First Blood

First Blood. 1982 Anabasis N.V. & Orion Pictures.
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna, Brian Dennehy
Director: Ted Kotcheff
Buy First Blood Ultimate Edition from Amazon.

There are some films, and some movie genres that I'm not too wild about, and the Rambo series fits under this category. There is one way to get me to change my mind, and that usually involves Wal-Mart selling certain titles for five bucks.

Anywho...

John Rambo (Stallone) is a former member of an elite U.S. Army Special Forces unit, who was awarded a Medal of Honor for his service in Vietnam. Unfortunately, he's having great difficulty readjusting to civilian life. We see him searching for a friend of his, unaware that he died a year before from Agent Orange exposure. Rambo is now the last remaining member of his unit. Making his way to the small town of Hope, Washington, where he is promptly shown the door by a hardass sheriff Will Teasle (Dennehy), who makes it no secret that he despises "drifters". Rambo defies his order, and starts to make his way back into town, only to be arrested. Non-compliant while in custody, Rambo finds himself subjected to police brutality, and has flashbacks to his P.O.W. days, before escaping after the officers attempt to dryshave him with a straight razor. Stealing a motorcycle, Rambo speeds off into the wilderness, making his way high enough in the mountains that the police have to pursue him on foot. Teasle's head deputy spots him from a helicopter and tries to gun him down from the air. Rambo throws a rock in self defense, sending the pilot falling to his death. Teasle himself is unaware that his deputy tried to kill Rambo, and vows revenge.

Teasle's other deputies pursue Rambo into the woods, completely out of their element, especially after they learn about Rambo's combat experience and war hero status. Rambo disables them with guerrilla tactics, but he does not kill them. Teasle is confronted by Rambo, who warns him to back off before he retreats back into the forest. The National Guard is called in, along with Colonel Samuel Trautman (Crenna), who takes credit for training Rambo. Trautman is surprised to find the deputies are still alive, and suggests that they let Rambo go and find him after the situation calms down, but Teasle will not give in. Rambo outwits the National Guard, and hijacks a military truck, which he uses to destroy much of the town of Hope. Returning to the police station, Rambo injures Teasle, and prepares to finish him off when Trautman appears to talk him down. After his now-famous rant about the horrors of war and being unable to readjust to normal life, Rambo surrenders to Trautman. Don't worry, he'll be back in First Blood, Part 2, and eventually, his own syndicated cartoon series.

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