It's easy to forget that this Spartan, violent film, which begat the Rambo series, was such a big hit in 1982 because it was a good movie. Green Beret vet John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) wanders into the wrong small town to find a fellow 'Nam buddy and gets the living heck kicked out of him by the local law enforcement (led by Brian Dennehy). The vet strikes back the only way he knows how, leading to a visceral, if unrealistic, flight and fight through the local mountains. Based on the 1972 novel by David Morrell, this film saved Stallone's then-foundering career and... the Rambo character became the inspiration for countless political cartoons. But this film is Deliverance without the moral ambiguity. --Keith SimantonThe Rambo trilogy is also available on DVD as a complete set. [show more]
The story of disillusioned Vietnam vet John Rambo, retuning home an embittered, shattered man only to have to contend with the very brand of obtuse, red-neck degeneracy that probably supported the invasion to begin with;"First Blood" stands head and shoulders above its sequels and is a master class in outsider cinema. I often wonder how Steve McQueen (the original choice to play Rambo) would"ve fared; I know McQueen was drawn to the story as told in David Morell"s hard-hitting novel, and I think he would"ve bought a laconic cool to the character, albeit in a 1970s kind of way. The mind games and desperate, survivalist duel between Rambo and the cops (led by an on form Brian Dennehy) is mesmerising, with the ex-Green Beret taking on the mantle of his former adversaries (i.e. the Viet Cong) with the powers that be representing imperialism (i.e. America).
They don't make em' like this anymore: hard as nails action with a message. A must own.
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