FIRST BLOOD—“Jesus, he’s got a gun.”  That object would be in the paws of one Rambo, John Rambo. Sylvester Stallone’s second odds-defying underclass-hero-for-the-masses hit the screen running in 1982. A disgruntled (to put it mildly) Vietnam vet runs afoul of sadistic small-town cops. In teaching them manners he won over a large chunk of the public: the survivor saga seized 12th place at the boxoffice in a movie year stacked with heroes, including his friendlier alter-ego Rocky III. Like the serrated knife he wielded, Rambo’s success was a double-edged sword. World-wide popularity spawned four sequels and an arsenal of franchise tie-in’s and yet also helped usher in a regrettable spasm of revisionist claptrap masquerading as patriotism. Most of what followed was junk, but this first foray in Ramboland scores as an exciting—if dang unlikely—thriller. *

TRAUTMAN: “Look John, we can’t have you running around out there killing friendly civilians.”  RAMBO: “There are no friendly civilians!”

‘Hope’, a small burg in Washington State. The autocratic sheriff doesn’t like the look or manner of a stranger passing thru and orders him to keep movin’. When the loner doesn’t obey, he’s arrested for vagrancy and abused by the sheriff’s brutish deputies. They soon find out that decorated Vietnam vet ‘John Rambo’ (Stallone, 35) isn’t easily cowed. Payback is a…Rambo.

David Morrell’s much harsher 252-page 1972 novel had been tossed back & forth between studios, directors and stars for a decade before Stallone took on the role, with direction entrusted to Ted Kotcheff (North Dallas Forty). Stallone co-wrote, revising the script put together by Michael Kozoll and William Sackheim, making the book’s protagonist more sympathetic, paring down the plot to essentials and a ripping 97-minute running time. Stallone’s intensity, Kotcheff’s assured direction and an ace supporting cast are backed by sharp cinematography from Andrew Laszlo (The Warriors) and a suitably tense score by Jerry Goldsmith. ‘Hope’, Washington, was/is actually Hope, British Columbia; the rest of the wintry location shoot was done in ruggedly beautiful B.C. settings nearby.

Until he’s allotted an indulgent (if passionately delivered) rant at the climax, Stallone impresses with a panther-ish physical performance, and imposing Brian Dennehy is superb as the vengeful lawman ‘Will Teasle’. Richard Crenna adds calm dead-certainty as ‘Col. Trautman’, Rambo’s former commander, bemused at the fruitless police actions that further provoke his best-trained ‘pupil’.

“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!”

Where the script leaves the headlong action rush territory and vaults from terse to haywire is by picking up the b.s. mantra trotted out after the war ended, blame whining and fact mangling that found a fertile new marsh in the twilight zone of the Reagan era. The following entries amped up the violence and lack of credibility by a factor of ten, tarnishing the acceptable underdog vibe of the opener, and had flanking nonsense barfed up by the putrid likes of Missing In Action. 

Made for $17,000,000, the adrenaline surge evaded critic cringes and captured $47,200,000 on home turf. Another $77,953,000 rained down from abroad. When this made it to China three years later, a record 76,000,000 tickets were sold. Review carps were swatted aside by legions of couch soldiers. From Pennsylvania to Pakistan, Santa Monica to Singapore, crowds ate it up.

Trying to dodge One Man’s Ire are Bill McKinney, Jack Starrett (hot button as the meanest cop), newcomer David Caruso, Chris Mulkey, Michael Talbott and John McLiam. Bruce Greenwood, 25, has one of his first bits, uncredited as a National guardsman.

* 1982’s decidedly mixed platoon of contesting heroes: E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Tootsie, An Officer And A Gentleman, Rocky III, 48 Hours, The Verdict, Gandhi, Conan The Barbarian, Barbarosa, The Ballad Of Gregorio Cortez.

Among the directors who at one time or another considered taking the Ram-reins: Richard Brooks, Martin Ritt, Sydney Pollack, Mike Nichols, John Frankenheimer.

Out of ammo—the strong intro showing at spot #12 set the ground for the ridiculous Rambo:First Blood Part II in 1985 (#2); 1988’s risible Rambo III retreated to #16; 2008’s just plain Rambo bled out at #66; Rambo:Last Blood (one hopes, but we are speaking Stallone here) grunted 61st in 2019. The best of the sequels, the 2008 excursion into Myanmar, had Ram’s body count reach a staggering 254 (holy Wick!), but since the righteously mowed-down were thugs of the vile Burmese military we don’t sweat much sympathy. Man’s gotta do…