Kotcheff made over $100 million in profit against its small $14-million dollar budget.

Released in October of 1982, the 93-minute story follows Sylvester Stallone as a Vietnam

Veteran who uses his Green Beret training against a small town police force after they

unnecessarily arrest, and abuse him. A slow moving and understated experience that examines

the life of a war veteran struggling with post-traumatic-stress disorder, this movie

is surprisingly more layered and poignant than it needs to be. He later defends his

violent rampage by screaming, "Nothing is over! Nothing! You just don't turn it off!

It wasn't my war!" On the surface, it's an enjoyable R-rated adventure with plenty of

blood, gun-fights, and explosions... but at its heart, is a the story of a man fighting

for his own identity and purpose - a role which Stallone pulls off admirably. Playing

the villainous town sheriff hell-bent on taking Stallone in is Tony-award winning actor Brian

Dennehy, who makes his hateful antagonist actions look easy. Richard Crenna is featured

in a much smaller role as Sly's old army Colonel, brought in to effectively "talk down" our

hero before he causes any more damage. Shot on location in the beautiful forests of British

Columbia, the cinematography here is artistic without ever being showy. A sequence where

Stallone camouflages himself in the deep brush, silently taking out every member of a hunting

party with non-lethal booby traps and takedowns is especially well done. When Jerry Goldsmith's

quiet and melodic score intensifies, the patriotic sounds help portray Rambo as a sympathetic

individual. I am however bothered that the hateful motivation of Dennehy is never adequately

explained... he decides to be a vengeful jerk without any strong reason. This, coupled with

a quiet, sort-of cop-out ending leaves a little to be desired. A decently believably narrative

with few twists or surprises... this is an interesting and entertaining movie worth watching

- especially since it sets up the more successful and memorable sequels. "First Blood", "Methodical

action with complicated personalities." Now, here's what you had to say in the YouTube

comments.

Our scores for "First Blood", an EIGHT and a SEVEN. You applauded the more nuanced approach

to the action-genre, rating this a GREAT. I too, was impressed with Stallone's performance...

but that alone didn't make the movie truly fantastic, I thought it was COOL.