If Rambo 6 ever happened, there’s already a perfect director to tackle it who isn’t named Quentin Tarantino. The Rambo who appears in 1982’s First Blood is quite different from the one who would eventually become an action movie icon. First Blood’s Rambo is a Vietnam vet who launches a one-man war on a small town after being mistreated by a bullying sheriff. Despite the many explosions, chases and fights Rambo gets into, the only actual death in the movie is accidental.
In contrast, the Rambo seen in the subsequent four movies made up for lost time and killed villains by the dozens with arrows, machine guns and heavy artillery. In a strange way, First Blood feels out of step with how the Rambo movie franchise would evolve, as it’s a more grounded, semi-realistic action thriller. Quentin Tarantino caused a slight stir in 2021 by claiming if he simply wanted to make a good movie, he could just do a straight adaptation of First Blood’s original novel.
His fan-casting for this First Blood included Adam Driver as Rambo and Kurt Russell as the sheriff, but exciting a prospect as that is, it’s unlikely to happen. While Stallone seemingly hung up the bow and arrow with 2019’s Rambo: Last Blood, he’s left the door open slightly for Rambo 6, and he’s often returned to franchises he previously said he was finished with. He even mulled a Rambo 6 story concept exploring the character’s heritage, suggesting John could take refuge on an Indian reservation following the events of Last Blood. Should Stallone be tempted back for Rambo 6, director Coralie Fargeat might just be a perfect choice.
Coralie Fargeat’s brutal thriller Revenge from 2017 was inspired by the likes of Mad Max and First Blood, and the movie had the same gritty survivalist feel as the latter movie. In Revenge, a woman seeks vengeance on a trio of men following an assault, and just like First Blood’s Rambo, she barely has any dialogue when the main action kicks in. Revenge harkened back to the roots of the Rambo franchise, and even had homages like hero Jen self-stitching her wounds or using the landscape to her benefit. Revenge’s intense ending, action and sparse simplicity are what could make Coralie Fargeat the perfect Rambo 6 director.
Stallone himself has been largely steering the series – including directing the fourth entry in 2008 – but Rambo 6 could use a director with a distinct vision. Fargeat brought something unique to the genre with Revenge, and while she paid homage to the likes of First Blood, she made the subgenre her own. A Rambo movie has yet to be helmed by a woman either, and it would be very interesting to see what this traditionally very masculine series looked like from a female filmmaker’s lens. Of course, a Quentin Tarantino Rambo movie could be great fun, but the filmmaker is very unlikely to commit to it. In truth, a sixth entry itself is also doubtful, but a Rambo 6 directed by Coralie Fargeat has the potential to close out the series in (gruesome) style.
