First Blood: 10 DIfferences Between The Movie & The Book

In 1972, renowned novelist David Morell released his first novel titled First Blood. The book was about a war veteran named Rambo who ends up getting involved in a deadly cat and mouse with a group of law enforcement officers. Ten years later, the book was adapted into an action movie starring Sylvester Stallone and thus the Rambo franchise was born.

Both the movie and the book were highly successful. However, they are not exactly similar. This is mostly due to the fact that a total of eighteen different screenplays were written before the final one. Stallone is also said to have suggested a number of changes. Here are the major differences between the book and the movie.

10 The War Veteran’s Name

First Blood is the only movie that critics adored in the franchise and the very first notable difference between it and the book is the name of the protagonist. In David Morell’s novel, he was never referred to as John Rambo in any scene. He was only called Rambo.

John Rambo isn’t such a bad name though it was somehow overused in action movies of the 80s. Bruce Willis’ character in Die Hard is called John McClane while Arnold Schwarzenneger’s character in Commando is called John Matrix. Someone ought to have come up with more name suggestions.

9 William “Will” Teasle’s Title

In the movie, when Rambo arrives in the fictional town of Hope, Washington, he is picked up by Sheriff Teasle and dropped at the border. He is then asked to leave. However, in the novel, Teasle wasn’t a sheriff. He was the chief of police.

So, what’s the difference between a chief of police and the sheriff? Well, in most states, the sheriff is elected. The only exceptions are New York, Hawaii and Rhode Island.  However, the chief of police is mostly appointed by the local government of the area in which he serves.

8 Reasons For The Arrest

The reason why Rambo is arrested differs from the novel to the movie. In the novel, the war veteran is hitchhiking to Madison County in Kentucky. Teasle believes he is trouble so he takes him to the border and warns him not to come back. However, Rambo shows up two more times, forcing Teasle to arrest him.

In the movie, Rambo goes to visit an old friend only to be informed that he died of cancer. He then decides to walk to the town of Hope to look for a diner. Teasle gets irked by his presence so he takes him to the border and tells him to leave. He doesn’t comply. The sheriff spots him making a return through his side mirror and goes back to arrest him.

7 The Knife

After being dropped at the border, a defiant Rambo decides to head back to Hope. Of course, no one tells him what to do. The sheriff is thus forced to arrest him and take him to a police station. There, the officers take away his belongings, including the iconic knife before locking him up.

In the novel, there is no knife. One of Rambo’s most iconic weapon was only introduced in the movie. The action hero has gone on to use it in every single installment in the franchise ever since. He always appears quite badass while using it so we are glad the screenwriters thought of it.

6 Escape From Jail

In the film, the deputy sheriff decides to beat him up just for the fun of it. The officers keep on brutalizing him but when one of them comes with a razor to shave his hair, it triggers memories of his torture in a POW camp in Vietnam. He thus fights his way out of the station while still clothes. He steals a motorbike and rides it to the forest. No one dies in the process.

In the book, Rambo is not abused. He is simply locked in a cell. When Teasle shows up to cut his hair, he begins to panic. And when the deputy comes with another straight razor, he loses his mind completely. He takes the razor and slices through the deputy’s abdomen before escaping while naked. He steals a motorcycle and manages to hide from the police for the night after a good samaritan offers him shelter.

5 Rambo’s Hideout

After an extensive manhunt in the movie, Rambo hides in a cave in the forest. The cave is full of rats and they go on to be a nuisance to him. He has to constantly fight the little monsters and get them off his body. Luckily, they don’t cause him much harm.

However, in the novel, he hides in a bat cave. Hello Batman? Were you in there too? Time to charge you for aiding and abetting. Since the bats didn’t really prove to be much of a problem in the novel, it would have been dull if this remained unchanged while making the movie.

4 Guerilla Tactics

While in the forest, Rambo takes out the entire town’s police force by himself. Using guerilla tactics, he attacks one at a time until they are all wounded. It’s important to note that he only wounds the officers in the movie and doesn’t kill them. He then corners Teasle, places a knife on his throat and warns him to back off or else he’ll do more harm.

The Rambo in the novel doesn’t value the lives of law enforcement officers. He kills most of them together with their dogs before cornering Teasle and giving him a warning. When he lets Teasle go, the chief of police gathers more men and regroups.

3 Fleeing From The Cave

He might not be able to pull off such stunts now but in First Blood, Stallone’s character escapes from the cave by jumping on to an army truck and hijacking it. In the novel, he steals a police car. In both mediums, the escape leads to a second manhunt in the town. Back to the movie. Rambo damages plenty of property in the town but doesn’t kill anyone.

In Morell’s book, Rambo keeps up with his murderous ways and goes on to kill plenty of the members of the state police who had been brought in after he decimated the local police. A couple of civilians and national guard members also ned up being casualties.

2 Trautman’s Arrival

The arrival of Rambo’s military training officer Colonel Trautman impacts the ending in both the novel and the novel and the movie. In the novel, he is actually Captain Trautman and not Colonel Trautman. When he arrives in Hope, in the novel, he tells Teasle but Rambo is not “trouble” but rather he is “troubled.” He accepts responsibility for Rambo’s action, admitting that he trained him to kill.

In the movie, Trautman arrives and explains to Teasle that he trained Rambo and the military has thus sent him to come and talk to the war veteran in order to put an end to the destruction. He implores Teasle to let Rambo go so that he can take him back to the military where he belongs.

1 The Ending

The ending of the movie differs significantly from the book. In the novel, Teasle captures Rambo by surprise and shoots him in the stomach. Rambo manages to wound Teasle too with a return shot. Before the situation can escalate any further, Rambo gets killed courtesy of Colonel Trautman who shoots him in the head.

The Ted Kotcheff movie ditched the idea of Rambo dying because test audiences didn’t take it too well. The script was thus rewritten to allow the war veteran to live. The movie thus sees Rambo shooting and injuring Teasle but when he goes close to finish the job, Trautman appears and tells him not to do it. Rambo then surrenders himself to the authorities.

About The Author

Philip Etemesi
(1216 Articles Published)

Philip Etemesi is an author, journalist, screenwriter and film critic based in Nairobi. Kenya. As a child, he preferred watching movies like The Goodfellas instead of Home Alone. His girlfriend constantly has to pull him from the front of the TV but he just keeps returning. Stubborn dude! An animal lover, Philip also has a pet giraffe called Refu.

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