First Blood DVD > Reviews > Next time give him a meal, it is less painful

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Good
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Special Effects	Good
Soundtrack	Unmemorable

Advantages:	Surprising storyline, high tension action adventure
Disadvantages:	None

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Rambo - First Blood. (Film Review Only.)
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I must confess when Rambo-First Blood was advertised in the Stallone Series currently being aired on Sky One I was a bit downhearted as I knew my Husband would want to watch it and this would mean either a very early night for me or being subjected to watching it. As you can guess I stayed up and sat down for what I thought would be mindless violence and bloodshed, well I will proudly hold my head up and say I was wrong. I found myself being glued to the film from start to finish and discovered it was nothing like I expected and in fact, I thoroughly enjoyed this film to my shock and surprise.

The Plot.
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John J Rambo is searching for nothing more than peace and a meal when he rolls into the small town called 'Hope'. It does not get the peace or the meal he is searching for when he comes across the small towns 'Hope', over-zealous sheriff Will Teasle who soon sends problems Rambo's way. The Ex-Vietnam Green Beret does not take to this kindly and soon the Sheriff realises just what he has started, he may not get to finish.

The Storyline.
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John J Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) is an Ex-Vietnam war veteran who served his time in the Vietnam War as a top class Green Beret. Now the war is over and Rambo is left to try to live in the real world as well as cope with the nightmares and atrocities he witness during the war. With no family and none of his troop left alive, he feels very alone in the world and is wandering around the country aimlessly trying to cope and survive. He arrives in a small town called hope searching for nothing more than a meal, when the over - zealous Sheriff Will Teasle (Brian Dennehy) takes an instant dislike to him due to his lack of hygiene and his appearance. The Sheriff tries to move Rambo on from his town, but Rambo has done nothing wrong and is still only searching for a meal. The Sheriff does not like being ignored and when he tries to arrest Rambo, he puts up a fight, which leads to him being arrested with the charge of resisting arrest. The Sheriff escorts him back to the station and whilst he is processed and cleaned up his is grossly mistreated which send Rambo into an emotional state as his war memories are brought forward. Rambo soon escapes from the clutches of the police and the chase is on, which sends Rambo into full combat and survival mode. Soon Sheriff Teasle meets the man who trained Rambo Colonel Samuel Trautman (Richard Crenna), who lets him know what he is up against and tries to help the sheriff end the situation, but with no joy. Will the Sheriff ever be able to re-capture Rambo, or will Rambo finish what the sheriff started, that you will have to watch to see.

My Opinion.
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Sylvester Stallone takes on the role of the Ex-Green Beret giving us an outstanding performance with extreme depth and soul in my opinion and makes this a very highly entertaining and enjoyable. A truly believable performance with only one complaint about Sylvester Stallone and that was the fact that I must say I did find it a little hard to understand what he was saying once or twice in the film as he seemed to mumble a few of his lines. Brian Dennehy also gave an excellent performance in his role as Sheriff Teasle and seemed to co-star excellently with Stallone allowing each of them to compliment the others acting abilities and provide us with an intense action / adventure movie to watch.

I have to confess that Richard Crenna did not give such an excellent performance as the man who trained Rambo, but on saying that his part in the film although important was not a necessity to carry the film so not that much of a problem. Fortunately, his less than excellent performance does not spoil this film in any way.

I have to say that I have always been prone to say that this is not really my type of film and managed until now to avoid ever really sitting and watching it, only ever glimpsing at one or two scenes. What a fool I was to be put off by the fact that it came across as a mans film. I was shocked and astounded to find myself totally glued to the television whilst watching this film and loving every minute of it. I really do recommend that this film should be viewed if you have never seen it and do not be put off by the Man's Film stigma that is associated with it occasionally. I was entertained from start to finish and had no idea as to the real storyline behind the film until I actually watched it and was very pleasantly surprised when I did. It is understandable with the performances by Sylvester Stallone in this film to see why he earned an Academy Award Nomination.

Director Ted Kotcheff brings to life with detail, effects this film adaptation from the Book by the same name written by David Morrell, and gives detail to insuring it is given the highest of detail and effect to ensure this film contains plenty of action, tension and adventure. He has done justice to this film and earned himself the credit of being a very versatile director when you think he has also directed such films like 'Fun with Dick and Jane' and another Stallone film 'Cobra'.

Rambo - First Blood is the first film in the Rambo trilogy starring Sylvester Stallone and is the least violent with the least number of bloodshed and casualties. However, this Trilogy Film set is due to change with the arrival of the long awaited arrival by Sylvester Stallone fans of Rambo IV, which is due for release in 2007 and again stars Stallone as John J Rambo.

An excellent film, which I highly recommend and give a 9.8/10 for this film.

Technical Information.
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The Cast.
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Sylvester Stallone .... John J. Rambo
Richard Crenna .... Col. Samuel Trautman
Brian Dennehy ....Sheriff Will Teasle
Bill McKinney .... State Police Capt. Dave Kern
Jack Starrett .... Deputy Sgt. Arthur Galt
Michael Talbott .... Deputy Balford
Chris Mulkey .... Deputy Ward
David Caruso .... Deputy Mitch

Director ....Ted Kotcheff
Certificate ....15 years and over
Year ....1982
Widescreen .... 2.35:1 Anamorphic
Languages ....English - Dolby Digital Surround
Subtitles ....English ; German ; Italian ; Spanish ; Portuguese ; Turkish
Duration ....1 hour and 36 minutes (approx)

Interesting Facts for all you Stallone Fans.
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I know there are a few of you out there who, like me are Sylvester Stallone fans, so I thought I would do something a little different on this review and add a small Facts on the main actor in addition to my film review.

Fact File.
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Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone was born on July 6th 1946 and is of Italian - American origin. He has been married three times and has five children, two sons and three daughters. His son Sage Stallone starred as his son in Rocky V and appeared in another Stallone movie with his father called 'Daylight'. Sylvester Stallone's other son Seargeoh who was born to his first wife Sasha Czach and Sage's younger brother is autistic. Although married to Bridgette Nielsen, there marriage lasted only two years, they had no children together, Stallone is now married to Jennifer Flavin and has been since 1997, and they have three daughters Sophia Rose Stallone, Sistine Rose Stallone and Scarlett Rose Stallone. Sylvester Stallone is not the only member of the Stallone family to have reached fame and success, as his brother Frank Stallone is a previous chart topper and starred in as well as provided music for the Rocky Films. 

Pictures for the review

Display pictures

Scene from Rambo