE.

Mark Dambach just wrote in to say that they are now available for pre-order. Mark went HERE and Randy
said that he uses THIS PLACE.

– Craig

POW – “First Blood” Rare Behind-the-Scenes

Craig / / 2005, First Blood, POW [Picture of the Week]

Our extremely rare POW [Picture of the Week] of Sly on location for filming of First Blood comes to us from the collection of Oliver Wegner who lives in Germany.

Some of you long time SZoners may remember Oliver was the webmaster of “The Sly World“, which unfortunately has been down for some years now.

Oliver is a huge “First Blood” fan and got this picture from a shop owner in Hope, British Columbia who took it when Sly was there filming First Bood.

Oliver is back with a very, very cool new website dedicated to First Blood called Rambotown. Check it out!

Thanks Oliver! – Craig

Sly in Entertainment Weekly

Craig / / 2003, Celebs, First Blood

The current double issue( April 30, 2004 # 762/763 ) Entertainment Weekly ‘ Summer Movie issue contains a couple of Sly items. Jazz sent in two pics and some excerpts…

THE BOYS WHO BURNED A BILLION DOLLARS, How two wild and crazy guys seduced stars for their fledgling studio, spent oodles of cash, and blew up a lot of stuff. Including their own white-hot careers. By DANIEL FIERMAN

“They promised him the film would shoot for three months, and it ended up [ delaying ] Rocky 3. He was really pissed off. One day, right in the middle of this small town in Canada, Sylvester started ranting and raving and swearing a blue streak, ” says Kotcheff.

Vajna was the one who saw something in the First Blood script, and they both agreed Sylvester Stallone, an actor fresh off Nighthawks, should star.
In 1985, the First Blood sequel turned into a money-spouting geyser: Rambo grossed $ 150 million–and yielded Rambo bedsheets, Rambo action figures, even, frighteningly, a Rambo Saturday morning cartoon.

” Sly was at the pool [ of the Hotel du Cap ] wit all these topless sunbathers surrounding him, and I pitch him the story and he says, ‘ I love it! I’m on board.’ And Mario said, ‘ Good ! Because I already ordered fireworks with the name of the movie on it.’ ” Later that evening, the title of de Souza’s film, Isobar, lit up the night sky.

– Craig