While First Blood might be surprisingly realistic in its depiction of an army veteran’s struggle against a corrupt police force, the later Rambo movies prove this didn’t last long. The Rambo franchise might have one of the strangest, most ironic, and most regrettable trajectories in cinema history. Rewatching the Rambo movies proves that Sylvester Stallone’s eponymous character became unrecognizable after the first sequel, changing from the tragic antihero of the original movie to a cartoonishly superhuman mass murderer by 2008’s reboot Rambo. x4k3z

Sylvester Stallone has been in a wide range of films throughout his career. His most acclaimed franchise is the Rocky series, wherein he plays the titular Philadelphia boxer. 1976's Rocky gave Stallone the chance to both write and act, and led to winning Best Picture at the Oscars. Stallone's Rocky legacy lives on through the Creed movies, the first of which earned him another Oscar nomination for Best ing Actor. He is now the lead in the Paramount+ series Tulsa King.

Re-watching the Rambo movies proves that Sylvester Stallone’s franchise lost touch with the thing that originally made the series work. Adapted from author David Morrell’s novel of the same name, First Blood was a 1982 vigilante action movie starring Sylvester Stallone as the PTSD-afflicted Vietnam veteran John Rambo. Rambo’s first movie was followed by 1985’s bombastic sequel Rambo: First Blood Part II, 1988’s Rambo III, 2008’s franchise reboot Rambo, and 2019’s Rambo: Last Blood. Each of these movies grew gradually gorier, more over-the-top, and more cartoonishly absurd in their depiction of Stallone’s indestructible antihero.

Many may not recall Sylvester Stallone starring in a Christmas movie, but there is one film under his belt that secretly falls in the genre. Interestingly, however, the Stallone Christmas movie is a far cry from Arnold Schwarzenegger’s well-known feel-good holiday flick,Jingle All the Way. In their long and prosperous careers as actors, both Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone have experimented with different movie genres. While they have mostly played leading roles in action films, they also have other genres like comedy, sci-fi, drama, and thrillers in their portfolios.

Netflix's hit action-thriller Rebel Ridge could easily become a franchise, but it needs to avoid running into the same problem as a movie it's often compared to, First Blood. Rebel Ridge has been a resounding success for Netflix, and talk of a sequel has already started just a month after its release date. There are plenty of potential stories for Terry Richmond (Aaron Pierre) to get into more trouble, and turning Rebel Ridge into an action franchise seems like a promising idea. If it does become the next big action franchise, though, Rebel Ridge will need to learn from the history of action movies.

In his review for Netflix's Rebel Ridge, Stephen King compared the action movie with Sylvester Stallone's Rambo. While it is understandable where his opinions about both films come from, it is hard not to notice how his review underscores that Rambo has often been misunderstood. Directed by Jeremy Saulnier, Rebel Ridge was trapped in development hell for several years because of production delays. However, despite the setbacks, the film has finally hit the small screen and is being hailed by viewers and critics as one of the best offerings of the action genre in 2024.

Netflix's action movie's similarities with Rambo make it the perfect replacement for the Sylvester Stallone movie. It has been over two decades since the first Rambo movie first hit the big screens. Although many films have tried to recreate its formula and capture its essence, only a few have come close to matching its legacy. However, from the looks of it, a new Netflix film has the potential to mark the inception of an exciting Rambo-esque action franchise.

The Rambo franchise may have become a box office success, but the four later additions to the series all failed to replicate what made First Blood such a compelling film in the first place. Released in 1982 and based on the novel of the same name by David Morrell, First Blood focuses on Vietnam War veteran John Rambo as he finds himself increasingly drawn into a conflict with a small-town police force. The film established one of Sylvester Stallone's most iconic characters and led to a franchise that would go on to make over $800 million at the box office.

Al Pacino was one of several actors considered for the part of John J. Rambo in the 1982 action-thriller First Blood, and his version would have been very different. The film adaptation of David Morrell’s 1972 novel of the same name, the leading Rambo role eventually went to Sylvester Stallone, who rewrote the screenplay to make the character more sympathetic. Had Al Pacino played John Rambo, however, the action hero would have differed greatly from Sylvester Stallone’s interpretation in a number of ways that are more faithful to David Morrell's original novel.

The Rambo franchise turned Rambo: First Blood’s complex lead character into a gung-ho action hero, but the gradual downfall of the series was set up by the first movie's changes to the source novel. In the closing moments of Rambo: First Blood, John Rambo tearfully recounted the ordeals he endured during his part in America’s invasion of Vietnam. After breaking down about his mistreatment, he surrendered and was comforted by his former commanding officer. The last scene of Rambo: Last Blood, however, saw the same character cut open a human trafficker’s chest, ripped out the man’s still-beating heart with his bare hands, and showed it to him.