Hope welcomes people from around the world when Rambo: First Blood 40th anniversary celebrations take place over the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. One of the people coming to town is Patrick Stack, who played a small but memorable role in the legendary film.
Check out three more stories in the Hope Standard鈥檚 Rambo special section, which you can find on .
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Rambo: First Blood was a serious movie with knives and guns and a triggered Vietnam vet on the run from the law.
Inserted into that drama and tension is a humorous scene featuring Patrick Stack. In his role as Lt. Clinton Morgen, Stack leads a group of National Guardsmen into the woods in pursuit of Rambo. Though they outnumber him, Morgen鈥檚 men know they鈥檙e overmatched. When they pin him down at the entrance to a mining shaft, two of his men refuse Morgen鈥檚 order to move in.
鈥淩ambo! This is Lt. Clinton Morgen, National Guard leader. I鈥檓 giving you just three zero seconds to come on out!鈥� he yells, before asking one of his men where the rocket launcher is. One of Morgen鈥檚 men grabs the rocket launcher and scores a direct hit to the mine shaft entrance.
Moments later, assuming Rambo is dead (spoiler, he isn鈥檛), they pose for a celebratory pic.
Stack鈥檚 performance through the entire scene is perfect. He is hilariously oblivious/overconfident and the effect is akin to a mouse telling a tiger he鈥檚 coming to get him.
鈥淭hat was the intention of the director, Ted Kotcheff, to throw in a little comic relief to let the air out of the tire a little bit,鈥� Stack said. 鈥淚t was the very first movie role I had where I wasn鈥檛 saying 鈥楬ello鈥� or picking up somebody鈥檚 bag in the background, and it seems to be a moment in the film that people tend to remember. I鈥檝e got a lot of mileage out of what is ostensibly a pretty small part.
鈥淔orty years later and here we are, still talking about Lt. Clinton Morgen.鈥�
Stack was never in Hope for the filming of First Blood. His scene was shot in Vancouver, so when he comes to town for the 40th anniversary celebration, it鈥檒l be his first visit.
鈥淚鈥檓 very excited to be invited up, but my first reaction was, 鈥榃ait a minute. You couldn鈥檛 get anyone else?鈥欌�� Stack laughed. 鈥淏ut I鈥檓 honoured someone thought of me, and it鈥檚 going to be a lot of fun.鈥�
Stack admits he鈥檚 biased, but he believes First Blood was the best of the five Rambo films released between 1982 and 2019.
鈥淚n First Blood, the only character to die was Galt (played by Jack Starret), the cop who fell out of the helicopter, and that was almost accidental,鈥� Stack noted. 鈥淨uickly, the body count ramped up significantly with the rest of the Rambo films. First Blood relied mostly on story as opposed to the mayhem you see with most action movies, and that鈥檚 what made it stand out.鈥�
That and the performances of lead actors Sylvester Stallone (Rambo) and Stack鈥檚 good friend Brian Dennehy (Sheriff Will Teasle), who died last year. It was Dennehy who got Stack his role in the film.
鈥淭here were certain roles he was made for and this was one of them,鈥� Stack said. 鈥淗e could play heavy. He could play threatening. He could play 鈥榊ou better not cross this guy鈥� better than anybody. The chemistry between those two guys (Dennehy and Stallone), with the story line and Ted Kotcheff鈥檚 direction, really made the movie.鈥�
Stack wishes Dennehy could have joined him in Hope.
鈥淏rian was a very good friend to me for all the years I knew him and he is very sadly missed, and I think he would have thought this 40th anniversary celebration was pretty darn cool.鈥�
eric.welsh@theprogress.com
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