The Life of Hollywood Action Hero Sylvester Stallone

Also in 1982, Stallone starred as John Rambo in First Blood, based on David Morrell’s novel. Unlike Rocky Balboa, Rambo was not chasing a dream. He was a Vietnam veteran carrying trauma, anger, and isolation into a world that did not know what to do with him.

The film was shot largely in Hope, British Columbia, and helped create a very different kind of Stallone hero. Rambo was quieter, darker, and more dangerous than Rocky. Yet getting the movie made was not simple at all.