Synopsis
When former Green Beret John Rambo is harassed by local law enforcement and arrested for vagrancy, he is forced to flee into the mountains and wage an escalating one-man war against his pursuers.
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Cast
- Sylvester StalloneJohn Rambo, Vietnam veteran
- Richard CrennaCol. Samuel Trautman
- Brian DennehyHope Sheriff Will Teasle
- Bill McKinneyState Police Capt. Dave Kern
- Jack StarrettDeputy Sgt. Arthur Galt
- Michael TalbottDeputy Balford
- Chris MulkeyDeputy Ward
- John McLiamOrval the Dog Man
- Alf HumphreysDeputy Lester
- David CarusoDeputy Mitch
Recommendations
- 80
Empire
There's the fact that First Blood is a first-rate, taught action thriller. - 80
IGN
First Blood is not the Rambo movie we initially think of when the character is mentioned. No, it’s much better than that. - 75
Chicago Sun-Times
Until the last twenty or thirty minutes, however, First Blood is a very good movie, well-paced, and well-acted not only by Stallone (who invests an unlikely character with great authority) but also by Crenna and Brian Dennehy, as the police chief. - 75
TV Guide Magazine
Boasting some of the best use of rugged landscape since the westerns of Anthony Mann, First Blood is an effective, if outlandish, picture that exists merely for its big-screen thrills. - 75
ReelViews
The darker tone, somber subtext, and generally non-exploitative violence allow viewers to enjoy the film not only as an action/thriller but as something with a degree of intelligence and substance. - 70
Chicago Reader
The director, Ted Kotcheff, does a good job with the violence and suspense, working well with the wide-screen format, and he seems fully aware of the dark, subversive implications of the material, even if the screenplay doesn't allow him to resolve them successfully. - 70
The New York Times
It's a film with a number of strengths, not the least of them its fierce, agile, hollow-eyed hero. - 50
Boston Globe
Ted Kotcheff's First Blood is a cute, slick anti-Vietnam war film carefully treated to go down for the pro-war constituency it's made for. [23 Oct 1982]
