In a way, it does sound as though Sylvester Stallone has come to his senses considering that he’s not talking about revamping Rambo once again to take on another band of bad guys as an aging war veteran with lingering PTSD. But if he does want to bring a prequel to life it does feel as though he’d be better off bringing another actor into the story since there’s no way the de-aging software that couldn’t really help Robert De Niro in The Irishman could even come close to de-aging Stallone to make him look like a teenager. Plus, does anyone realize that he wasn’t nearly as big then? In the first Rambo, he was definitely in great shape, but he didn’t have the bulk that he possesses at this time. Bringing in another actor wouldn’t just be a good idea, it would be absolutely necessary since otherwise, it feels as though the effect would be an utter failure. The upside of this idea is that it would be interesting to find out what Rambo was like before he went into the military and to see just what messed him up so badly. We’ve had glimpses and hints about his past over the years, but it would be great to see just what really happened to a younger John Rambo that went into the military no doubt willing to learn how to defend his country, but came out as a jaded and seriously messed-up individual.
According to Stallone, the character of Rambo was someone that was upbeat, popular, and was the kind of guy that people wanted to be around before he went into the military. He was broken down, taught to kill, and taught to survive while he was in, and by the time he was out his outlook on life was far different, and so was he. There are plenty of young actors that would be able to take on this role since the talent pool in Hollywood is deep enough that someone could be found that would be able to take on Rambo’s role in a very convincing way. But seeing him before he went in, and then witnessing the process of how he came to be such an efficient and ruthless fighter would be a way to finally understand the character on a much deeper level. Plus, after reading First Blood, the book that the first movie and the entire character was based on, it’s possible that we might actually see just how tough his training really was since the way it’s described in the book is absolutely brutal. The downside of the book though is that Rambo didn’t survive and was dead by the end, as was Teasle, but since the prequel wouldn’t be going that far, maybe it could give a seriously in-depth look at the character that a lot of people would appreciate.
The only way that Stallone can see this happening though is to push for a streaming movie since he doesn’t want to make another movie for the big screen, or even try at this time. That’s fortunate in a big way since theaters aren’t doing too well at this point, but it’s also preferable since the last Rambo movie managed to make its budget back, but it still didn’t do all that well since the critics didn’t exactly sing Stallone’s praises. To be fair, none of the Rambo movies have been nearly as good as the first one since they’ve all gone wide of the mark that the first movie was trying to hit. Even the first one demanded a suspension of belief since there are a lot of gaffes that many people picked up during Rambo’s tirade against the small town and the sheriff since it does feel as though between the soldiers and the cops that the lot of them should have had enough brains between them to keep the guy contained. But given the fact that the first movie was something new, a lot of people were willing to at least give it the benefit of doubt until later on when it was reviewed again, and again, and again. Everything after that has been little more than a fantastical war movie since most of the stuff that Rambo does either isn’t possible or it’s so insanely extraneous that he should have died a dozen times over since his enemies had every chance to end him.
A prequel might be interesting though if it’s done right. Without trying to make it so over the top that Rambo appears to be a living superman from the word go, a prequel might go a long way towards explaining how he came to be so many people’s favorite PTSD-driven soldier. Whether it will happen is unclear, but if it does you can bet we’ll be talking about it.
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