Rambo/Trivia

• The third movie was banned in the USSR (the ban was lifted very quickly because of The Great Politics Mess-Up). The fourth is, unsurprisingly, banned in Burma.
• In Japan, where Rambo was indeed very popular, the word "rambo" can be translated as "senseless violence"
  • Likewise, in Finland, "Rambo" has become a generic word to describe a commando of any sort. So much so that many younger people are surprised to find out the word comes from the movies instead of the other way around.
• In Taiwan, any knife with a serrated blade back has come to be called a "Rambo Knife".
• Rambo is in fact named after a US Postal Service worker, who also went on to cultivate a type of apple that now bears his name.
  • His first name comes from the war song "When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again".
• Fake Russian
• Name's the Same: Part II has Marshall Murdock. The film was made at the same time a famous TV-show also about the Vietnam war was running that also had a character named Murdock; the writers probably named Marshall Murdock after him. In addition, Charles Napier, who played the Marshall in Rambo, even appeared on The A-team twice.
• What Could Have Been: Dustin Hoffman was the first choice for John Rambo with Mike Nichols directing. He turned down the role because he felt the script was too violent.
  • Actually, just about every Hollywood A-lister was considered for the role at one time or another (it was in Development Hell for years). And Kirk Douglas was attached to direct at one point.