First Blood

The jingoistic sequels reduced Vietnam War veteran John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) to an indestructible cartoon figure, but this first film in the series is an involving action drama about an ostracised loner pushed too far. Brian Dennehy is on fine, snarling form as a bigoted small-town sheriff, the catalyst for a woodland cat-and-mouse chase in which his battle-hardened quarry quickly assumes the feline role. The warfare is tautly assembled by Canadian director Ted Kotcheff and Stallone portrays Rambo with enough wounded conviction to forgive some of his increasingly far-fetched escapes. It's a shame that Richard Crenna, as Rambo's revered colonel and mentor, is little more than a know-all caricature and that the film's initial message about the lack of understanding bestowed on returning soldiers becomes lost among the trail of destruction. Yet there is a thread of humanity here that went missing in action during all of his later missions.