The town where one of Hollywood North鈥檚 first blockbusters was filmed now has a permanent red cedar reminder of the industry鈥檚 beginnings. And the carving, of Sylvester Stallone鈥檚 character John J. Rambo, is officially Sly-approved according to the man himself.
On Instagram, Stallone posted that he was very proud of the 鈥渕assive鈥� Rambo statue installed in Hope, 鈥渆xactly where we shot First Blood.鈥� He also gave a shout out to carver Ryan Villiers, who was commissioned to take on the reincarnation of Rambo鈥檚 iconic look in red cedar.
Villiers, an Edmonton-based chainsaw carver, has made a name for himself in the industry by taking on lifelike carvings of Don Cherry and Norm from Cheers. It was these carvings that caught the eye of Hope councillor and leader with Communities in Bloom Victor Smith, who commissioned Villiers for this project.
The process began with a lot of Googling of Rambo in different angles 鈥� Villiers estimates he had two to three hundred screenshots on his phone. Then it was about scaling, getting the proper proportions which he has modeled on his own frame.
Throughout the creative process, Villiers heard from Sly鈥檚 agent after he had seen his progress on the piece. Stallone was shown the photos of the carving when it was still just bare wood, and loved it his agent said in a text message. 鈥淪o that was icing on the cake for me,鈥� Villiers said.
The only question the agent had, allegedly from Sly himself, was around the stature of the art piece. The carving, Villiers answered, stands 6 foot 1 inch tall.
鈥淔irst Blood fans have been waiting for this moment for almost 30 years,鈥漵aid local tourism promoter Bryan McKinney on the day of the unveiling of the piece Aug. 14. Fans of the franchise always wonder when they visit Hope and its many chainsaw carvings, McKinney said, where the Rambo carving is.
And with the piece now installed, McKinney is also able to push back against the digs from his friends in Philadelphia who have their own bronze statue of Rocky Balboa in their city.
鈥淭his day is for the fans, the millions of them, that are around the globe and I鈥檓 not lying, it鈥檚 a little bit of an emotional day for sure,鈥� McKinney reflected on the unveiling. 鈥淲e often like to say, you know what, the co-star of this film is Hope, B.C. and a lot of the fans they come to our town because of the way the town looked on screen.鈥�
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