Review of First Blood (1982) by Mark H — 18 Sep 2015

First Blood introduced us to Sylvester Stallone's second iconic character of his career. A war-battered former green beret searching for friends 8-10 years after returning home from Vietnam. Unable to find them, or finding they have all died, John Rambo is at his breaking point when he crosses paths with an abusive, highly prejudiced sheriff, played perfectly by Brian Dennehy.

Stallone does some real acting here and the action is, at times, over the top, but mostly it doesn't take away from the story. It does get a bit sillier in the third act, and Stallone's monologue at the end is legendary for being almost impossible to understand.

However, where Rambo, First Blood Part II requires that you turn off your brain and enjoy the mind-numbing violence. First Blood actually has a decent story, characters and some acting, even from Stallone.

A decent early 80's actioner and easily the best of the series, although die-hard Rambo fans will probably argue that Part II is better. The violence in part II is thrilling, at times, and there are some memorable, iconic scenes (the leeches while soaking in pig feces, the Russian interrogation scene).

But this is the better movie.