Rambo Statue and First Blood Filming Locations

A 9-foot bronze Rambo marks the town where Sylvester Stallone filmed the original 1982 action film

The 9-foot bronze statue of John Rambo stands near the Hope Visitor Centre on Water Avenue. It was installed in 2014 and has become the town's most photographed object, which is somewhat ironic given that the film it commemorates is about a traumatised veteran destroying the town that tries to arrest him. The sculptor captured Stallone's likeness from the 1982 film — shredded shirt, headband, the whole kit — and the statue is large enough that you notice it from the parking lot.

First Blood used Hope and the surrounding area extensively for location shooting. The town's jail, the streets of the downtown core, and the dense forest along nearby logging roads all appear in the film. The production also used the Coquihalla Canyon area. There is no formal walking tour, but the Visitor Centre has a map with the major locations. For anyone who has seen the film, walking around the downtown with that map is a decent way to spend an hour.

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The production of First Blood descended on Hope in 1981 with a crew of hundreds, transforming the quiet mountain town into a war zone. Stallone and director Ted Kotcheff used Hope's jail, its mountain roads, and the surrounding forests extensively. Locals still remember the shoot — some worked as extras, and the film put Hope on the map in a way no tourism campaign ever had. The statue was erected decades later as a formal acknowledgement of that unlikely pop-culture footnote.