First Blood

Director: Ted Kotcheff

1982 / 93min / 35mm

The movie whose runaway success singlehandedly landed Carolco in the ranks of legit Tinseltown players, Kotcheff’s taut adaptation of David Morrell’s 1972 novel of the same name introduces Sylvester Stallone as burnt-out Vietnam vet John Rambo, in the words of critic J. Hoberman, a combination of “super-grunt, Green Beret, hippie protester, VC guerilla, righteous outlaw [and] Hollywood Freedom Fighter.” Arriving in the town of Hope, Washington State, after paying his respects to an old army buddy who’s died from the lingering effects of Agent Orange exposure, Rambo is escorted to the city limits by hard-ass local sheriff Brian Dennehy who, with this slight, unwittingly lights the fuse on a human stick of dynamite. As Colonel Trautman (Richard Crenna), Rambo’s old superior officer, says upon arriving in Hope to prevent a slaughter: “I didn’t come to save Rambo from you. I came to save you from Rambo.”

Distributor: Rialto Pictures

Part of When Carolco Was King