First Blood - 1982

Anabasis N.V., Elcajo Productions

directed by Ted Kotcheff

Cast:

• John Rambo – Sylvester Stallone
• Sheriff Teasle – Brian Dennehy
• Col. Sam Trautman – Richard Crenna
• Deputy Kern – Bill McKinney
• Deputy Galt – Jack Starret
• Deputy Balford – Michael Talbot
• Deputy Ward – Chris Mulkey
• Mitch – David Caruso

Story: John J. Rambo is a Vietnam vet home from the war, on a mission to catch up with some of the people he served with. He's on foot, hasn't shaved for a while, traveling by foot or thumb, wearing a field jacket and carrying a duffel bag over his shoulder. He gets bad news, the last living member of his unit died from Agent Orange poisoning. So he's drifting when a small town sheriff sees him and politely but firmly escorts him to the other side of his town. But Rambo doesn't see why he should travel another 30 miles up the road to get a meal and turns around, so the Sheriff Teasle decides to arrest him for vagrancy. When he is being processed, one of the deputies, a sadistic bastard, decides to teach him a lesson and becomes abusive. Rambo has a flashback to a memory from Vietnam and explodes in a burst of fury, injuring several deputies and escaping into the mountains and woods outside of town. The Sheriff and his deputies pursue him into the woods, but when they try to capture him, they find out they are dealing with much more than a common ordinary veteran. Rambo is a Green Beret with several decorations, including the Congressional Medal of Honor. His job in enemy territory was to kill enemy troops. Period. He is a one man army who brings the town to its knees and teaches the Sheriff that abusing power is not the same as enforcing the law.

Review: The birth of the franchise and my favorite of the Rambo movies. Sylvester Stallone is not the super vet in this film, at least not physically. (He gets bigger and bigger as his career moves forward, check out The Expendables.) The acting in this film is straightforward and honest. The deputies are locals who don't have a lot of experience in dealing with violence, the sadistic jailer gets his comeuppance soon enough, and Brian Dennehy is the sheriff who realizes he probably screwed up, but doesn't want to admit it. How dare some drifter challenge him in his town! Stallone is the lost soul, the disenfranchised loner who returned from a war to be met with protestors instead of open arms. Richard Crenna (R.I.P.) portrays the would be mediator who tries to defuse the situation. Underneath all the violence, you have to remember that the character Rambo has done nothing wrong, and is being pursued unjustly. Underlying the movie is a statement about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and the way returning veterans are treated, even today. So while the adrenaline junkies among us usually praise the action in this film (and there is certainly some worthy action), most people tend to forget this film is a political statement that simply lays out the facts and lets you be the judge. Rated R for violence, language, and some disturbing images, this film is a collectible for any serious collection.