FIRST BLOOD

The only Rambo film I had seen prior to this was the fourth (confusingly entitled 'Rambo') which is nothing to write home about, but I felt I should give this first film in the franchise a go since it was a huge commercial hit and the critics didn't hate it.

Assuming this film is accurate it was a shock to me how badly Vietnam veterans were treated at this time (early 1980s).  

John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) trudges weary and hungry into a Pacific Northwest town (ironically named Hope) somewhat downhearted because he’s just learned that an ex-comrade he was hoping to reconnect with has died of cancer.

You might think the locals would be friendly, but no, not a bit of it - straightaway the sheriff makes it clear that ‘his sort’ is not welcome by driving him to the town limits and telling him that there’s a diner 30 miles up the highway.

When Rambo then starts back into town he’s arrested on a made-up charge, and then abused at the local station. This triggers his PTSD, causing him to erupt into action, escaping into the local woods.

Thereafter the film is a battle of wits between Rambo and sheriff Weasle (Brian Dennehy) and an exponentially increasing number of law enforcement officers.

It’s a one-sided battle given that Rambo is a highly skilled Green Beret, an expert at guerrilla warfare with the battle scars to prove it, whereas the men hunting him are a remarkably ill-disciplined bunch of trigger happy idiots.  They have as much chance of laying hands on him as did US soldiers have of defeating the Vietcong.  

At the halfway point the third character in this drama enters, Colonel Trautman (Richard Crenna) who trained Rambo and who was his commander and father figure.  When he talks about Rambo’s almost superhuman abilities it’s hard not to draw a comparison with Jason Bourne, another damaged killing machine.

Trautman tries in vain to warn Weasle as to what he’s up against but the latter is not the type to give up that easily.  

The last 20 minutes are fun, when Rambo returns to the town (earlier described by Weasle as a boring place) and proceeds to wreak havoc, including an impressive series of explosions. 

When he inevitably overcomes Weasle he refrains from killing him but only at Trautman’s behest.

There’s a final moving scene, before Rambo is arrested, where he breaks down in front of Trautman and shows us how traumatised he is.  The arrest itself makes for a very subdued ending after all the mayhem before it.

There are only three characters of note, and the actors concerned all give decent performances. Stallone in particular is totally convincing and it’s hard to imagine anyone else in the role. That being said, during the film’s long gestation period all manner of possible directors and lead actors were considered, some more unlikely than others (Mike Nichols? Dustin Hoffman?)

Of the thirteen characters in the Wikipedia cast list none are women, it’s that sort of film.  And a very American one in how prevalent the gun culture is, something one takes for granted in this kind of thing but which would be unthinkable in a European film.

Stallone was concerned that this film was so bad it would do serious damage to his career.  In fact of course it was a great success which launched four sequels.

It's an entertaining action film with a serious issue at its core, but I wouldn't put it any higher than that.

RATING: ✓ Cheers