Rating of
3.5/4
A Classic
chiggles - wrote on 05/31/08
John Rambo is a disoriented Vietnam Vet. He is hitchhiking from town to town to see friends from the war. A sheriff tries to make him leave town and when he refuses, arrests him for vagrancy. While in jail, a deputy takes delight in abusing him. Rambo escapes showing his old Vietnam fighting skills and takes to the woods as the sheriff and deputies try and find him in his element. Things get out of hand as Colonel Trautman Rambo's old commander appears to shed light on the situation.
First Blood is the definition of action movies. The well known character of John Rambo is an icon the film world, as he has had 3 sequels and plenty of little knock offs and such to compensate for the star. So now a days, when I watch action movies, I tend to think about what happened to them. In the 80's, we had movies which relied on old fashioned action scenes which included no special effects, chase scenes which are done with real suspense and action scenes which held no limits.
The movie is more then just another action film though. John Rambo is a very complicated character, and Sylvester Stallone handles it with perfection. In the beginning of the movie, John is tough and handles himself like a man. In the last 10 minutes though, the character breaks down about the nightmares and memories he has about Vietnam and such, I like this element because we get a strong character moment which really changes our mind about John. I also like the fact that in the scene where the police are handling him like sh*t, we get these flashbacks which pertain to what the police are doing to him.
The action scenes are done with extreme perfection. Back in these days, the action was done with a great reality, except with more of a super soldier. We get the one man army, so they say. So we have these chase scenes which are actually handled with suspense and are done with a smooth camera and done very well. With plenty of shoot outs and explosions, and the action are one of the best scenes in the 80's action realm.
All in all, First Blood is an amazing action movie and needs to be shown more often.
