First Blood

It’s hard to talk about First Blood without putting it in the context of the entire franchise.  The sequels are so different and are what people think about when the name Rambo is mentioned.  You know, huge ass explosions, guns constantly blazing, dead bodies stacked to the ceiling, ‘merica fuck yea, etc.  But things didn’t start out that way.  So I wanna isolate the original as much as I can and block out what came after.  Hopefully that’ll yield more fruitful results.  (Don’t worry, we’ll get to all the sequels in due time)

John Rambo’s extraordinary post-military life starts off unassuming but very tragic.  You can see in his eyes and demeanor that his soul has been broken after hearing the news of his war buddy’s death.  Exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam resulted in cancer taking its toll when he got back home.  Rambo doesn’t know where he’s going or what he’ll do next.  This sadness and bottled up rage towards the military, civilians and society as a whole boils over to fuel his rampage against anyone who crosses his path.

The storm within builds even more when small town Sheriff Teasle (Brian Dennehy (Best Seller)) doesn’t really give Rambo a chance and escorts him out of city limits at first sight.  This part feels rushed but the point is effectively made.  And the escalation of abhorrent behavior Rambo receives from the other officers is enough to where you wanna see this guy break some skulls.  Being beaten, verbally abused and shot at with a fire hose definitely crosses the line.  This triggers flashbacks to being tortured in a prison camp and he fucking freaks.

Once Rambo busts out of the Sheriff’s office the action doesn’t let up for a long while.  The chase is on and you wonder the whole time where this will eventually go.  Rambo adapts very quickly to the pacific northwest mountains with makeshift camouflage garb and setting booby traps for his followers.  It’s exhilarating the way Rambo turns the tables so fast by taking the cops out of their element and bringing them into his.

What’s really important is Rambo doesn’t want to hurt anybody at first.  He injures his pursuers to take them out of the game but doesn’t mortally wound them.  In fact he willingly gives up after the accidental death of a cop (the worst asshole of them all too giving the audience some bit of satisfaction even though Rambo is troubled with the outcome (also, this is the only confirmed death in the film, yea First Blood has a body count of 1)).  When the cops refuse and start shooting at him Rambo runs away but still doesn’t plan to engage with his adversaries as far as we can tell.  If they left him alone he would probably make a home in the woods and never bother anyone ever again.  Extending an olive branch makes Rambo the better man and gets us permanently on his side.  And at the same time the swatting away of that peace offering does irreparable damage for the cops in our minds.  They drew first blood.

I don’t know if I’d call this a high concept action picture with the cleverly executed extremely straightforward and streamlined plot but it’s damn close.  It’s unconventional in that the lines are blurred between good guys and bad guys, the cops are the villains, the military shares some blame for Rambo’s condition, our hero is like a machine yet is overcome with a deluge of feelings when pushed over the edge and there’s no romantic interest (not only would that be inappropriate here but there’s simply no room).

The finale is unusual as well.  It starts off typical with Rambo infiltrating enemy territory and blowing up as much shit as he can (without casualties).  But the climax is an emotional meltdown.  Rambo is frustrated, depressed and apoplectic over how the military used he and his friends only to toss them aside when they were through.  He can’t escape the haunting memories of war that he believes the military is partially to blame for.  Stallone’s performance is great overall but in this scene he’s heart wrenching.  Finally we understand why he lashed out so hard.  He’s been carrying a lot for a long time.

I can see why this was a hit.  The combination of character study, societal views towards war veterans and how we treat them, abuse of power by the law, bigotry and, of course, Rambo’s use of force is powerful.  It’s different from what audiences were used to and they embraced it.

Everything came together.  If you haven’t seen First Blood yet then you really should.  It’s required reading for any self-respecting action film aficionado but it’s also just a good movie period.