"Don't push it, or I'll give you a war you won't believe!" 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 sticking to.

North Dallas Forty is the most famous football picture made because of the fiction book that Peter Gent wrote, reflecting his playing days with the Dallas Cowboys during the 60's. Many things may be hard to believe, but I encourage people to check out Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson's book, Out of Control: Confessions of an NFL Casualty, and be even more blown away by what it is really like. Another is Hearing the Noise: My Life in the NFL by Preston Pearson.

Before there was Rambo: First Blood Part II, there was Uncommon Valor. The story is essentially the same. Instead of Rambo, it's Gene Hackman who leads his own Dirty Dozen team to rescue Vietnam P.O.W.s. Gene Hackman is the man and has a great moment by reciting a paraphrased line from Julius Caesar. That's when I knew he took interest in the script from the get-go.

I wonder if Vernon Howell saw Split Image before deciding what to do with the rest of his life. If you don't know who that is, then surely you'll recognize him as David Koresh of Waco, Texas, infamy. There are eerie parallels. Of course, Charles Manson and Jim Jones were there first. The makeup of their cults is almost similar to what's presented in the film. Another winning feature is the strong cast: Michael O'Keefe of The Great Santini, Karen Allen, Peter Fonda, James Woods, and Brian Dennehy.

Kurt Russell continues to be an underrated drama actor as evidenced in Winter People which plays out like a nice, old-fashioned romance novel. Ted Kotcheff directed First Blood, and he goes back to the same ambience for Winter People. Instead of British Columbia, Canada, it's shot on location in Asheville, North Carolina, where the author of the book, John Ehle, hails from. Hence, the scenery is very nice to look at.