Hey folks, Harry here... Sorry for this first set being a tad late - We had an internet mail virus hurting Stallone's assistant's computer - but I helped get that figured out and now we have Stallone's answers to your questions. Thanks goes out to the amazing Celeste for getting these questions and answers to and from Stallone! Here ya go - set one:
Tristan Christianson from San Francisco 1. Besides Rocky and Rambo what other popular character that you've portrayed over the years would you like to bring back to the screen one more time? Dude, for all the jabs you've taken over the years you've been a big favorite of mine and have done some pretty awesome work. Thanks for reprising some of the cooler characters I grew up with and had fun at the movies with.
1. I’ve been salivating to the point of dehydration just anticipating the reprisal of my groundbreaking performance in RHINESTONE, which I thought I could couple with STOP! OR MY MOM WILL SHOOT, where I could play identical twins that are artistically challenged and in a final display of manic behavior they cannibalize one another in front of Cobra.
Hey Sly, 2. I know he's like y'know the govenator, but dammit, once he's out of there, can we please get the ultimate action throwdown? I've waited OH SO LONG for you and Arnold to team up, it'd be better than Eastwood and Burt teaming up for that crapfest they did. thanks for your time, G Gideon Swann Humboldt County, Ca
2. The truth is Arnold and I have become very close. Years ago we were savagely competitive to the point of wanting to challenge one another on every level. But now we’ve become kindred spirits and would love to perform together, however it would most likely be a difficult film to do since our wheel chairs would most likely become entangled during our chase scenes. Truthfully, he’ll probably go on to do more incredible things as I drift off into senility. I did let him see the new RAMBO movie first and he called me at 10 o’clock at night complimenting me on what he saw. How’s that for irony? So maybe all that cinematic bloodshed has rekindled his action hero machinery into overdrive and he may want to act again. Who knows?
3) The latest trailers/TV Spots for RAMBO really just showcase the killing and mayhem with heavy metal music in the background. Is this a marketing angle that you have come up with, or something Lions Gate is pushing in order to play on the film's, well, killing and mayhem? I ask because I think you can bring in a larger audience by utilizing the character moments of Rambo (with the excellent Rambo score)... something you kind of did with one of the first trailers, with the Rambo voiceover about killing and ending with the image of him approaching stealth-like behind a soldier, ready to kill. We love action and violence, but the reason Rambo has such a following is because his character has depth (many moments in First Blood, boat scene and ending of Part 2, village scenes in Part 3). Cut another trailer to showcase this if you can. Ken Miyamoto -
3. Well it’s definitely too late to cut another trailer, but I couldn’t agree with you more. In today’s world of promoting films you have a very limited window to make the biggest impact. We opted for the action angle to drive the hardcore audience into the theater knowing they’re not going to be disappointed and we keep our collective fingers crossed that the dramatic portion will be discovered once they’re in the seats. It’s never easy displaying a film. Sometimes you can do the right thing and end up with a disaster by trying to second-guess an audience.
4 - Is Trautman's death (if this is even a part of the Rambo world, since Crenna passed away in real life) addressed in this movie? Is it mentioned how he died? Does his death have any impact on Rambo's character in the movie, and how he thinks and lives nows? IAmJack'sUserID, from Spartanburg, SC
4. I miss Colonel Trautman. The father figure aspect that he provided was a necessary link in the chain that held Rambo’s psyche together. With his death, like with Mickey’s death in ROCKY, Rambo is forced to face life completely alone. Like many individuals in the audience, they see the world as a frightening adventure and it’s only their sense of survival and pride that keeps them going. In the middle of this film Trautman will emerge in a flashback reminding Rambo what he must do to become a complete person as he says “To come full circle you have to admit what you are, really are.” To be your whole self, one has to look in the mirror and admit they are truly being honest with that image that’s coming back at them. Rambo believes he’s been a victim of America’s war machine, but in truth he has to come to the realization that he is a killer, a hunter, a protector, a warrior without a war.
5) What direction do you think your career would have taken had "First Blood" ended like the novel, with Rambo's death? I mean, there would be no Rambo sequels. Would you have been typecast as Rocky? How much did Rambo help balance that out? I think of it like Harrison Ford being blessed with the role of Indiana Jones, thus not being typecast as Han Solo, as could very easily have happened. Just dreaing a bit, how differently would your career have been without the Rambo sequels? The Game Master
5. Without a doubt I would’ve been Rocky Balboa for the next 10,000 years or more. The blessing of Rambo is that it provided me a character that can show the darker savage that every human possesses. Whereas Rocky is a beacon of goodness, Rambo lives in a cave of shadows. To be able to inhabit these two characters has been a true blessing.
6. Just wondering about the upcoming Death Wish remake. I'm far more of a fan of the orignal Brian Garfield novel (which to me was more thoughtful and had more depth) and was wondering if this version will hew closer to the book (and I for one would LOVE to see a faithful adaptation) or to the Michael Winner film? Paul Ryan
6. It won’t resemble the Michael Winner film at all. The only thing that would be used is the title. Whereas the original character was a pacifist and a conscientious objector, the new character will be a whole other creature; much heavier, more volatile, a product of a distorted modern society. I believe DEATHWISH worked in the 70’s because we were a more gentle society and the violence was, in that era, considered groundbreaking. Now the bombardment of ruthless violence that reigns down on us everyday in the media has thickened our hides. For example, one of the muggers/killers in DEATHWISH was Jeff Goldblum wearing a jug-head hat and the other muggers resembled third-rate hotdog testers. That just wouldn’t fly today. Being confronted by a man who resembles Pee Wee Herman holding a .32 caliber would not exactly jellify my knees. The felons today are hard-core sociopaths that require a character that can equal or surpass their savagery to succeed.
Yo Sly! This is Dr. Michael Hfuhruhurr from Los Angeles I love Rambo like God loves Jesus and I am proud to say I saw RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD PART II twelve times in the theater and even turned down high school sex to see it on opening night. (And to this day no sex has equalled that experience). My question is this: 7- In the eighties, John Rambo took on villains who were the real villains of the day: ruthless, invading Russian commie bastards hellbent on global communism. So I always assumed that if Rambo returned he'd be taking on the real villain of this day: extreme, radical Islamist bastards hellbent on worldwide jihad. It seems like all of today's movies have pussed out on making Islamofacists the bad guys even though they are clearly the bad guys in the real world right now. Why is Rambo pussing out on this mission? Has he become politically correct? Just curious. I still love ya. xoxox, Dr. H
7. The phrase ‘politically correct’ is basically a euphemism for bold face lying because unfortunately, lies keep society functioning. The day we have our politicians actually tell us the real truth, we’d have anarchy in the streets. So we’re told what they think will pacify the masses not inflame them. So getting back to your question..I thought the idea of Rambo dealing with Al-Qaeda, etc. would be an insult to our American forces that are actually dying trying to rid the world of this cancer. To have at the end of a 90 minute movie the character of Rambo seizing Osama bin Laden in a choke hold then dragging him into the Oval Office then tossing him in the President’s lap declaring “The world is now safe, Chief” would be a bit insulting. We’ve seen today every film that deals with the Middle Eastern situation has failed because it is a subject people find incredibly painful to sit through while it is ongoing. Maybe ten years in the future a good film will be produced on the subject. Right now I believe revealing a situation like the ongoing genocide in Burma provides a compelling story simply because it is true and is the longest running civil war in the world – 60 years against a small group of Christian peasants called The Karen. Also, I wanted to keep Rambo in the Far Eastern jungles, where cinematically it would reflect his days in Vietnam.
.Hey Sly! I loved ROCKY BALBOA and I'm looking forward to the new RAMBO; both are such great heroes to me since I was a kid. here are my questions: 8. How different was the physical preparation for RAMBO 4 compared to ROCKY BALBOA? thanks for taking the time for these questions, good luck for the future! p.s. 'Hearts on Fire' Montage in ROCKY IV is Legendary! A big fan and friend - Omer Sheriff, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM.
8. In RAMBO I wanted the character to be a metaphor for a man who is slowly being engulfed by his savage surroundings. For example - he lives in the jungle and is becoming one of its beasts. The human elements are dissolving, therefore the training was done in a way where the muscles developed were working muscles; back and shoulders, neck, portions of the body that would reflect a strong working beast of burden as opposed to a well-defined athlete. Also it was the heaviest I’ve ever been in any film. To give you an example, in RAMBO II I was 168 lbs and in this RAMBO I am 215 lbs.
9. What was your initial reaction to Weird Al's spoof on rambo in UHF? Andy Mahoney - Oak Harbor, WA
9. I thought it was great except he had better abs than me, but I thought the glasses were a good touch. It made Rambo seem much more scholastic, so if there’s another RAMBO I know what direction to go - WEIRD RAMBO: ASSAULT ON A BOOKSTORE.
Hey Sly, 10. What is your favorite bad movie? I'm talking a TROLL 2 or BATTLEFIELD EARTH level of lousiness. The kind of movie that fills you with shame, even as you are enjoying it. Also, I am very much looking forward to RAMBO. Thank you.
10. Without a doubt it is one of my own. I appear in a dream sequence wearing diapers in STOP OR MY MOM WILL SHOOT. It makes me want to lower myself into a wood chipper headfirst every time I see it. God…if I could take every print of that movie and airdrop it across Iraq, the war would be over! People would run screaming into the streets begging to surrender saying “No more, no more, this is too inhumane!!”
