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First Blood
Rambo: First Blood / Rambo 1
USA 1982
produced by Buzz Feitshans, Mario Kassar (executive), Andrew G. Vajna (executive) for Anabasis, Elcajo Productions/Carolco
directed by Ted Kotcheff
starring 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, Charles A. Tamburro, David Petersen, Craig Huston, Patrick Stack, Stephen E. Miller, Raimund Stamm, Robert Metcalfe, Stephen Dimopoulos, Bruce Greenwood, Earl Klein, Danny Wozna, Peter Lonstrup, Mike Winlaw, Donald Adams, David Menzies, Frank Richter, Grahman L. Galativk, Ian Hutchinson, Amy Alexander, Gary Hetherington, Alex Kliner, R.G. Miller
screenplay by Michael Kozoll, William Sackheim, Sylvester Stallone, based on the novel by David Morrell, music by Jerry Goldsmith
Rambo
review by Mike Haberfelner
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All drifter John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) wanted to do when he
entered a rural small town in nowhere, USA, is to get a bite to eat - but
he's intercepted by Sheriff Teasle (Brian Dennehy) who escorts him out of
town, as he claims people like him aren't welcome in a community like
this. But Rambo is stubborn, and re-enters the town - to be arrested for
vagrancy. The arresting officers aren't exactly gentle with him, which
awakens memories from his time in the Vietnam war - and he beats the lot
of them to a pulp and escapes into the neighbouring woods. Now Sheriff
Teasle isn't one to let things like this go lightly, so he and some of his
deputies try to track him down. And one deputy, Galt (Jack Starrett), whom
Rambo had been especially rough on, tries to shoot and kill Rambo from a
helicopter - but falls from the helicopter to his death when Rambo throws
a rock at it in pure self defense. So now, at least for Sheriff Teasle,
Rambo's a murderer and this now officially is a manhunt. Thing is. Rambo's
very capable when it comes to fighting enemies outnumbering him, and he
puts up traps to incapacitate Teasle and his men without killing them, in
an attempt to convince Teasle to give up - but fact is, Rambo only makes
things worse, as Teasle calls on the National Guard and sheriff
departments from neighbouring counties to help with the search - and he
receives a visit from Colonel Trautman (Richard Crenna), the man who
trained him for the war a s a Special Forces operative, the man who has
seen to it that he's the fighting machine Teasle and company have
witnessed. Trautman offers his assistance, but initially, Teasle isn't
interested - and soon enough it seems Rambo's finished when a squad of the
National Guard blow up the entrance to a mine with Rambo inside. But Rambo
has survived the blast and is quite capable finding another exit from the
mine, and now it's payback time: Rambo steals an army truck, blows up a
gas station, incapacitates the town's power supply, and zeroes in on the
Sheriff office, with Teasle inside ... Now Sylvester Stallone
was one of the action superstars of the 1980s, and the Rambo-series
sure helped to cement his status - and yet the series' first chapter First
Blood is less reminiscent of action mainstream from the 1980s and
actually more with the previous decade's New Hollywood: Sure, John
Rambo, supersoldier, doesn't exactly sound like a 1970s anti-establishment
character, but his image of an outsider and anti-hero, a man driven and
tormented (both externally and internally), along with a certain kind of
realism later films of the series lacked and a one-against-society
attitude all starkly contrast the usual 1980s action fare. But that said,
the film's still exciting enough and ticks all the boxes when it comes to
action - but it can also be seen as a character study, and Sylvester
Stallone really fits the role of the stoic veteran, and is supported by a
rather first rate cast. Totally worth a look, even (maybe especially) if
the later films of the series are not your thing.
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