MEMORABLE QUOTES: RAMBO

The film First Blood helped establish the genre about war veterans being ticking time bombs - a cliche the media loves to perpetuate - especially if they are Special Forces. The Sly Stallone Rambo persona spun off a series of cornball action movies, but the first one was poignant. Thumbnail synopsis: ex-SF drifter comes to town. Small town cops mess with him. SF vet declares war on small town cops. Bodies stack up like cordwood. Moral of the story: do NOT f*ck with or piss off ex-SF vets. Here are some memorable lines:

Teasle: Whatever possessed God in heaven to make a man like Rambo?
Trautman: God didn't make Rambo. I made him!



Teasle: He was just another drifter who broke the law!
Trautman: Vagrancy wasn't it? That's gonna look real good on his grave stone in Arlington: Here lies John Rambo, winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor, survivor of countless incursions behind enemy lines. Killed for vagrancy in Jerkwater, USA.
Teasle: Now don't give me any of that crap Trautman. Do you think Rambo was the only guy who had a tough time in Vietnam? He killed a police officer for Christ's sake!
Trautman: You're goddamn lucky he didn't kill all of you.

Trautman: I don't think you understand. I didn't come to rescue Rambo from you. I came here to rescue you from him.
Teasle: Well, we all appreciate your concern Colonel, I will try to be extra careful!
Trautman: I'm just amazed he allowed any of your posse to live.
Teasle: Is that right?
Trautman: Strictly speaking, he slipped up. You're lucky to be breathing.
Teasle: That's just great. Colonel, you came out here to find out why one of your machines blew a gasket!
Trautman: You don't seem to want to accept the fact you're dealing with an expert in guerrilla warfare, with a man who's the best, with guns, with knives, with his bare hands. A man who's been trained to ignore pain, ignore weather, to live off the land, to eat things that would make a billy goat puke. In Vietnam his job was to dispose of enemy personnel. To kill! Period! Win by attrition. Well Rambo was the best.



Teasle: Are you telling me that 200 of our men against your boy is a no-win situation for us?
Trautman: You send that many, don't forget one thing.
Teasle: What?
Trautman: A good supply of body bags.

Rambo: I could have killed 'em all, I could kill you. In town you're the law, out here it's me. Don't push it. Don't push it or I'll give you a war you won't believe. Let it go. Let it go.