Define cultural impact however you please.
To me, it’s Rambo even though Rocky had more movies. I think that describing someone as a Rambo would be immediately understood while calling them a Rocky wouldn’t. Part of this is obviously due to the rarity of the name Rambo compared to Rocky.
I’d say that Rambo (esp. the later gung-ho films) defined an archetype in a way that Rocky didn’t.
Rocky was a better character, but Rambo had more impact yes.
Rambo didn’t have a theme song. Rambo doesn’t rock arenas. There’s no competing with the theme from Rocky.
Rocky, I think. The noble, working class underdog who overcomes adversity. People still run up the Rocky steps every day in Philly. They still play Rocky music at sporting events.
Sylvester Stallone is a one man cultural icon in and of himself.
Rocky, because of his friend the cartoon moose Bullwinkle.
And he has his on ice cream flavor.
On a road, no less!
Rambo has my vote. I think the plots were more varied and, as one poster mentioned, the Rambo description has had a far greater effect.
But would most people today know what the term “Rambo” means? I’m not sure. I didn’t even know that the character had been revived in the past decade. Though the point about having ever been a named archetype is compelling, it also feels completely stuck in the Eighties for me.
TLDR: I’m torn.
Rambo never had his own Broadway musical.
(from the creators of Seussical, no less!)
IMO, they have about the same cultural impact.
There’s a Rocky statue at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, atop the ‘Rocky’ steps. Statues of fictional characters aren’t all that uncommon, but there’s no Rambo statue, AFAIK. Rocky for the win.
Rambo had enough impact to become a word in the dictionary. Beats some statue.
I can think of 1 Alien named after “Rocky” but 0 named after Rambo. Also 1 extra solar planet named Adrien. Rocky for the interstellar win!
In the mid-90’s, I spent about seven weeks traveling around Indonesia. At the time, I was in pretty good shape. Because of the intense equatorial heat, I was almost always in shorts and a tank top, and almost always wearing a bandana, folded up into the form of a sweatband, around my (fore)head.
Everywhere my traveling companion and I went – and I mean everywhere – the little kids would all shout “RAMBO!!!” at me.
Not one time did anybody refer to me as Rocky.
Would this have been different if I were – instead of the bandana – rocking boxing gloves? Maybe. Whomst can say.
QED
Definitely Rambo. The word became literally synonymous with an action hero in the 80s. I have never seen the movie but the name and likeness are instantly recognisable to me. You literally just need to wrap a school tie round your head and you are “pretending to be Rambo”.
How about, who would win in a fight?
Unfair question, really. It’s like asking “who would win in a fight- a lion or a shark?” Depends on whether the fight took place on land or in water.
In the card of Rocky v. Rambo:
Pro boxing bout, playing by Marquess of Queensberry Rules? My money’s on Rocky.
MMA-style cage match? Probably Rambo.
Two go into the woods, only one comes out? Definitely Rambo.
Tough call, and I don’t think I’m going to pick. I will say, though, that most of the cultural impact of Rambo doesn’t seem to resemble the original character of John Rambo. Clumsily summed up, Rambo just wants to make things right. In modern American culture, however, Rambo is a tough guy who indiscriminately lays waste to everything and everybody.