Many may not recall Sylvester Stallone starring in a Christmas movie, but there is one film under his belt that secretly falls in the genre. Interestingly, however, the Stallone Christmas movie is a far cry from Arnold Schwarzenegger’s well-known feel-good holiday flick, Jingle All the Way. In their long and prosperous careers as actors, both Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone have experimented with different movie genres. While they have mostly played leading roles in action films, they also have other genres like comedy, sci-fi, drama, and thrillers in their portfolios.
The two have even collaborated in several movies, like Escape Plan and The Expendables 3. However, despite being two of the biggest stars of the same era of cinema, Stallone and Schwarzenegger have followed significantly different paths as actors. The variance in their acting journey seems more evident when their Christmas movies are considered. While Stallone's only Christmas movie is nothing like the regular fare of holiday flicks, Schwarzenegger's Jingle All the Way fits right into the category.
First Blood Is The Closest Thing To A Sylvester Stallone Christmas Movie
It Isn't Die Hard But Can Still Fall In The Movie Genre
Arnold Schwarzenegger's Christmas classic, Jingle All the Way, qualifies as a typical holiday movie because of its lighthearted tone and family-friendly themes. Like most holiday flicks, the movie also walks through the day-to-day festive snags of a working-class man who competes with many parents to get his hands on a Turbo Man action figure for his son. Beneath its feel-good narrative, Jingle All the Way can also be seen as a critique of capitalism and how big companies exploit the middle class during the festive season. When it comes to First Blood, however, it is not as straightforward with its Christmas elements.
Like every holiday movie protagonist, Sylvester Stallone's Rambo, too, hopes to spend Christmas with his old friend.
First Blood is set in December, and festive decorations can also be spotted in the backdrop of many of its scenes. Despite this, at first glance, no one would label it as a holiday film, given how it has not been made for family viewing and seems to have nothing in common with typical Christmas movies like Jingle All the Way. However, even though First Blood does not directly draw attention to the holiday season, it can be seen as a stealth Christmas movie because of how it dabbles with themes of hope, kindness, and the escalation of violence.
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First Blood: All The Real-Life Crimes Committed By John Rambo
John Rambo was no bad guy, but he committed a lot of crimes in First Blood that would have thrown him in front of a judge and jury.
Like every holiday movie protagonist, Sylvester Stallone's Rambo, too, hopes to spend Christmas with his old friend. However, his hope is shattered when he learns that his friend passed away. Ironically, moments later, the character enters a town called Hope, where his holiday takes an even darker turn when a local sheriff mistreats him. Heartwarming moments of kindness are often primary drivers in typical feel-good Christmas movies. In First Blood, however, a moment of unkindness is what escalates the drama into violence and chaos, making it an anti-thetic Christmas film.
First Blood’s Stealth Christmas Setting Makes It An Unusual Holiday Movie
It Seems To Reverse Many Holiday Movie Tropes
First Blood's sequels turned the Sylvester Stallone franchise into a full-blown one-dimensional action series that focuses less on meaningful storytelling and more on gritty action. Owing to this, it can be easy to forget how brilliantly First Blood portrays a former soldier's PTSD, especially in its final moments when Rambo delivers a poignant speech about veterans feeling lost after returning home. During these moments, it is hard not to see First Blood as a Christmas tragedy that highlights the importance of empathy and togetherness during the holiday season.
The studio behind First Blood wanted to cut out Rambo's final rant, but Sylvester Stallone ensured it stayed in the film because he felt that society needed to hear about the struggles faced by veterans.
Even misfits, like Edward Scissorhands, and grumpy characters, like The Grinch and Mr. Scrooge, find peace during Christmas in their respective narratives. In First Blood's opening arc, Rambo seems to seek something similar as he enters Hope to get himself a meal. Unfortunately, unlike Arnold Schwarzenegger's Jingle All The Way, Sylvester Stallone's First Blood unfolds more as a sad Christmas tale where mercy and understanding are in short supply when characters like Sheriff Will Teasle play the devil, refusing to help those in need.
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First Blood is an action-thriller film starring Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo, a Vietnam War veteran who drifts into Hope, Washington, in search of an old buddy. However, he is mistreated by the local sheriff, leading to a violent confrontation that sets off a chain of events, forcing Rambo to rely on his combat skills to survive.
Director Ted Kotcheff
Release Date October 22, 1982
Studio(s) Carolco Pictures , Anabasis N.V. , Elcajo Productions , Cinema 84 , Orion Pictures
Runtime 93 Minutes
Budget 15000000.0
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Jingle All The Way is a Christmas-themed comedy film by director Brian Levant, released in 1996. After a business-focused father fails to procure a wildly popular toy for his son before Christmas, he must head on a city-wide hunt to find one. His hunt is complicated further when he's forced to go head-to-head with a postal worker on the same quest, leading to a series of ever-escalating events during the holiday season.
Director Brian Levant
Release Date November 22, 1996
Studio(s) 1492 Pictures
Writers Randy Kornfield
Runtime 89 Minutes
Budget $75 Million
English (US) ·