Stallone’s Rambo Drama: Why Was the Movie Legend Fired 43 Years Ago?

After Rocky, John Rambo is arguably one of the most iconic characters in Sylvester Stallone’s career. During the early ’80s when the film was shot, Stallone had already triumphed as Balboa but wasn’t yet a confirmed superstar.

The Hero of Rural America

To portray this Vietnam War veteran, director Ted Kotcheff saw no one better than Stallone. His working-class persona, already familiar from Rocky, seemed perfect for the role of Rambo. This former Green Beret, traumatized and lost in the triumphant America of the ’80s, intimidated many actors before Sly took on the role.

In the 1970s, stars like De Niro, Pacino, Dustin Hoffman, and Burt Reynolds all passed on the role. Reynolds even tried to persuade Stallone not to accept the film. “Don’t do it, it’s going to be bad, and even if you’re good in it, that’s all anyone will remember: it was bad”, Reynolds warned Stallone.

Fortunately, Stallone ignored his colleague’s advice and embarked on the Rambo journey. However, Sly requested to revise the script with director Ted Kotcheff, who later admitted that Stallone’s changes were crucial. Firstly, the actor insisted that Rambo shouldn’t kill anyone. It didn’t make sense to him that a man traumatized by war violence would start killing mere cops. Secondly, Stallone made drastic cuts to Rambo’s dialogue, shaping him into a quiet and reserved character.

Kirk Douglas: The Obvious Choice

With the script finalized, Ted Kotcheff sought another key character for the saga, Colonel Trautman. After casting Brian Dennehy (who passed away in April 2020) as Sheriff Teasle, the production sought a true star for Rambo’s mentor.

Naturally, the name of Kirk Douglas came up. The actor, who passed away in February 2020 at the age of 103, was the ideal candidate. A true idol for Stallone, Douglas was also the protagonist of “Lonely Are the Brave,” a western with eerie similarities to the Rambo story.

This role of a cowboy escaping from prison and standing up to a tough sheriff was one of Kirk Douglas’s favorites. Upon reading the script, the hero of “Spartacus” was thus moved by the correlation between Rambo and Jack Burns, his character in “Lonely Are the Brave.” He decided to accept the role of Colonel Trautman, much to the delight of producers Andrew Vajna and Mario Kassar.

Was Kirk Douglas Unmanageable?

However, the excitement didn’t last long. When Douglas arrived on set in British Columbia, he began wanting to change his lines. This did not sit well with the filmmaker; until then, Douglas had assured that he loved the script and had never asked to alter anything.

Moreover, Douglas had a habit that irritated Kotcheff—he referred to himself in the third person. “So I kept hearing him repeat: ‘Kirk will not say this line, Kirk does not like this dialogue.’ Worse, he even wanted to steal other characters’ lines,” Kotcheff revealed in “Rambo First Action Hero” by Romain Thoral, Première Classics issue 9.

The director also criticized Douglas’s comments about the action scenes: “He was making really cheesy suggestions as if we were shooting a B-movie from the ’40s,” Kotcheff vented.

Stallone and he did rewrite some of Trautman’s dialogues to please Kirk Douglas. But despite their efforts, the actor remained dissatisfied. Kotcheff thus approached producers Vajna and Kassar to discuss the issue. For him, Kirk Douglas was completely sabotaging the project.

Kirk Douglas Dismissed

“He’s going to cost us an extra two weeks of shooting because I have to negotiate to get him to say each of his lines,” the director complained. The producers then allowed Ted Kotcheff and Stallone to settle things with Douglas: he had loved the script before filming, so he could either shoot it without demanding changes or leave. Douglas didn’t hesitate before responding: “Kirk is leaving.”

The film now had only one star to carry it, Sylvester Stallone. Indeed, Douglas’s successor was none other than Richard Crenna, an actor unlikely to overshadow Sly.

The movie turned out to be an international triumph, brilliantly highlighting the traumas of US soldiers after the Vietnam defeat. It grossed $125 million worldwide on a budget of about $15 million. In France, the film attracted 3 million viewers.