First Blood

this is certainly not the greatest film ever made. in fact, it's plot is predictable and formulaic, and every character is two-dimensional.

having said that, this is a film that is often dismissed as a macho action flick with no redeeming feature. these are opinions i would defy.

while the only imagination put into the film seems to be the various ways in which John Rambo can kill people, the basic theme is nevertheless a pretty strong one. this is not meant to be a Fellini-esque commentary on life, the universe, and everything.

the three most important characters in the film are all played by pros. you have Stallone's John Rambo, Dennehy's Sheriff Teasle, and Richard Crenna's Colonal Trautman.

Brian Dennehy hasn't missed a beat in his entire career; he's been a superb character actor since i've been watching movies, and - like Michael Caine - he always puts everything into each performance. his Sheriff Teasle is menacing, bigoted, and protective. he comes across like a man who's marked his territory and won't permit intrusions. i won't say he's brilliant, but he is absolutely believable as a small-town sheriff faced with a situation so far out of his own experience that he cannot figure out why he can't solve the problem.

Crenna is a patriarchial character, such as he often seems to play. he gives the Spec Ops Colonal Trautman enough soul to make him seem human, and enough blood and guts to make him seem like a veteran soldier.

of course, the centrepiece to the film is Sylvester Stallone. Stallone always suffers from the perception engendered by his appearance. he is a somewhat short fellow with a body of bulging unpronoucable muscles, and a sad bassett-hound face that looks like it was designed by someone out of "Oliver Twist."

but the man can flat-out act. he gives John Rambo depth and reality. he comes across as far too fit and far too silent because Rambo is far too fit and far too silent. like his character in "Copland," Stallone is playing a guy who pretty much wants to be left alone and is caught up by a bunch of people around him who are overly enthused by their own status.

while i can understand the dismissal of this film as just a patriotic action sop, i cannot also accept that Stallone does not give a good performance. the man has been characatured; he's an easy target. he's a really built short-guy. but Stallone's intelligence and creativity drove his first film, "Rocky," and neither quality has deserted him since. like Michael Caine, he does seem to take any old lame role offered to him. but he always gets paid, and he always puts everything into his performances.

i'll never campaign for this film to be considered a "great" film, but i think i'll always defend it's star as a guy who works too hard too often to get the such little credit.

i guess the best way i can put it is, i watched "First Blood," and i believed him. i believed Stallone.

last time i checked, that is what an actor is supposed to do.

Engrossing action thriller about John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone), a Vietnam vet and Medal of Honor recipient, who is now a drifter haunted by his experiences in the war. While traveling through a small town in Washington, Rambo is arrested by Sheriff Will Teasle (Brian Dennehy) for being a vagrant. When a sadistic deputy abuses Rambo, he lashes out violently and escapes custody, fleeing into the mountains. As a manhunt is underway to capture Rambo, his mentor and former commanding officer Colonel Sam Trautman (Richard Crenna) shows up to try and prevent a bloodbath.

Probably the best Stallone movie behind the first Rocky. Great action, yes, but also a terrific script and some really good performances that elevate this above so many other action movies. I've read David Morrell's original novel and I have to say this is a case where the movie adaptation is just superior in every way. In the book, the Teasle character is more of the good guy and Rambo is a psycho killer that has to be put down like a dog. So kudos to Michael Kozoll, William Sackheim, and Sylvester Stallone for making the changes they did to the plot and for all the quotable lines their script gives us. As for the acting, there isn't a bad note anywhere in this. Even the supporting players are excellent. Stallone and Dennehy knock it out of the park. Richard Crenna has arguably his most famous role here as Colonel Trautman. He gets many of the best lines.

Great score from Jerry Goldsmith with a memorable theme song. Ted Kotcheff's direction is solid. The action is fantastic but, as I said, it's so much more than just a popcorn movie. It has something to say about the Vietnam war and how the soldiers were treated when they returned home. This won't sit well with all types but I appreciate what they were going for here and thought they did very well with it. Had there never been another Rambo movie, this one would still be a classic. But there were more sequels to come, all action movies of varying degrees of quality but none quite as good as this one.

John Rambo (BAFTA winner Sylvester Stallone) is a fairly reserved and sensitive guy, a man who has seen and lived the horrors of the Vietnam War. He returns to the good old United States of America to find his only friend has died. You can sympathise with him and when small- town sheriff (Brian Dennehy) takes a needless dislike to him and his heavy handed deputies mistreat Rambo you can see why Rambo is sent over the edge.

In retrospect, unfortunately the sequels turned John J Rambo into 'Rambo' the icon who relies more on an M-16 to get him out of trouble. In First Blood Rambo utilises the teachings from Col. Trautman (Richard Crenna) his war training and combat skills to stay alive and outwit his pursuers.

With less guns and explosions director Ted Kotcheff competently builds the tension and suspense and you get the feeling Rambo may not make it till the end. The locations are wonderfully atmospheric - foggy, earthly capturing the true outdoors. Stallone, Crenna and Dennehy are on form and the movie has a strong supporting cast that includes David Caruso in an early role as Deputy Mitch. Underpinning all this is Jerry Goldsmith's memorable score.

Rambo First Blood is a grounded drama and action must see.

This is a truly unique movie that quickly became obscured due to the later sequels. It tells the story of a man who survived one hell, only to return home despised and forsaken because of it. There was a time when America didn't quite know what to think of the lost war, and so it was forgotten - and the men who came out of it as well. Rambo finds he cannot survive this war, because it is still going on within him.

Finally, pushed too far by a small town sheriff, Rambo returns to the only thing he can relate to. War. Yet it is a war he almost mercifully wages on the macho egotistical deputies and week end warriors that pursue. To potentially misquote Rambo :

"I coulda killed them all, I could have killed you. In town you're the law, out here it's me. Let it go..."

The adaptation of this novel to the big screen is a great accomplishment. The film is not only the beginning of one of the greatest action trilogies of all-time, but it charts the developments of its characters, something rarely done by an action movie. "First Blood" is a moving story about the realities of post-Vietnam America and is very underrated as a film.