"What if one of those protestors was like those angry veterans I'd encountered in the classes I taught? What if one of those veterans was a man with exceptional combat skills, a former member of a Special Forces team, an escaped POW, and a recipient of the Medal of Honor? Or what if he were Audie Murphy?"Īfter being struck by that very idea, "First Blood" began to percolate in Morrell's mind. Alone and, according to the official report on the event, "exposed to German fire from three sides," Murphy killed dozens of German troops, suppressing the enemy advance. 50 caliber machine gun to continue the barrage. He'd received the Medal of Honor for facing down six tanks, calling artillery fire from his command post and killing scores of advancing troops, before climbing atop a burning tank and using its. The 1955 war movie "To Hell and Back," based on Murphy's autobiography, showed how Murphy had become America's most decorated soldier of World War II. But back then, the only description that I could think of dated back to World War One: shell shock."Ī major reference point for Morrell was World War II vet Audie Murphy, who the author knew as an actor in westerns he'd seen growing up. These days, we have a term for what they were enduring-post-traumatic stress disorder. I learned about their anger, their frustration, and their fears. "I learned how they had nightmares and broke out in spontaneous sweats and dove behind cover whenever they heard loud noises. And this blend of Hollywood action tropes with social critique and character study was something author David Morrell intended. And at the end of "First Blood," he breaks down before launching into an extended monologue on how his Vietnam experience affected his psyche and his ability to function in civilian life. Once he's arrested by Sheriff Teasle and assaulted by his deputies - a metaphor for the United States' treatment of returning soldiers - the Vietnam vet has flashbacks to being tortured as a prisoner of war. "First Blood" starts with Rambo learning that his former friend and fellow soldier, Delmar, passed away from cancer caused by exposure to Agent Orange while serving in Indochina. And according to Sylvester Stallone, there was a lot more of it in the original script, including a section that had Rambo shooting an owl and saying "take that you mouse-munching motherf*****." Before he cut that, along with most of his dialogue, Stallone seriously thought "First Blood" would ruin his career.īut beneath the dangerous stunts, cliché action tropes, and hammy dialogue, the film made a concerted effort to keep the social critique of the book.
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