No, Sylvester Stallone is not the first Rambo of cinema!

It seems hard to believe, but the actor played Rambo before Sylvester Stallone! Indeed, in 1972, writer David Morrell published a novel first blood (Rambo in France) and this topic caught the eye of the Cuban actor filmed in Italy: Tomas Milian. The latter became famous through transalpine westerns (The Last Face to Face, Providence) and the detective genre (Ransom of Fear, Bandits in Milan) and fell in love with the book.

remind you first blood It tells about the arrival of a vagabond, a former Green Beret, who is offended by the local sheriff, in one of the small American towns. But to annoy Rambo too much…

Adaptation in Italy?

Three years after its release, Milian tried to adapt the novel, but the producers refused the subject and as told in the work of Roberto Curti. Italian criminal filmography, 1968-1980Recently discovered by the media ColliderThe stubborn actor refuses to bring Morel’s novel to the screen, but decides that his next character will still be called Rambo.

Here’s how, in a futile attempt to adapt the story of Rambo, Tomas Milian plays Rambo in another unrelated movie, signed by Umberto Lenzi and called Blood Bracelets. In this thriller, an ex-cop biker (Rambo) seeks revenge on two powerful crime families responsible for his friend’s murder.

“Aim for the heart, Ramon”

Conspiracy or making blood bracelets has nothing to do with it first bloodAnd tell their own story, with motifs more reminiscent of Leone and Eastwood’s Man With No Name double play in Fistful of Dollars, moving from Baxter’s gang to Rhodes and vice versa to better reach them. destruction In other words, Blood Bracelets only casts Rambo as its main character at Milian’s insistence.

Nevertheless, the film was a hit in Italy and brought in 1.5 billion lire at the box office!

David Morrell’s novel was adapted for the cinema in 1982 with Sylvester Stallone in the title role and taking some liberties with the literary version. Its success led to two sequels released in the 80s, before John Rambo (2008), then Rambo: Last Blood (2019) closed out the character’s story.