First Blood

First Blood (1982)

Runtime: 93 minutes

Directed by: Ted Kotcheff

Starring: Sly Stallone, Brian Dennehy, Richard Crenna, Bill McKinney

From: Anabasis N.V.

While I was thinking of something appropriate to watch for Veterans Day I realized I wasn't sure if I had seen this movie and reviewed it for the movie blog or not. I looked and apparently I did not so I figured it was time for me to give it another viewing. I have seen it a few times before and the first time was actually on the big screen via something that Fathom Events (or a company like it) did one night. It was an obvious DVD projection but that was mostly OK with me.

I'll steal the plot description from Letterboxd as it greatly tickled me: “When former Green Beret John Rambo is harassed by local law enforcement and arrested for vagrancy, the Vietnam vet snaps, runs for the hills and rat-a-tat-tats his way into the action-movie hall of fame. Hounded by a relentless sheriff, Rambo employs heavy-handed guerilla tactics to shake the cops off his tail.”

To think that this was based on a book by David Morrell that was in quite a few ways different from what ended up on screen (although I am sure he isn't complaining as he must have made a lot of money due to having rights to the character once it became an 80's pop culture icon later on) and that John Rambo ended up becoming an America F*ck Yeah killing machine in the sequels... 

As in this movie he's just a highly decorated soldier from Vietnam who was in a small Washington town to visit an old war pal-who ended up having passed away-and as some soldiers like him had problems after getting back from 'Nam and he was a wanderer/drafter & he experienced problems and he reaches his breaking point due to mistreatment. Things changed with the sequel, for sure.

I am sure that some would much rather watch the sequels and enjoy him slaughtering even Commie bastards, but I also enjoy watching this movie as it's more serious and besides the action and suspense you get from people trying to hunt him down and him using his military training to take them down, there's also pathos and seriousness as they deal with the issues that some Vietnam veterans had to endure once they came back, from getting disrespected to literally being spat on. It's not a mindless sort of film by any means. I mean, Rambo doesn't even want to kill anyone but things escalate and due to circumstances some people do die. All the acting is good overall; yes, even from Stallone, someone who gets criticized a lot.

Overall, it's fine entertainment and I am glad I saw it again. If you see it on disc, Morrell does a commentary on the film and it's always interesting to listen to. He seemed fair to what the movie is compared to the book. The only other Rambo movie I've reviewed here was the 4th one from '08. Eventually I'll watch the jingoistic greatness of Parts II and III.

I'll be busy with a few things this week so I won't be back until Friday night.