First Blood Review (Revisited) "They drew first blood, not me!"

 

 

 

 

So, I figured its time for another post and this one will be another revisit of a post I did on the action film, First Blood, the original film in the Rambo series (and undoubtedly the best).

So, after 41 years, let's take another look at this action classic from the 80's...

And the usual warning is coming...

PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!

STORY

So, the story which begins with the film's main character, John Rambo (Stallone) who is a former member of an elite commando unit during the Vietnam war and is looking for one of the possible last surviving members of the unit Delmar Barry.  Rambo arrives at Barry's mother's home who tells him that Barry died years ago from cancer due to exposure to agent orange during the war.  Rambo then dispondently leaves and wanders into the town, Hope in Washington where he is picked up by the local police Sheriff Will Teasle (Brian Dennehy).  Rambo asks Teasle if there is a diner in town where he can eat but Teasle bluntly tells him that he doesn't want Rambo in his town and escorts out of the town.  However Rambo decides to head back to the town and Teasle arrests him on charges of vagrancy, resisting arrest and for carrying a concealed knife.  

At the police station Rambo is taunted by the police officers and particularly by the sadistic chief deputy Art Galt (Jack Starrett) who abuses him when Rambo refuses to answer his questions and later when he is forced to shower all of which reminds Rambo of flashbacks of when he was a prisoner of war back in Vietnam.  And as the police officers try to shave Rambo, it reminds him of his torture at the hands of the Vietcong, which causes him to snap and attack the police officers after which he flees from the station into the woods.  As a result Teasle is furious and orders a search party into the woods using automatic weapons, dogs as well as helicopter to capture Rambo.

During the search however Galt spots Rambo and attempts to snipe him by using his rifle, which prompts Rambo to grab a rock and throw it at helicopter which causes the pilot to tilt the helicopter causing Galt to fall out to his death below.  Rambo then later attempts to surrender saying he doesn't want to hurt anyone else but the police open fire and Rambo flees back into the woodland area.  Rambo then uses his hunting skills to disable the police officers by using traps as well as camoflague to sneak up on them.  And as Teasle moves in Rambo springs on him and holds a knife to his throat and threatens him to let his grudge go or he will "give him a war like you will never believe!".  

Not long after a small army that consists of the State police and the national gaurd arrive who are under the command of Colonel Sam Trautman (Richard Crenna) who was Rambo's mentor.  Trautman tells Teasle of Rambo's abilities and asks that he let Rambo go to diffuse the situation but does allow him to use his men in an effort to later capture Rambo, however Teasle refuses.  And its from here where Rambo battles for his own survival against Teasle and the army which soon leads into the film's dramatic climax......

THOUGHTS

Based on the novel of the same name by David Morrell, First Blood is a highly compelling and entertaining action film, which tells a good story of a troubled and misunderstood Vietnam veteran in John Rambo who after the war has seriously struggled to adapt to civilian life.  And there is not much doubt that for the most Rambo is a fairly sympathetic character who is a victim of a small town sherrif's resentment and jealous as they were both veterans of two different wars as Teasle is depicted as a Korean veteran as opposed to Rambo being in Vietnam.  

Stallone himself after he was cast took a lead role in the production of the film and also did several re-writes of the script and felt it best to have to tone down Rambo's more violent nature but show him to be a more sensitive and troubled soul as opposed to a mindless killer.  Stallone also insisted that Rambo in the film didn't kill anyone unlike in the book where Rambo kills most of his pursuers and the book's ending differs from the film where Rambo takes his life at the end rather than turn himself in to the authorities. 

PERFORMANCES

So getting onto the performances which are all very good starting with Sylvester Stallone who is excellent as troubled Vietnam veteran, Rambo who ends up in his own personal war between himself and Teasle.  

Stallone plays Rambo as a pretty subdued character and is somewhat sensitive but at the same time a bit deranged from his experiences during the war.  Stallone doesn't have a great deal of dialogue in the film but he does have some really good scenes all the same such as the scene where he attacks Teasle's men out in the woods.  And all of a sudden he springs himself on Teasle, holding a knife to his throat to warns Teasle "I could have killed 'em all, I could've killed you.  In town you're the law, out here it's me.  Don't push it!  Don't push it or I'll give you a war you won't believe.  Let it go. Let it go!".  

Then there is the scene where Trautman contacts Rambo via radio and Rambo tells Trautman that he is only surviving member left of his elite unit from the war and he describes how Barry who died of agent orange exposure "Got himself killed in 'Nam, didn't even know it. Cancer ate him down to the bone".  And Rambo also angrily tells Trautman how "There wouldn't be no trouble if it weren't for that king-shit cop!  All I wanted was something to eat, but the man kept pushing, sir" and Trautman says to him "You did some pushing yourself" and Rambo says "They drew first blood not me".  

And then there is the scene where there is a rare bit of humour in the film when Rambo intercepts one of the army trucks driving through the woods and he get's into the passenger seat and tells the driver to "Drive!" and the driver glances over at him and Rambo says "Don't look at me, look at the road!  That's how accidents happen!".

And lastly there is the scene which may split some viewers as some may say it is a rather laughable moment but others might say its a rather poignant one where Rambo spits out his rage at Trautman as to how he felt about the war and finally breaks down in tears and recalls a story where one of his friends was killed by a child VC terrorist.  Personally I think this is one of Stallone's finest acting moments in his career as he shows here that he really is an underrated actor (and yeah you can all disagree with me on that if you want lol!).  

And in the scene as Trautman tells him its over, Rambo yells back "NOTHING IS OVER!!  NOTHING!  You just don't turn it off! It wasn't my war! You asked me, I didn't ask you! And I did what I had to do to win! But somebody wouldn't let us win! And I come back to the world and I see all those maggots at the airport, protesting me, spitting. Calling me baby killer and all kinds of vile crap! Who are they to protest me? Who are they? Unless they've been me and been there and know what the hell they're yelling about!".  And then he finishes his rant by saying "Back there I could fly a gunship, I could drive a tank, I was in charge of million dollar equipment, back here I can't even hold a job PARKING CARS!!" as he tosses his M60 gun away angrily he then collapses on the floor sobbing.

Brian Dennehy who is also very good in his role as Teasle the bitter town sheriff who quickly takes a dislike to Rambo and then arrests him after Rambo walks back into the town without Teasle's permission.  

Denney also has some really good moments in the film such as the scene where he picks up Rambo and tells him "If you want some friendly advice, get a haircut and take a bath. You wouldn't get hassled so much".  And as Teasle notices the flag on Rambo's army jacket he says "You know, wearing that flag on that jacket, looking the way you do, you're asking for trouble around here, friend".  

Another good scene from Dennehy is just after they find Galt's dead body and one of the deputies Mitch, doesn't take the situation so seriously as they learn that Rambo was a green beret and won the congressional medal of honor. So, in the scene Teasle grabs Mitch and forces his head to look down at Galt's body and he shouts at him "You see that?! That was Galt! He was my friend! And we served our time in Korea together while your mother was still wiping your nose! And I'm gonna find him and pin that congressional medal of honor to his liver!".

And then there is the scene when after Rambo evades and has maimed several of Teasle's men he rants on about Rambo  If one of my deputies... gets out of line with a prisoner then the prisoner comes to me with it. And if I find out it's like he says I kick the deputy's ass!  ME!!  The LAW!!  People start fucking around with the law then all hell breaks loose!  Whatever possessed God in heaven to make a man like Rambo?!".  

And then there is the scene where Teasle tells Trautman that they picked up Rambo's trail again after they figured he was dead when the National guardsman fired a rocket launcher at Rambo earlier who fled into a tunnel.  "They found Rambo's body.  As a matter of fact, it stole an army truck!  Blew up a gas station the other side of town!".

Richard Crenna who was the only other actor to have appeared in all three Rambo films (and I'm excluding the newer 2008 Rambo film here of course because Crenna died in 2003) and he is also excellent in his role as Rambo's mentor and former commanding officer, Colonel Trautman.

Crenna also has his moments in the film and he get's a pretty good introduction to the film when he arrives on the scene near the woods when Teasle rants about "Whatever possessed God in heaven to make a man like Rambo?!" and in that moment Trautman says "God didn't make Rambo.  I made him!".  

And in the scene Trautman explains to Teasle what he is dealing with in Rambo "You don't seem to want to accept the fact you're dealing with an expert in guerrilla warfare, with a man who's the best, with guns, with knives, with his bare hands. A man who's been trained to ignore pain, ignore weather, to live off the land, to eat things that would make a billy goat puke. In Vietnam his job was to dispose of enemy personnel. To kill! Period! Win by attrition. Well Rambo was the best!".  

And then there is the scene when Teasle refuses to listen to Trautman even though Trautman gives Teasle command of his men and Teasle says "Are you telling me that 200 of our men against your boy is a no-win situation for us?!" and Trautman says "You send that many, don't forget one thing.  A good supply of body bags!".  

And then there is moment when Teasle says that Rambo was "just another drifter that broke the law!" and Trautman spits back "That's gonna look real good on his grave stone in Arlington: Here lies John Rambo, winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor, survivor of countless incursions behind enemy lines!  Killed for vagrancy in Jerkwater, USA!".  And as Teasle says that "Do you think Rambo was the only guy who had a tough time in Vietnam? He killed a police officer for Christ's sake!" Trautman replies sharply "You're goddamn lucky he didn't kill all of you!".

As for the supporting there are also some good performances such as Jack Starrett as the sadistic deputy chief Galt who takes pleasure in being unpleasant to Rambo at the police station and later tries to shoot him but ends up getting killed himself.  

Starrett's best scene however comes when Galt repeatedly asks Rambo his name, who doesn't answer as he suddenly has flashbacks of when he was  POW in Vietnam.  And as Galt notices his Army tags round his neck, one of the officers tries to take them and Rambo grabs the officer's hand to stop him and Galt produces his truncheon and warns him to let the officer go.  And as Galt looks at Rambo's tags he says to him "Rambo. John J? You will talk me to me, soldier!  Oh you will talk to me!". And as they get him to strip they see the scars on his chest and back but Galt doesn't care and says "Who gives a shit what happened to him?" and he says to Rambo "Turn around" and Rambo turns with his face to Galt, who hits him in the back with his baton and he says to the men "Teasle said clean him up, well clean him up".  

And lastly there is a very young David Caruso who plays the part of the young cop Mitch who actually has more common sense than the rest of the men despite his youth!

And Caruso has some notable moments such as the scene where Teasle's men including Mitch start to hunt Rambo after he escapes into the woods. So, as the men assemble and head into the woods, one of the men, Orval says "OK, let's get hunting!" and Mitch says to him "Hunting him? We ain't hunting him, he's hunting us!". And when Mitch later learns with the others that Rambo was a highly decorated soldier in Vietnam he says "I knew there was something about that guy!".

DIRECTOR

And finally we get to the direction and music paragraph and starting with the film's director, Ted Kotcheff who did an excellent job here with First Blood and he builds up the film's suspense really well throughout.  Kotcheff also makes good use of the film's locations as it was shot in British Columbia in Canada and the town scenes where shot in a town funnily enough called Hope that was in Canada and not Washington unlike it is in the film!  

As for the film's music, the score is another excellent one by Jerry Goldsmith who's score provides plenty moments of suspense and adventure but also has element of poignancy about it as well.  The only downside to the film's music however is the truly crap and cringe inducing theme song at the end "Its a Long Road" as sung by Dan Hill which plays over the credits as the film could definitely have done without it! That aside, this is still a fine score by Goldsmith.

FLAWS (Warning: this section may contain spoilers)

So flaws...... yeah OK First Blood has some here and there and for starters I felt in a way that the plot device of Rambo starting his personal war purely on the basis of Teasle not letting Rambo simply dine somewhere in his town to eat was a bit ridiculous to say the least!  But again this boils down to resentment on both sides as both guys clearly don't like one another from the get go and then it just escalates out of control.  But at the same time why didn't Teasle just say "Yeah you OK you can have one meal and be on your way" then that might have abated Rambo just enough to allow him to quietly leave the town without having to blow it up! 

And further to Teasle, it has to be said that he really is a somewhat annoying, presumptuous dick even to the people in his town! I mean there is a scene at the start where he says hello to some of the townsfolk and he basically insults one of them by saying "did you take a bath this week?". I mean what a complete asshole! This guy would do better to mind his business and just get on with his job rather than purport himself as the king of the town and being a dick to anyone in sight just because they failed to meet his high standards of hygiene! 

There are also one or two daft moments in the film where Rambo takes some heavy damage, such as his fall through the trees as he tries to avoid being shot by Galt, yet he manages to get away with just a cut on his arm and nothing more never mind a few broken ribs or worse! Also in the next scene, Rambo tries to surrender but Teasle and his men open fire on him anyway and Rambo appears to get hit by a ricochet of a bullet near his head but he doesn't die or even later appear to have suffered any wounds from ANY of the gunfire Teasle's men fire at him!

I also felt that in the film Rambo's character toward the end becomes a bit too deranged and addicted to destruction and he appears to needlessly blow alot of stuff up such as the petrol station and the gun store as its basically just his way of saying to Teasle "I'm back, bitch!!!".  But at the same time it just feels like you are watching some destruction porn and Rambo's justification to blow all this stuff seems a bit daft and unnecessary.  And at the end Rambo is set to become bloodthirsty at last as he shoots and injures Teasle but is stopped by Trautman before he finishes him off.

Also when you think about it I thought it was a bit daft for Trautman to hand over control of his soldiers and the national guardsman to Teasle to let him do the job of capturing Rambo when Teasle would gladly use them to kill him himself!  And Trautman even willingly let's Teasle use his soldiers despite the fact that he himself would rather let Rambo go to allow for the situation to be diffused.  And I also think that Teasle's arrogance is of course his own downfall as he knows he is up against an Elite special forces killing machine yet is still of the opinion "I don't give a crap!  I'm still gonna take this guy down myself!".  But in the end it all goes pear shaped anyway for Teasle all because he wouldn't listen to Trautman in the first place!

SUM UP

So to sum up, First Blood remains the first and best film out of the Rambo series (with a new Rambo film starring Stallone once again coming out soon, making this a timely review I guess!) and its features some good suspenseful action scenes, a good cast and a fine leading performance by Sylvester Stallone.  

And even after 41 years its still a gripping, intelligent and thought provoking action film which said something about the effects the Vietnam war had on its veterans even though I'm sure most of them didn't start their own personal war because they couldn't get anything to eat in a small town!  But that aside its still one of Stallone's best films and well worth a look.

And I will rate First Blood:

9 out of 10

So, that's it for now and I will be back with another post hopefully soon.

Until then bye for now!