First Blood (1982)

A Vietnam Veteran uses his combat skills against the lawman of a small town when he arrests and abuses him.

Director:

Ted Kotcheff

Writers:

David Morrell (novel), Michael Kozoll (screenplay),

Stars:

Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna, Brian Dennehy

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sylvester Stallone	...	Rambo
Richard Crenna	...	Trautman
Brian Dennehy	...	Teasle
Bill McKinney	...	Kern
Jack Starrett	...	Galt
Michael Talbott	...	Balford
Chris Mulkey	...	Ward
John McLiam	...	Orval
Alf Humphreys	...	Lester
David Caruso	...	Mitch
David L. Crowley	...	Shingleton (as David Crowley)
Don MacKay	...	Preston (as Don Mackay)
Charles A. Tamburro	...	Pilot (as Chuck Tamburro)
David Petersen	...	Trooper
Craig Huston	...	Radio Operator (as Craig Wright Huston)

Storyline

John J. Rambo is a former United States Special Forces soldier who fought in Vietnam and won the Congressional Medal of Honor, but his time in Vietnam still haunts him. As he came to Hope, Washington to visit a friend, he was guided out of town by the Sheriff William Teasel who insults Rambo, but what Teasel does not know that his insult angered Rambo to the point where Rambo became violent and was arrested, as he was at the county jail being cleaned, he escapes and goes on a rampage through the forest to try to escape from the sheriffs who want to kill him. Then, as Rambo's commanding officer, Colonel Samuel Trautman tries to save both the Sheriff's department and Rambo before the situation gets out of hand.

---

Plot Keywords:

rambo | sheriff | deputy | escape | colonel | 

---

Taglines:

A one man war.

---

Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Thriller

---

Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 October 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

Rambo

Filming Locations:

Golden Ears Provincial Park, British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$14,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

SEK 12,389,699 (Sweden)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Anabasis N.V., Elcajo Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In his commentary for First Blood author David Morell cites the inspiration for John Rambo as being World War 2 hero and later Hollywood actor Audie Murphy. In 'Rambo' the final film of the series the character's last stand in the finale is very similar to how Murphy won the Congressional Medal of Honour, manning a vehicle mounted 50. calibre machine and singlehandedly holding off hundreds of enemy soldiers.

---

Goofs

Rambo is hiding on the hillside above the road waiting for an opportunity to jump onto the canvas top of the last truck in the convoy. As that truck approaches the canvas sides are unrolled and "down". Seconds later when he jumps on top, the canvas is rolled "up" halfway. Seconds later as the same truck in shown going down the road the sides are back down.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Rambo: Can you tell me if Delmar Berry lives here?

---

Connections

Referenced in Lost: The Beginning of the End (2008)

---

Soundtracks

"IT'S A LONG ROAD"
Music by Jerry Goldsmith
Lyrics by Hal Shaper
Arranged by David Paich and Marty Paich
Produced by Bruce Botnick
Sung by Dan Hill

User Reviews

A hell of a film.* * * * *

The character of John Rambo became more popular in films such as "Rambo:First Blood,Part II" and "Rambo III".The character were treated like a comic book hero spawning action figures and a short lived animated series which lasted only a short while.There are not that many people who has heard of the Rambo character.He's well known through out,but today's generation would have been lucky to catch him on VHS or DVD.Back in 1982 when the character of John Rambo was introduced to movie screens,filmgoers were dealing with a character that was not displayed as an action icon,but a man who had a lot of demons within him.The best thing about "First Blood" is that John Rambo is not portrayed as an action hero.He is portrayed more as a man.A man who is haunted by memories of the Vietnam War.Sylvester Stallone plays the character of John Rambo very convincingly and Director Ted Kotcheff brings out the story to an effective scale allowing us to see the action through the character's eyes.Violence in films are the main aspects in film today.Or at least one of.It's fun to watch a violent film,but the violence in this film was not filmed to thrill the audience,but to make us understand what John Rambo is going through.I have these memories of first watching this film twenty years ago when I was twelve."First Blood" doesn't deal with CGI nor does it deal with special effects.It deals or tries to deal really hard on what is real.I like "First Blood" because I understand the character.He feels that society is against him and he is angry.A lot of films there is only one villain where as in this one society is the villain.That is according to Rambo.Actually,there is one villain named Sheriff Teasle played by Brian Dennehy.He and Rambo seemed to clash against each other and Ted Kotcheff let's us experience these two men go at it.I liked how the film shows Rambo trying to survive out in the woods while the guards are in hunting him when in turn he is hunting them creating these traps putting these officers in painful situations.The best thing about "First Blood" is that we know that John Rambo was in the Vietnam War and was trained to kill,yet,he doesn't kill a single human in the film on purpose.The killing of Galt was accidental and was deserving according to my eyes.This film is the best in the Rambo series because I understand the character and I understand why he is acting violent."First Blood" doesn't bring us John Rambo,the action hero but John Rambo,a regular man with a lot of demons he must face."First Blood" is the best of the Rambo series.