First Blood (novel)

nvm I was wrong

The novel was set in Appalachia (eastern Kentucky) and included a plot line where moonshiners up in the hills who were also at odds with the sheriff helped Rambo. Some of the other wilderness chase elements are different too.

The moral divide between the three main characters was a lot more blurry in the novel. In the novel Rambo is a broken toy who snaps and goes on a psychotic rampage whereas the sheriff is an older combat veteran who is flawed but more sympathetic than what is portrayed in the movie. It was more about a generational divide and people being forced into a system.

The novel was originally written in the early 70s and the film rights were a hot property, especially after the success of movies like Dirty Harry, Death Wish, etc. The movie rights were bought and sold by several different studios with lots of big name directors, writers and actors attached at some point during the long period of production hell.

Stallone finally jumped in and got the movie made. He re-wrote the script to make Rambo much more sympathetic and the people pursuing him a lot more villainous.

In both the novel and the original shooting script, Rambo dies at the end. They filmed two different versions of the ending but test audiences hated the version where Rambo died. The death ending is on Youtube.

Kirk Douglas was originally cast as Trautman but left during filming. Douglas maintained that he quit over creative differences because he was fighting for the movie to be more faithful to the source novel. Other people involved in filming claim he was fired for acting like a tyrant on the set and demanding that the entire movie be re-shaped into a Kirk Douglas vehicle when he didn't realize he was past his prime and Stallone was the star.

Yeah. trautman takes him out.

Sheriff was a Marine Corps vet of Chosin Reservoir

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The novel was originally written in the early 70s and the film rights were a hot property, especially after the success of movies like Dirty Harry, Death Wish, etc. The movie rights were bought and sold by several different studios with lots of big name directors, writers and actors attached at some point during the long period of production hell.

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it was owned at one point by steve mcqueen, but he could not get his partners in the First Artists production company, especially big libs Streisand and Paul Newman, to agree to make a film about a Vietnam vet. So he sold the rights

quote:

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Kirk Douglas was originally cast as Trautman but left during filming. Douglas maintained that he quit over creative differences because he was fighting for the movie to be more faithful to the source novel. Other people involved in filming claim he was fired for acting like a tyrant on the set and demanding that the entire movie be re-shaped into a Kirk Douglas vehicle

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Kirk claimed he quit b/c he was not allowed to kill Stallone

But KD was a notorious a-hole*, so anything is possible




*Old Hollywood saying: "There is a difference between Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas. Burt Lancaster would stab his best friend in the back. I'm not sure Kirk Douglas has ever had a friend."

I was a teen and didn't understand it like an adult back then, but the whole issue of returning Vietnam vets seemed a lot grittier and darker in the 70s with this book, Rolling Thunder, the aftermath of My Lai, etc.

The first movie softened it. Then Rambo sort of became a "superhero" in the sequels with very little connection to the original feel of the book.