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Ruckus

  • 1980
  • PG
  • 1h 33m
IMDb RATING
5.7/10
853
YOUR RATING
Ruckus (1980)
ActionDramaThriller

A Vietnam veteran passing through a small town is harassed by local bullies but he fights back, using his wartime skills, and triggers a full-scale police manhunt.A Vietnam veteran passing through a small town is harassed by local bullies but he fights back, using his wartime skills, and triggers a full-scale police manhunt.A Vietnam veteran passing through a small town is harassed by local bullies but he fights back, using his wartime skills, and triggers a full-scale police manhunt.

  • Director
    • Max Kleven
  • Writer
    • Max Kleven
  • Stars
    • Dirk Benedict
    • Linda Blair
    • Richard Farnsworth
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    5.7/10
    853
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Max Kleven
    • Writer
      • Max Kleven
    • Stars
      • Dirk Benedict
      • Linda Blair
      • Richard Farnsworth
    • 18User reviews
    • 11Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos20

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    Top cast21

    Edit
    Dirk Benedict
    Dirk Benedict
    • Kyle Hanson
    Linda Blair
    Linda Blair
    • Jenny Bellows
    Richard Farnsworth
    Richard Farnsworth
    • Sheriff Jethro Pough
    Matt Clark
    Matt Clark
    • Cece
    Jon Van Ness
    Jon Van Ness
    • Deputy Dave
    Taylor Lacher
    Taylor Lacher
    • Sarge
    Clifford A. Pellow
    • Homer
    • (as Cliff Pellow)
    Ben Bates
    Ben Bates
    • Big Ben
    Jerry Gatlin
    Jerry Gatlin
    • Bubba
    Bennie E. Dobbins
    • Joe
    • (as Benny Dobbins)
    Bobby Hughes
    • Bobby Bellows
    A.J. Blake
    • Sally the Barmaid
    Melanie Weeks
    • Counter Girl
    Patrick Connolly
    • Gas Station Attendant
    Bob Peeler
    • Farmer At Fair
    Ken DeGusta
    • Shooting Gallery Man
    Sam Johnson
    • Kind Man At Fair
    Jeannine Medina
    • Bus Driver
    • Director
      • Max Kleven
    • Writer
      • Max Kleven
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews18

    5.7853
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    Featured reviews

    8merlin-16

    Same story as First Blood

    It is the same story as in First blood with Sylvester Stallone, but this film is much better and the storyline has been a lot better. I like this film a lot and it is one of the best actionfilms I ever have seen. If you like it too send me a comment.
    brandonsites1981

    * * out of 4.

    Dick Bendict is a loner who still has trouble getting over the horrors he faced in the Vietnam war. All he wants to do is be by himself and try to move on, but a group of hoodlums take it upon themselves to terrorize him after a beautiful widow (Linda Blair) takes an interest to him.

    Well, you can give this credit as being the film that First Blood ripped off. It is entertaining and Richard Fransworth is excellent as always and Linda Blair turns in a rather appealing performance capturing the right balance between being lonely yet madly in love. This is one of her better vechiles, but other then Fransworth's and Blair's good turns there really isn't anything special or praticully distinguishable about this film.
    9crowes-18865

    Enjoy It As A Different & More Lighthearted Telling of First Blood

    I was too young when I first saw this movie to connect it to First Blood, knew they were similar but didn't realize until way later that this was likely born of the circulating First Blood script. Don't hold that against it though. While it does get much sillier and the repetition of the same song over and over is quite noticeable this movie is very much a product of its time and a great, fun flick from 1980. It's very much flawed but Dirk Benedict makes Kyle Hanson a very likeable protagonist. The villains are terrible, like rejects from a Smokey & The Bandit movie and the violence is more of the A-Team type with no one being injured beyond the likes of a schoolyard brawl but it is still a good time and I will always remember it as a childhood favorite. Check it out at least once and try to judge it on its own merit!
    8GOWBTW

    A tamed version of "First Blood".

    Two years before "First Blood", there's "Ruckus". A Vietnam veteran(Dirk Benedict who was fresh off from "Battlestar Galactica") arrives at a small town. He is trying to get back to civilization when the local rowdies decided to harass him. He uses his techniques from his military days to even the score. Dirk Benedict would years later play a lieutenant in the army TV show "The A-Team" where he is more of a slick than a soldier. Linda Blair plays a mother and widow of a Vietnam veteran who asked the veteran if he had known her husband. This movie is more of the comedic version of "First Blood". Not a satire. Just comedic. Yes, there's a lot of action, and a lot of slapstick. This movie is just plain funny. It has opened up a door to future entertainment. It was great fun. 3 out of 5 stars
    4Coventry

    He has a problem. No one else can help. Nobody can even find him. Maybe he could join ... The A-Team!

    The copy of "Ruckus" that I own (an old-fashioned VHS tape ... still the best collectible) features something I've never seen before, not even in all my many years as a cult-movie fanatic. Before the opening credits, there's a message on the screen stating: "Ruckus has a similar theme as the well-known Sylvester Stallone movie, but got released more than a year before First Blood". Ha! Seems to me the distributors were sick and tired of hearing their film was nothing but a lame imitation of Rambo. It's definitely true that "Ruckus" and "First Blood" have the same basic plot, namely that of a bewildered and traumatized Vietnam veteran who isn't welcome in a sleepy little town, and where the local rednecks attempt to chase him away.

    The resembling plot is where the comparison stops, though. "First Blood" is an intense and gripping action/drama, with complex characters and underlying messages, whereas "Ruckus" aims straight for slapstick and pretty much gets ruined by its combination of excessively dumb yokel characters and endless car chases to the tunes of banjo music. Dirk Benedict, in between his TV-successes "Battlestar Galactica" and "The A-Team" doesn't has to do much acting, as he's the strong silent type - mentally scarred by his experience as a POW - who likes to climb in trees and manufacture his own bow and arrows. The gorgeous Linda Blair is utterly wasted, unfortunately. The film doesn't have a few remarkable and unexpected strong points, I must admit. The two characters of which you assume they are the slimiest villains actually turn out to be completely anti-stereotypical. Richard Farnsworth (as the intelligent Sheriff) and Ben Johnson (as the town's rich industrialist) are guaranteed to surprise you.

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    Related interests

    Bruce Willis in Die Hard (1988)
    Action
    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama
    Cho Yeo-jeong in Parasite (2019)
    Thriller

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      To stay in character, Dirk Benedict felt it was important to remove himself from the rest of the cast and crew as much as possible during the shoot. Therefore he spoke as little as possible and secluded himself in his hotel room at night.
    • Goofs
      Shots of Kyle driving red pick-up that he escapes in are shown mirrored back-to-front in several shots - the steering wheel is clearly on the wrong side.
    • Quotes

      Jenny Bellows: [turns around and sees Kyle standing in her living room, gasps] Can I help you with something?

      Kyle Hanson: [points up on the wall] I didn't know your husband.

      Jenny Bellows: I told my father I didn't think you did.

    • Connections
      Featured in Logos from Around the World: United States of America (aka 'Murica) (2016)
    • Soundtracks
      WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HIM NOW?
      Written by Willie Nelson and Hank Cochran

      Sung by Janie Fricke

      Tree Publishing Co.

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    FAQ15

    • How long is Ruckus?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • March 1981 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • Vietnamese
    • Also known as
      • Big Ruckus in a Small Town
    • Filming locations
      • Woodland, California, USA
    • Production company
      • International Vision
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 33m(93 min)
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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