First Blood (1982)

Genre

Action | Drama

Director

Ted Kotcheff

Country

USA

Cast

Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna, Brian Dennehy, Bill McKinney, Jack Starrett, Michael Talbott, Chris Mulkey, John McLiam, Alf Humphreys, David Caruso, David L. Crowley, Don MacKay

Storyline

Vietnam veteran John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) is pursued into the mountains surrounding a small town by a tyrannical sheriff (Brian Dennehy) and his deputies, forcing him to survive using his combat skills.

Opinion

I was expecting "First Blood" to be different. Actually, I don't know what exactly I was expecting, but what I found myself watching was not a simple action film, the regular Stallone film, but a deeper film. And I even ended up liking it.

First of all, even though it's simple and quite predictable, the storyline is actually believable. I know, there's a lot of crazy stuff going on. Second, what it has to say its very interesting. In fact it is not the typical action flick story, but it actually is a quite accurate portrayal of how veterans are treated. It's also a beautiful portrayal of the American society where defeats are not tolerated and victories only are allowed. 

"First Blood" therefore is quite dramatic and serious, but let's not forget this is still an action film, and it works well as such. The action sequences are indeed very well done, and they almost make you believe that Rambo could take down an entire town on his own. 

Also the beautiful thing about it is that it's easy to identify with Rambo. I know it sounds crazy, but it's easy to see Rambo as a good man that is just having a bad time. Sure, he reacts in the worst way, but after what he's been through, I suppose that's the only way.

The biggest surprise though was Sylvester Stallone. I surely wasn't expecting him to give such good performance and to execute the drama require by the role so well. The supporting cast also does a good job with Richard Crenna and Brian Dennehy both worth of a mention.