Still going rogue
RAMBO REMAINS A DRAW FOR HOPE, B.C., 40 YEARS AFTER FIRST BLOOD FILMED
As tourism ambassadors go, he is an odd choice: A man who wreaked havoc with a capital H, sowed terror among sheriffs, edged knife crime to new lows and blew the lid off blow-it-up-good pyrotechnics.
Yet John Rambo, as played by Sylvester Stallone, remains a towering marketing figure for the small British Columbia town of Hope.
It was 40 years ago this year that Stallone, Brian Dennehy and several hundred local extras descended on the gateway to the Fraser Canyon to film First Blood, the first in the five-part franchise that in 1982 introduced the world to the brooding anti-hero Vietnam vet struggling to find his place in an indifferent society.
For anyone growing up in the Fraser Valley at the time, the filming during the winter of 1981 was beyond thrilling. Somewhere in an attic I have a scorched lantern recovered from one of the burned-down sets, such was the fascination with the sprinkling of Hollywood glamour in those recessionary times.
Sitting at the end of the Valley and hemmed in on three sides by sombre mountains often shrouded in low-lying clouds, the town created a suitably claustrophobic backdrop for rogue Rambo to wage a running war with Sheriff Will Teasle, played to perfection by Dennehy.
The town received a considerable economic boost from the production — not least from the income earned by the dozens of local background actors — and its eventual success (it grossed US$125 million globally) is often cited as the launch pad for B.C.’S identity as Hollywood North.
Rambo’s rampage may have ended four decades ago, but he still has millions of fans in thrall to his oneman war. Thousands continue to make the pilgrimage to the community 150 kilometres east of Vancouver to visit the sites where he battled the establishment in the fictional Washington state town of Hope.
Indeed, staff at the visitors centre say First Blood ranks second among inquiries fielded by its staff. “Fans continue to flock to the town where it began, both during anniversary events and throughout the year.”
Among the locations to visit are Wallace Street (site of the motorbike heist) and a series of abandoned rail tunnels where Stallone’s character plunges from a sheer cliffside (he was injured doing some of his own stunts). Sadly, the wooden Kawkawa Bridge seen in the movie was demolished in 2011 — to the dismay of hundreds of film buffs who showed up to witness its demise.
The four tunnels and two bridges, part of the Othello-quintette system built from 1911 to 1916, were used by the Kettle Valley Railway, which was forced to close significant sections of the line in 1959 due to rock slides and constant washouts from the rainy winter climate.
What remains is a spectacular gorge, a deep-green entranceway to the Coquihalla Canyon and an engineering marvel that draws hikers, dog-walkers and cyclists. You can imagine a Hollywood director sizing up its dizzying flanks and churning waters, picture-perfect for a rugged survivalist fleeing a sadistic sheriff.
The Othello Tunnels, no surprise, are the No. 1 inquiry fielded by Hope tourism staffers.
Established in 1849 as a Hudson’s Bay Company post, Hope was flooded with a different kind of starry-eyed dreamer in 1858 when thousands of fortune-seeking prospectors arrived to take part in the Fraser River Gold Rush. Retrace their footsteps at the nearby Yale Historic Site and Hell’s Gate Airtram.
Prospecting rather than preaching was on the minds of those gold-bugs, but Hope holds its own in B.C. religious history as the home of Christ Church Anglican. Consecrated in 1861, it is the oldest church on the provincial mainland still holding services at its original location. Now a National Historic Site, it is open for guided tours during the summer.
First berth for First Blood worshippers, though, is the visitors centre, which has well-informed staff members who can field questions and provide self-guided Rambo walking tours. T-shirts and other souvenirs are available to buy.
Hope was particularly touched by the death in 2020 of actor Dennehy, who is remembered fondly as someone who spent considerable time getting to know the community during the shooting of the film from November 1981 to April 1982.
“Brian became one of the ‘locals’ when he was here,” local tourism promoter Brian Mckinney told the Hope Standard. “He was very personable and approachable.”
As well as its Rambo links, Hope has cashed in on its self-styled role as the “Chainsaw Carving Capital” of Canada. Some 80 wooden sculptures are dotted throughout the town’s tidy street grid, celebrating everything from axe-wielding lumberjacks to prickly prospectors to mythical sasquatches.
In August 2020, the gnarly Green Beret himself was given timber tribute with the unveiling of a Rambo statue at Memorial Park. Carved by Ryan Villiers of Edmonton, it has become a much-loved addition to the Hope Art Walk.
And just as every dog has its day, so does Rambo — celebrated every year on Sept. 18.
Canadian-born writer David Morrell, whose 1972 novel formed the basis of First Blood, could little have predicted how significant and enduring his roguish character would become. But for film fans, and those tasked with hyping Hope, it’s a tough act they’re keen to bleed for all its worth.