Quentin Tarantino expressed interest in remaking the original Rambo movie Reservoir Dogs, all of his work features recurring motifs designed to inform eagle-eyed fans they are taking place in a shared world.
Not every Tarantino project fits in this cinematic universe, however. 1997’s Tarantino’s canceled Star Trek movie would likely not have overlapped with the canon of his earlier efforts since it would be part of a pre-existing franchise’s mythology. However, one project that the director recently teased could tie into his cinematic universe—his proposed remake of First Blood.
Like the novel it's based on, First Blood was a far darker project than the jingoistic later sequels of the franchise. The story revolved around a troubled veteran waging war against a small town’s corrupt sheriff department, eventually culminating in the death of the scarred antihero. The Stallone movie adaptation cut this bleak coda, prompting a string of sequels that turned Rambo into an increasingly ludicrous he-man action hero and glamorized warfare, in a direct contradiction to the novel’s anti-war themes. Tarantino’s proposed Rambo remake, discussed on The Big Picture podcast, would have brought back the brutal ending and stayed true to the David Morrell book, and there are also plenty of ways the project could also have been integrated into the director’s existing universe. There’s a lot of potential overlap between the helmer’s Rambo re-do and the Tarantino universe, particularly in his retelling of US history—both international and domestic.
Hitler Was Assassinated By The US In Inglorious Basterds
While the Allies won WWII, actually killing Hitler (as the heroes of Oliver Stone’s iconic Platoon - as a dark hour in the nation’s history. As such, Tarantino may want to rewrite the war’s history as he has already done with Sharon Tate’s murder and WWII’s conclusion, all the while bringing back characters who viewers have already seen in his earlier hits.
Christopher Walken’s Pulp Fiction Character Was A POW
Christopher Walken’s Captain Koons only appears in Pulp Fiction for a few minutes, but his vivid description of hiding an heirloom somewhere intimate when he was taken as POW leaves an undeniable impression on the viewers. According to that 1994 movie, Koons fought in the Vietnam war and was a POW in the same camp as Butch Coolidge’s father, which could easily give him a canon connection to fellow veteran John Rambo. However, serving alongside the father of Django Unchained, thus linking that movie to the same shared universe. As such, Koons appearing in Tarantino’s First Blood project would connect both Pulp Fiction and Django Unchained to the movie—and there’s yet another connection still to be drawn.
Cliff Booth Is A Fellow Veteran
Tarantino’s shared universe. Not only that, but much like Hitler’s assassination sends historical ripples throughout American history, saving the life of Sharon Tate from the Manson family could have lessened the war’s impact by ensuring average Americans weren’t as disillusioned with the “give peace a chance” ethos of the ‘60s.
for anti-Vietnam war protests was inevitably shaken by the Manson murders, as the movement was viewed by many of the public to be connected with the hippie movement which Manson was seen as a representative (which was ironic, given that he was a far-right zealot with ties to the CIA). As such, the public could have been swayed to an end to the conflict seen in Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket had there been less anti-hippie sentiment and suspicion towards activists in the cultural environment. This lessened suspicion could have been achieved by Booth brutally beating the Manson family during their thwarted attack on Tate’s home in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood’s climax, neutralizing the perceived threat of hippies and bringing Rambo and company home from Vietnam earlier.
Why Tarantino’s Rambo Remake May Not Exist In HIs Cinematic Universe
However, despite all this potential rewriting of history and canon connections to earlier works by the director, there’s a chance Tarantino’s Rambo remake may not even take place in his cinematic world. Even if the movie does someday come to fruition - which is unlikely - it might not occupy a space in the Tarantino universe alongside Pulp Fiction, Get Shorty Elmore Leonard world, rather than Tarantino’s sprawling cinematic canon, and the same might reasonably be expected of the director’s First Blood remake since the movie would be an adaptation rather than an original outing. In any case, a Rambo remake would still be an interesting addition to the director’s canon—whether or not it ties into said canon directly.
