Rambo: First Blood (5 Stars)

"Rambo" (as I like to shorten the title) is my first film of 2023. It's part of the "Best Of Cinema" series of films. On the first Tuesday of every month a film is shown which is considered to be a classic. I don't know what criteria are used to pick the films, but there have been some great films so far, and this is one of them. It was made in 1982, and it placed Sylvester Stallone into a second film franchise alongside "Rocky". It was accidental. Watching "Rambo" today, it was obvious that it was intended as a standalone film, not the first film in a series, but you know how it is. If a film's a financial success the studios get greedy and demand a sequel as soon as possible. Sometimes the sequel lives up to the original film, mostly it doesn't.

Sylvester Stallone plays John Rambo, a Vietnam veteran who's visiting an old comrade in Hope, Washington. They were the only two survivors of his green beret squad, but he finds out that his comrade died a year ago. John was already suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, but the news of the death makes it worse. John walks into the town to get something to eat before leaving, but the local sheriff, Will Teasle, thinks he's a drifter and drives him out of town. This leads to an altercation, and John is arrested. During his interrogation he sees visions of his previous incarceration by the Vietcong, and he snaps. He escapes from the police station and goes on the run.

Sheriff Teasle won't let it lie. He hunts John Rambo, but his small town police force is no match for a trained elite soldier. John doesn't want to hurt anyone, he just wants to be left alone, but he has to defend himself, and police officers die.

I'm very glad that I saw the film today. I thought I'd already seen it on television 20 years ago, but as it started it didn't look familiar. I must have confused it with one of the sequels. It's a fantastic film, and I intend to watch the other films in the series, even though I've read that neither fans nor critics rate them as highly as the first film.

Success Rate:  + 6.3

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