Above Photo: Beautiful wooden sculpture seen in front of the
District of Hope, British Columbia.
The district of Hope is an amazing place to visit. First of all, Hope, B.C. is the gateway to pretty much all of British Columbia.
Hope has a population of approximately 6,170 residents and is located in the Cascade Mountain range, which makes for a very scenic place to visit, or a wonderful place to call home. Hope, British Columbia
On our journey around Hope in November 2015 we seen the most beautiful wooden sculptures which were carved with a chain-saw by Hope’s local artist Peter Ryan. The wooden sculptures were seen all throughout the town.
Above Photo: Gorgeous Mural Painting found in Hope, British Columbia.
There are so many different things to see which made it hard to visit them all, but I certainly will return in 2016 to visit all that Hope has to offer.
Hope, British Columbia is well known for it’s part in the making of First Blood: Rambo: First Blood Part I. So what I have done is to place information about the making of this movie with some of the sights I saw around Hope in 2015.
Hope British Columbia Visitor Centre.
http://hopebc.ca/visitor-centre/
Map Location: Hope British Columbia Visitor Centre.
Hope British Columbia Visitor Centre.
http://hopebc.ca/visitor-centre/
Map Location: Hope British Columbia Visitor Centre.
Below text information From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
Hope is a district municipality located at the confluence of the Fraser and Coquihalla rivers in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Hope is at the eastern end of both the Fraser Valley and the Lower Mainland region, and is at the southern end of the Fraser Canyon.
To the east over the Cascade Mountains is the Interior region, beginning with the Similkameen Country on the farther side of the Allison Pass in Manning Park.
Located 154 kilometres (96 mi) east of Vancouver, Hope is at the southern terminus of the Coquihalla Highway and the western terminus of the Crowsnest Highway, locally known as the Hope-Princeton (Highways 5 and 3, respectively), where they merge with the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1).
Hope is at the eastern terminus of Highway 7. Hope is a member municipality of the Fraser Valley Regional District which provides certain municipal services to unincorporated settlements and rural areas.
First Blood:
First Blood, also known as Rambo: First Blood Part I, is a 1982 American action adventure film directed by Ted Kotcheff. It is co-written by and starring Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo, a troubled and misunderstood Vietnam veteran who must rely on his combat and survival senses against the abusive law enforcement of a small town.
It is based on David Morrell's 1972 novel of the same name and is the first installment of the Rambo series. Brian Dennehy and Richard Crenna also appear in supporting roles.
The film was released in the United States on October 22, 1982. Despite initial mixed reviews, the film was a box office success, grossing $47.2 million at the box office. Since its release, First Blood has received reappraisal from critics, with many praising the roles of Stallone, Dennehy, and Crenna, and has been recognized as a cult classic and an influential film in the action genre.
Above Photo: This carving has been erected in the lasting memory of Royal Canadian Mounted Police Service Dog “Chip”. Killed in the line of duty near Hope, British Columbia September 13, 1996 while protecting his partner and friend Cst. Doug Lewis.
The film's success spawned a franchise, consisting of three sequels (all which were co-written by and starred Stallone), an animated series, comic books, and novels. A fifth film, tentatively titled Rambo: Last Stand, is currently in development.
Plot:
Seven years after his discharge, Vietnam War veteran John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) travels by foot to visit one of his old comrades, only to learn upon his arrival that his friend had died from cancer due to Agent Orange exposure during the war.
Photo Left: Municipal building and street clock with Memorial Park in background.
Distraught, Rambo continues to travel, wandering into the small town of Hope, Washington. He is intercepted by the town's arrogant and abusive Sheriff Will Teasle (Brian Dennehy), who considers him an unwanted nuisance.
When Rambo asks for directions to a diner, Teasle drives him out of town and tells him not to return. Rambo does so anyway, so Teasle arrests him on charges of vagrancy, resisting arrest, and possessing a concealed knife.
Led by sadistic chief deputy Art Galt (Jack Starrett), Teasle's officers humiliate and abuse Rambo, reminding him of the torture he endured as a POW in Vietnam. When they try to dry-shave him with a straight razor, Rambo snaps, attacks them, and flees into the woods.
A furious Teasle organizes a search party—complete with automatic weapons, dogs, and a helicopter—to recapture him. During the search, it is learned that Rambo is a former Green Beret who received the Medal of Honor for his service. Galt spots Rambo and resorts to lethal force in defiance of orders, attempting to snipe Rambo from the helicopter. Rambo throws a rock at the helicopter's windshield, fracturing it; the pilot is surprised and his sudden reaction causes Galt to fall to his death.
Rambo attempts to surrender, but the police open fire and pursue him into a wooded area. Utilizing his skills, Rambo disables the deputies non-lethally one by one, until only Teasle is left. Holding a knife to his throat, Rambo threatens to kill him if he continues the search.
Above Photo: The Hope British Columbia’s beautiful Memorial Park.
Teasle decides to pursue anyways, the Washington State Patrol and the Washington Army National Guard are called in to assist the manhunt. At the same time, Rambo's mentor Colonel Sam Trautman (Richard Crenna) arrives in Hope. Warning of his former soldier's abilities, Trautman advises that Rambo be given time to cool off before the chase is resumed. Confident that Rambo is hopelessly outnumbered, Teasle refuses.
Photo Right: A wooden sculpture of a old mining prospector and gold pan.
A National Guard detachment corners Rambo at the entrance of an abandoned mine; against orders, they use a M72 LAW rocket, collapsing the entrance and apparently killing Rambo. However, he survives, finds an alternate way out of the mine, and hijacks a supply truck, which he uses to return to town. To distract his pursuers, he starts a fire at a gas station, shoots down power lines, and destroys several storefronts with a stolen M60 machine gun.
Teasle positions himself on the roof of his station to search for Rambo, unaware that Rambo is directly below and has spotted Teasle's ambush. The two engage in a brief firefight, which ends with Teasle falling through a skylight badly injured. Rambo prepares to kill him, but Trautman arrives and warns Rambo that he will be shot if Teasle dies.
Rambo goes into a rant about the treatment he received when he returned from Vietnam and suffers a Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder-triggered breakdown before surrendering. He is put into state custody and driven away as Teasle is sent to the hospital.
Production:
Development:
Shortly after David Morrell's novel was published in 1972, Columbia Pictures bought the filming rights at the behest of producer Laurence Turman for a reported $75,000. Richard Brooks was originally attached to direct. Brooks spent a year on the project, researching it and writing a never completed 115 page script, which was to place more emphasis on the character of the sheriff, and end with an unarmed Rambo being killed.
Photo Left: An amazing wooden sculpture found in Hope, B.C. of an
Eagle, Wolf and Bear.
Brooks did not have an actor in mind for Rambo but wanted Lee Marvin or Burt Lancaster to play the sheriff, and Bette Davis to play a psychiatrist who deals with Rambo. However Brooks was not happy with the script and did not want to make the film when Columbia wanted to, and the project fell apart.
John Calley at Warner Bros. then spent $125,000 to acquire the project from Columbia. Clint Eastwood and Robert de Niro were discussed for the lead and Martin Ritt agreed to direct from a script by Walter Newman (Newman did three drafts).
In this version both Rambo and the sergeant died, and Trautman, "the true villain of the piece", according to Ritt, was allowed to live. Ritt says he wanted Bob Mitchum to play the sheriff and Paul Newman to play Rambo.
The Ritt version was never made. The next director to be attached was Sydney Pollack, who in late 1974 considered doing it with Steve McQueen as Rambo and Burt Lancaster as the sheriff. However ultimately he decided against it.
In 1975, Martin Bregman became attached and developed the project as a vehicle for Al Pacino. David Rabe was hired to write a script. However Pacino declined to make it. Rabe's script then briefly attracted the attention of Mike Nichols; and for a time Ray Stark and Martin Ritt (again) were interested.
In 1977, producer William Sackheim became involved and wrote a script with Michael Kozoll. Sackheim wanted to make the film with director John Badham starring John Travolta as Rambo, George C. Scott as Trautman and Gene Hackman or Charles Durning as the sheriff. Sackheim spent eight months on the project, but could not get finance.
Photo Right: A wooden sculpture of a standing Bear.
Producer Carter De Haven then optioned the project from Warner Bros for $25,000 and attached John Frankenheimer as director. Powers Boothe, Nick Nolte and Michael Douglas were considered for Rambo; in the end Brad Davis, coming off Midnight Express, was cast.
Cinema Group were to finance and Filmways to distribute. However, before filming started Filmways were taken over by Orion and the movie went into limbo.
Carolco then brought the property from Warner Bros for $375,000 and paid Cinema Group $150,000 for the Sackheim-Kozoll script. They then approached Sylvester Stallone who agreed to play the role.
It was later estimated there were eighteen versions of the script. A writer who turned down the job was John Milius, who was approached in the late 1970s. However Milius' producer, Buzz Feitshans eventually produced the movie after the original producer, Ed Carlin, died of a heart attack.
Ted Kotcheff had been approached with the project in 1976. He only returned to work on First Blood after Mario Kassar and Andrew G. Vajna of Anabasis offered to finance one of his projects. Kotcheff offered the role of John Rambo to Sylvester Stallone, and the actor accepted after reading the script through a weekend.
Stallone did an estimated seven revisions of the script. Ted Kotcheff requested further work be done on the script. This was performed by Larry Gross and David Giler.
Casting:
Photo Left: A wooden sculpture of a Sasquatch hunter.
Long before Stallone was hired to play Rambo, other actors were being considered for the role such as Clint Eastwood, Robert De Niro, Paul Newman, Nick Nolte, Ryan O'Neal, James Garner, Kris Kristofferson. Terence Hill, as recently confirmed during an interview to an Italian TV talk-show, was offered the role, but rejected it because he considered it "too violent".
Dustin Hoffman and John Travolta declined the role for the same reason. When Al Pacino was considered for the role of John Rambo, he turned it down when his request that Rambo be more of a madman was rejected. Prior to Stallone taking the lead role, Steve McQueen expressed interest in it.
When David Morrell wrote the novel in 1972 the producers first considered McQueen, but then rejected him because they considered him too old to play a Vietnam veteran from 1975.
For the role of Sheriff Teasle, the producers approached Academy Award winners Gene Hackman and Robert Duvall, but both turned the part down. Lee Marvin, another Oscar winner, turned down the part of Colonel Trautman. Kirk Douglas was eventually hired, but just before shooting began, Douglas quit the role of Colonel Trautman over a script dispute.
Douglas wanted the film to end as the book did, with the death of the Rambo character. Rock Hudson was approached, but was soon to undergo heart surgery and had to pass up the chance to work with Stallone. Richard Crenna was quickly hired as a replacement; the role of Trautman became the veteran character actor's most famous role, his performance of which received much critical praise.
Photo Right: A wooden sculpture of what looks like a wizard.
Screenplay.
Various screenplays adapted from Morrell's book had been pitched to studios in the years since its publication, but it was only when Stallone, who at the time had limited success outside of the Rocky franchise (most of his non-Rocky films either barely broke even or were flops altogether), decided to become involved with the project that it was finally brought into production.
Stallone's star power after the success of the Rocky films enabled him to rewrite the script, to make the character of John Rambo more sympathetic. While Morrell's book has the Rambo character violently kill many of his pursuers—Kozoll and Sackheim's draft had him killing sixteen people—in the movie version Rambo does not directly cause the death of any police or national guardsmen.
Stallone also decided to let Rambo survive the film instead of keeping the book's ending where he dies. A suicide scene was filmed but Kotcheff and Stallone opted to have Rambo turn himself in at Trautman's urging.
Shooting.
The film was shot in British Columbia, Canada in the winter. The town scenes in the movie were shot in Hope, while the rest of the movie was shot in Golden Ears Provincial Park and Pitt Lake in Pitt Meadows. The weaponry used in the film had to be imported into Canada. Over 50 of the imported firearms were stolen midway through the filming.
Post-Production.
The first rough cut was over three hours, possibly three and a half hours long and according to Sylvester Stallone, it was so bad that it made him and his agent sick.
Stallone wanted to buy the movie and destroy it thinking that it was a career killer.
After heavy re-editing, the film was cut down to 93 minutes; this version was ultimately released in theaters.
Music.
The film's score was composed and conducted by Jerry Goldsmith, whose theme "It's a Long Road" added a new dimension to the character, and featured in the film's three sequels and animated spin-off.
The soundtrack was originally released on LP by the Regency label, although it was edited out of sequence for a more satisfying listen.
The album was reissued on CD with one extra track ("No Power") twice, first as one of Intrada Records' initial titles, then as an identical release by Varèse Sarabande.
The complete score was released by Intrada in a 2-CD set, along with a remastered version of the original album (with the Carolco logo (previously released on La-La Land Records' Extreme Prejudice album) and the Rambo: First Blood Part II trailer music added), on November 23, 2010, as one of their MAF unlimited titles.
Above Photo: The Muskwa Gallery in Hope, British Columbia.
Travel British Columbia with Brian Vike blog, please contact me at b_vike@telus.net
Travel British Columbia with Brian Vike.
Travel Houston, British Columbia with Brian Vike.
No comments:
Post a Comment