First Blood
Forever known as the movie that started the legend in cinema known as John Rambo, director Ted Kotcheff’s seminal 1982 action classic follows the ex-Vietnam vet as he drifts aimlessly across the Pacific Northwest before he comes to a small town to meet up with an old war buddy who has since passed on. As he decides he wants to get something to eat, he crosses paths with the town sheriff (Brian Dennehy) who offers him a ride and then informs him point-blank that he doesn’t want a guy like him wandering around his town. This scene in the police car is notable right off for its acting and writing: Yes, Dennehy is an extreme asshole for not wanting this long-haired vagrant type in his peaceful, quiet small town, but Dennehy underplays the character, explaining in an evenhanded, almost understandable way the reasons why Rambo is not welcome. Of course, things get worse for him and his deputies (including a young David Caruso) when Rambo decides to stand up to him and gets dragged off to jail in the process, as the hick cops and their treatment of him trigger memories of being tortured by the Viet Cong and he goes berserk, going on a rampage that (with one exception) nonetheless doesn’t result in any deaths. Regardless, despite the lack of real bloodshed, this is one of the most intense, briskly paced action films of the era, with an important statement to make in its final scenes about respecting our brave fighting men and women in the Armed Forces even if you don’t agree with the government or their reasons for going to war. The intensity of the first half is almost derailed by the entrance of Richard Crenna as Rambo’s old commanding officer: Given a dramatic entrance in his first scene, Crenna proceeds to pour on the hammy acting in much of his screentime, and plays Col. Trautman with a bit too much overdone flair. It’s interesting to note that Kirk Douglas was originally cast in the part, and filmed a couple of scenes, but pulled out of the film due to the decision to have Rambo survive at the end of the film (a departure from the book the movie was based on). All in all, it was a good thing the filmmakers stuck to their guns as the story ends with Stallone giving an overwrought (but effective) monologue about the disrespectful way he was treated upon returning home after experiencing first-hand the horrors of the battlefield, and the film’s overall message is driven home with emphasis. In the end one of the classic action flicks of its era, and the beginning of the run for a true American Icon…
9/10