Carl watches Motion Pictures I aim to share my thoughts and opinions on the films I watch as I watch them

First Blood (1982) - A fitting title for the first title on the blog! Rambo, love him or hate him, he is part of our film history and part of popular culture. I have discovered that everyone has an opinion about this film. Some will slam the film immediately; others find it brings back some memories of fake plastic hunting knives!

After a dismal casting period the script ended up with Mr. Stallone, who evidently rescued the script and in my opinion saved the production from being a total action failure and turned it into one of those films we will never forget.

Rambo is a returning Nam war hero; he finds his home country a hostile and lonely place. Passing through a small town Rambo is subjected to abuse via the local police department, this sets unstable Rambo into War mode resulting in all hell breaking loose.

What is so amazing about this film is the emotional connection we share with Rambo - we feel sorry for an unstable killing machine! It is a sad story about a man who was forced to do things that are not human and expected to live with it. I think we are going to see some "inspired by First Blood" scripts coming out of the current conflicts around the world but good old Rambo would have been First.

So for a classic action film full of hard headed Americans and plenty of explosions it has the potential to clog up the through! Well done to Stallone who played the muscle packed Rambo who can do anything with his hunting knife, ignore all pain but still cry like a baby. Awesome.

If you have not seen it for a while take the time and watch a classic. Do not watch any other Rambo film - you have been warned!

"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."


IMDB stars: 7.4/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 85%