John James Rambo: The Story of a Hero

In the nineties, among the schoolchildren, chewing gums with stickers-inserts, on which there were photos of famous cine characters, were very popular. Most of all, there were stickers with characters like John James Rambo and Terminator. They were collected, pasted on refrigerators, bicycles and lockers. And the happy owners of VCRs were watching movies with these heroes to the holes. However, if the Terminator was a contrived story, then Rambo had a real prototype.

John James Rambo: History of the creation of the novel and films

In 1972, a novel by David Morrell, entitled "The First Blood," was published. This book on the example of a hero of the Vietnamese war, John Rambo, talked about the problems of veterans. In particular, the complexity of their adaptation to a peaceful life after the horrors of war experienced, committed killings or captivity. In addition, in his work the author showed that if a person for a long time purposefully make a "car for killing", after it will be very difficult to change and adapt to peaceful existence. Unlike the Terminator, people do not have a toggle switch, capable of translating them from one mode to another.

The idea to write a novel about this topic came from Morrell during his studies in the United States. Being a Canadian himself, he knew little about the Vietnam War, but during his training personally began to encounter young guys suffering from post-traumatic syndrome. Realizing that this topic is quite relevant and burning, the writer decided to dedicate a whole book to her.

The real prototype of John Rambo

Despite the fact that the author of the novel "The First Blood" knew many veterans trying to adapt to normal life, John Jam Rambo - this is not a prefabricated image, he had a real prototype. They were, however, a veteran not of Vietnam, but of World War II named Odie Murphy. After returning home, this man for many years could not get used to a normal life. All this time he continued to keep his gun under his pillow. Sometimes he could start scorching with shyness if it seemed to him that someone was approaching him.

In the case of Murphy, his frustration did not lead to such tragic consequences. Morrell, in his novel, described a hypothetical situation that could occur in this veteran, and his most likely reaction to it.

Where did the name John James Rambo come from?

In the book "First Blood" the main character of the name did not exist at all. Only last name is Rambo. However, when ten years after the publication of the novel were going to be screened, the hero urgently needed a name. Then he was named John James (John James) in honor of the popular song of the times of the Civil War in the USA - "When Johnny is going to march home".

Surname, the hero received in honor of the French writer Arthur Rimbaud, who has a poem "One summer in hell." Morrell thought that this was a beautiful metaphor for the time spent by John in the Vietnamese captivity. Sometimes the writer told another version of the origin of the name Rambo. At the time of writing the book, the husband brought him a dish with fragrant apples that pleased Morrell. He asked his beloved what sort of a variety it was. It turned out - "Rambo". So the writer came up with a name for his character - John James Rambo.

The Rambo Family

Information about John's relatives in books and films slightly contradict each other. So, the picture mentions that the guy's father was an Indian. However, the book says that Rambo's mother was from the Navajo tribe, and his father is Italian. In childhood, the boy often spent time with his mother's relatives, from here he has the ability to shoot arrows, orientate and hunt in the jungle.

John's father often drank and in the state of intoxication battered his mother. Later, she died of cancer, and the young Rambo fled the house and began working in the garage, completely abandoning his studies at school. Admission to the army was for a guy just a ray of light in a dark kingdom.

The film "Rambo: The First Blood"

In preparation for the adaptation of the novel, Rambo's book image was changed. In addition, that the character has found a name, he became more self-contained. So, in the novel John James Rambo (a fictional character) communicates more with police officers, even lets jokes. In the film adaptation, he is gloomy and silent.

Also in the film, the protagonist is at times less bloodthirsty than in the book. Like a real soldier, John James Rambo in the book kills about fifteen people chasing him. Against the backdrop of the book prototype, the cinematic hero is almost a pacifist: only one of his enemies perishes from his hands in the movie - the sheriff who made the porridge.

In general, the plot is more or less identical: John travels and, passing through another city, attracts the attention of the sheriff. He is trying to force the hero to leave the outskirts of his village as soon as possible in order to avoid a variety of incidents. The hero of the war is offended by this attitude and he is returned to the city for evil sheriff, for which he is arrested and, after escorting him to the cell, is beaten. John Rambo happens to breakdown, he fights off his tormentors and escapes from the site.

After him begins hunting with the involvement of all means, including the National Guard. However, Rambo, being an experienced military man, not only perfectly survives in the forest, but also manages to keep the defense. In the end, he kills the bully-sheriff and surrenders to the authorities. The book has a slightly different ending - where John James Rambo dies.

The Rambo Knife

It is worth noting that the book completely lacks such a detail as a folding knife for survival, which so often serves as a hero.

The idea of using such a tool belongs to the main role in the film - Sylvester Stallone. As an avid collector of bladed weapons, he urged one of his best designers in the US, Jimmy Lyle, to design one copy specifically for the film. The basis was a cleaver-machete, but a whole set of hiking tools was mounted in the handle, which helped Rambo to escape. For the second and third films, the models of camping knives were also developed individually, which were supposed to help the hero survive in the jungle.

The film "Rambo: First Blood-2"

And this is the second film about a veteran of the Vietnam War named John Rambo. The Rambo series is a rather unusual story. If the first film was shot based on the book, then the second was the basis for writing the novel by Morrell.

According to the plot of the second picture, John is serving his fair punishment for misdemeanors in the first film. But then suddenly his former chief Trautman comes to him, whom the hero respects and appreciates. He offers Rambo to get freedom in a different way than years of work in a stone quarry. All that is required of him is to carry out one dangerous mission.

The fact is that John James Rambo once visited the Vietnamese captivity and was able to escape from there. Officially, the camp where he was kept is empty. But Americans are afraid that there and now they contain and torture captive soldiers. In the task Rambo comes to get to the camp, find out the state of things, report and go unnoticed. However, the landing of John does not go as planned, and the hero remains practically without any equipment. Rambo has to use only his faithful knife, bow and arrows, as well as survival skills derived from the Indians.

Thanks to the coherent Ko Bao, John enters the camp and finds there a lot of captured soldiers from the United States. Rambo is trying to save them, but because of the betrayal of one of the leaders of the operation himself is in captivity. After torture, the hero with the help of Ko Bao manages to escape and save his countrymen, but the girl dies. At the end of the film, John renounces a well-deserved medal and leaves the army.

The film "Rambo-3"

With the third film of the "Rambo" cycle, the situation is similar: a book is based on it. According to the plot, John has already lived in Thailand for a long time. Here he works at a Buddhist temple and himself becomes a Buddhist. However, his quick temper often makes itself felt. On a life the hero earns participation in paid street battles. At the same time, most of the earned money is donated to the temple.

Here it is found by his former commander Trautman, who became the second father for the hero. He asks John to take part in one military operation, but he no longer believes in the US Army and refuses.

Soon, John James Rambo learns that Trautman was captured, performing the task, and agrees to try to save him. Having penetrated the Afghan-Pakistani border into Afghanistan, the hero gets acquainted with the local resistance. With the help of a conductor, he gets to the base, where his friend is kept. After a series of skirmishes, Rambo manages to save Trautmann and other prisoners.

The film "Rambo-4"

The last of the films in this series tells the story of Rambo's life twelve years after the events of the third film. Now John is almost sixty, he calmed down, but never returned to his homeland. Its habitat is a suburb of Bangkok. Here he lives on the river bank and repairs boats and boats.

One day a small group of missionaries comes to him and asks him to accompany them to the place of residence of one eastern people, who suffers from military operations in the country. Missionaries want to help them with food and medicine. Reluctantly, John James Rambo agrees and assists the missionaries. A few days later he learns that the people he helped to get to the occupied village were taken hostage by the military. Joining with the soldiers of fortune, John rescues missionaries. One girl from their group, with whom John made friends, advises him to return to his homeland at last, what the hero does.

The influence of the image of John Rambo on politics and culture

Creating the image of John Rambo, David Morrell tried to raise problems, which the society of that time often just closed his eyes. However, his character from the troubled veteran soon turned into a lost war hero, ready at a difficult moment to come to the rescue. He became a symbol of the steadfastness and honor of a real soldier who does not betray or abandon his own.

That's how the hero changed the John Rambo genre thriller. The stories of a single hero rescuing someone came into fashion ("Die Hard", "Komando"). For example, John McClane of Die Hard compares himself to Rambo. From the light hand of the creators of the movie cycle, after its release into fashion, included universal marching knives, archery and other "gadgets" of the protagonist.

American President Ronald Reagan during the reign of his very often quoted films of the cycle "Rambo". Also, the term is associated with the hero, which appeared in jurisprudence. It is called the Rambo lawyer and denotes the unprofessional behavior of lawyers.

Very influenced by the audience, especially the young, the story of one hero. John Rambo became the ideal of masculinity and courage for the boys who wanted to be like him in everything. After the release of the film, many children began to play Rambo and imitate his habits. But the most important thing that all viewers and readers of this cycle have mastered is that from any situation one can find a way out, even if you are in the jungle without water and food, surrounded by enemies, and in your hands only a knife. Despite everything, one always needs to remain a worthy person.