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First Blood (1982)
Rate:
9
Viewed:
1/04, 4/05, 10/07, 7/11, 2/17, 8/20
4/05:
The uniqueness of Sylvester Stallone is captured in First Blood, a one-man guerilla war film.
Not only that, but a battle is also waged between his character and the elements of nature. It's a good yarn of how one man's
stubbornness can cost more than it's worth. Granted, First Blood has a reputation as a violent picture, but
the total body count is merely one which is when Galt fell out of the helicopter and that was an accident.
Stallone did most of his stunts and would break his ribs after doing the final third of the fall from the cliff. You can see
his pained anguish when he landed on the tree branch. At another point, he accidentally put his hand on an exploding squib.
A lot of people seem to forget that First Blood isn't the one that takes place in Vietnam and that it's the original
Rambo picture. So, it's easy for them to be confused because the sequel did overshadow it in terms of popularity. The most
interesting trivia is that Steve McQueen was slated to play Rambo, but he was too out of it before dying from cancer in 1980.
All in all, First Blood is the beginning of Sylvester Stallone's highly bankable career in action-adventure films.
10/07:
Sylvester Stallone proves in First Blood why he was destined to be a great action star of the 80's.
With the slight exception of Arnold Schwarzenegger, there hasn't been anyone like him before or since then. My favorite line
of First Blood is "Don't push it, or I'll give you a war you won't believe!" Brian Dennehy is underrated, and he's
perfect as Sheriff Teasle. I wish David Caruso, whom I hate, was tortured more, but I'm disappointed. Not
much of an actor, Richard Crenna is only well known for his association with the Rambo franchise.
As good as the film is, the message bothers me. There are thousands of Vietnam survivors, but the problem is: what makes
Rambo more special than them? First Blood seems to say if a veteran is frustrated by being pushed around
and treated like an outsider, then he should retaliate by nuking a town.
All in all, First Blood is a unique classic film of the one-man guerilla war genre.
7/11:
Raising my rating of First Blood from '7' to '8', it's impossible to compare the original to the following
two sequels because the makeup of each is vastly different.
I give a lot of credit to Sylvester Stallone for his creativity to make First Blood watchably entertaining.
Also, it's interesting by giving attention to the Vietnam vets in their difficulty to reintegrate back to
society. It's like The Best Years of Our Lives but with violence.
All in all, First Blood is a unique film.
2/17:
"Don't push it, or I'll give you a war you won't believe!"
So it goes in First Blood. Naturally, many people think
Rambo: First Blood Part II was the one that started
it all, but this is the original. Of course, the sequel will make Rambo internationally famous. There are many good moments
in this, but the best of the bunch is Sylvester Stallone performing his own stunts while taking on local cops in the form of
guerilla warfare.
All in all, there hasn't been anything like First Blood before or since then.
8/20:
Still a unique classic of the one-man guerilla warfare genre, First Blood is the first step forward in the creation
of John J. Rambo before he'll become internationally famous in the next film.
As much as I like Brian Dennehy, his character is clearly in the wrong, and he'll receive no forgiveness from me. Rambo
did nothing wrong from the get-go. Throughout his career, Richard Crenna is only remembered for playing Colonel Trautman,
and that's not a bad way to go.
With the exception of the fall (he did the last third) from the cliff and the motorcycle scenes, the stunt work is all
Stallone. What's interesting about his character is that he killed nobody in the process. Only one person died, and that's
Galt who fucking deserved it.
All in all, First Blood is just the beginning.