Rating: 
Summary: Its been a while but....WOW!!!
Review: I seen first blood when it can to theatres 20 years ago (when I was 8). I forgot how great this film is. I got this film in the DVD Rambo Box Set and I was blown away by it. I ecpected it to be mindless action (which I like). But it has layers to it. It has emotion and you really feel for John Rambo. The action is great and the back-story is heart-wrenching. Do yourself a favor and get it.
Rating:
Summary: Stallone at his best!
Review: Don't let Rambo's reputation fool you. If your only familiarity with that name is from the press or it's use in modern lingo, you probably would have come to expect that "First Blood" is a mindless gore-fest. That couldn't be further from the truth. John Rambo is a Green Beret who was held in a POW camp in Nam. Having been brutally tortured there, he suffers from post-traumatic stress, which causes his encounter with a small town sheriff to go awry. Stallone portrays Rambo with the perfect mix of sensitivity and stoicism to make him both human and the warrior he was trained to be. Rambo enters the little Pacific Northwestern town searching for an old war buddy whom he learns has died. After being arrested by Sheriff Teasle, horrible flashbacks of his POW experience send Rambo into a panic in which he violently attacks the police officers and flees. Teasle is determined to hunt him down, but his efforts are thwarted by Rambo's traps and war survival prowess. When Rambo's trainer, Trautman, appears on the scene, an intriguing dynamic develops between he and Teasle as they argue over Rambo's fate. The characters are well-developed and well-acted, and the film makes some interesting statements about war. The violence, which is tame by today's standards, is used as a tool to tell the story without being gratuitous. This is one of the best of the classic '80's films and i highly recommend it to anyone who likes action movies with substance.
Rating:
Summary: Rambo; John Rambo.
Review: The two roles Sylvester Stallone is most well-known for are Rocky and Rambo. Comedians used to have a field day pointing out that the two characters are virtually the same the reason being that Sly can't act so he only plays characters that are just like him: muscle-bound men with little intelligence, a good heart, and ambitions of rising above their current situation. There are many similarities between the two characters but there are many differences as well. The careful observer notices those differences and realizes that Sly is a much more talented artist than most people will give him credit for. Nowhere is this more clear than in FIRST BLOOD. When most people think of Rambo they have an image of Sly with a red headband firing a M-16, blowing people away in a jungle somewhere. This is not the John Rambo of FIRST BLOOD (well at least not until the last twenty-five minutes of the movie). The John Rambo of FIRST BLOOD is a discouraged Vietnam veteran walking across the country trying to locate the only other surviving buddy of his from Vietnam. He soon discovers that his friend has died from cancer caused by Agent Orange. With no family, no friends, a government who has abandoned him, and a nation that scorns him, John Rambo becomes a lonely drifter. No big deal, except he drifts into a town that isn't very hospitable to strangers. The local sheriff literally drives Rambo away, but arrests him after he comes back. What the local law enforcement doesn't realize is that Rambo is a ticking time-bomb; a killing machine prone to war flashbacks. What follows is a great acion-filled hunt between Rambo and a timid sheriff and his local yokels set in the beautiful American northwest. FIRST BLOOD is a great movie. It suffers from a few flaws typical of the 1980's action genre (invincible men who only suffer from the occasional deep wound). However, it is also a film exploring a part of American society (now virually history) that many would rather forget. Though there aren't as many abuses to Vietnam veterans as there used to be and many sins have been attoned for, there is still a great deal of prejudice in our country. That prejudice is just a fraction of the ever-dividing culture war that is ripping the United States apart. FIRST BLOOD and John Rambo are a testament of what can happen if the elite continue to ignore the common man and push him too far.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best movies ever made
Review: Some people merely regard "First Blood" and the entire Rambo series as brainless, macho action movies. Nothing could be further from the truth. Though the first movie emphasizes it the most, John Rambo is a symbol of many brave men who fought for their country in the politician's war known as Vietnam. "First Blood" shows the reality of how many of the men were treated when they came home, and how it was often difficult to cope with the training and things they'd endured in the war. There's no sugar-coating in David Morrell's outstanding novel, or the movie itself. Rambo is targeted by biggotry from the beginning by town sheriff Will Teasle, played superbly by Brian Dennehy. When he fights back, it's the way the government trained him to: no holds barred and violent. When you watch "First Blood", try to look past the action for a second and see the human factor it portrays....a factor that is very real.
Rating:
Summary: Arguably, Sly's Greatest Action Movie!
Review: This is arguably Sly's greatest action movie to date. Unlike most action films, this one has an excellent story intertwined with all the action. This movie needs to be watched in widescreen format, in order to take in all it's glory! It is a must have for Stallone fans. Moreover, it easily tops the other Rambo movies(II & III), because it doesn't have to rely on just action to be a great movie. Get this one, you won't be sorry!
Rating: 
Summary: Best commentary on any DVD
Review: This first Rambo movie is actually pretty entertaining. Rambo isn't the self-righteous hero as he is a lost soul, providing strong parallels to Frankenstein's Monster. Those who have read Mary Shelley's novel may recall that the monster was given life but could not die. This also seems to be Rambo's dilemma. All of his friends have died, but even though he throughs himself off a cliff into some trees, he manages to escape with only a few injuries. Rambo is a man looking for comfort who is misunderstood because of a monstrous appearance. Col. Trautman fills the role of Dr. Frankenstein -- The first words out of his mouth are "God didn't invent Rambo. I did." But unlike Dr. Frankenstein who abandoned his monster, Col. Trautman came to take responsibilty for his creation, to try to calm him down. Now let me sing the praises of the commentary on this disk, given by author David Morrell. He never stops providing constant insight into comparing his book to the film, how the Rambo phenomena has influenced his life, an analysis of the character of Rambo as he is supposed to be representative of the Liberals (surprising as the sequels seemed to be more Republican in theme) and how the Rambo character ties into the Heroic cycle, praise of the music cues as well as certain action sequences. He also talks about the movie cycle on the whole and how with each movie Rambo became more & more invincible, and his knife got larger & larger. David Morrell's commentary is the best that I have encountered on any DVD anywhere. Even those who hate the Rambo movies may find enjoyment in David Morrell's commentary.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Of The Rest
Review: I Think This Is The Best Of All Rambo Movies, I Love This Movie But I Was 16 In 1983 When I Seen It And Bought The Laserdisc This Movie Has Great Stunts.
Rating:
Summary: First Blood is as good as action flicks get.
Review: Sly Stallone plays a nam vet whose drifted into the wrong small town. He's not a threat to anyone, but the police don't like change. The police are among the best bad guys from any movie. They're right up there with Hans and crew from Die Hard. Sly's commanding officer is really treat too; "God didn't create Rambo, I did." What an entrance! It has good replay value too, but you have to watch the whole way through. There really aren't any slow parts. If you've only seen Rambo, the most popular of the trilogy, you're missing the best one by far. This movie doesn't get the recognition it deserves, but I rank it among the top action films and movies of all-time.
Rating:
Summary: Not the dumb Movie I thought it would be
Review: Before I saw "First Blood", I thought it would be a stupid Action movie, you know the typical "good and bad" cliches and a lot of pointless shootouts. I was certainly wrong. Stallone isn't a good guy at all, he doesn't safe any poor widows from evil villans like Van-Damme loved to do in a bunch of terrible movies, he rather seems tragic and confused, I think he really got an Actors part in this movie. Although, there are a lot of weak points in this movie ( 1.I think the message that this movie intends (?) to deliver doesn't come across that clearly 2.The Policemen are actually more stupid than the Victims in any "Friday the 13th" movies, just take that one scene where the evil sherrif's car gets crashed because HE DROVE DIRECTLY INTO A PILE OF STONES! 3.I always knew there is a tunnel-system in the forest but nobody belived me... ) I think it is better than most people expect it to be. It manages to make you think a little, and that is by far more than I expect from an action-movie. They had to make two sequels that are exactly what I thought this film would be, avoid them and give this one a fair try!
Rating: 
Summary: Clean version of a good movie.
Review: John Rambo doesn't have much to say. He's just a wanderer who entered a small town where they don't like Drifters much. In many movies Brian Dennehy would be the typical badguy. He would be sort of like the fascist Donald Sutherland "warden" character in that Stallone prison film "Lock down". But he's not. In fact many people would probably tell him that he's doing a good job, keeping the vagrants out in a professional manner. However, John Rambo is not the usual bum. He has flashbacks and can't tell the difference between Vietnamese Captains and Chris Mulkey. Sylvester Stallone has a great physical presense in this movie. You believe that he is a hardened Green Beret who can go through 10 cops without breaking a sweat. And his "escape" is well handled as well, with the magnificient West coast forests providing great scenery. The movie gets the message across that there are no good guys and no bad guys, just victims. John Rambo is a victim of the US Government who trained him to be a killing machine then abandons him, leaving him with nightmares and a body full of scars and signs of Agent Orange. That and the fact he can't get a job and his fellow American hates the "Child murderers" of Vietnam. And the police are victims as well, having to capture/kill this unstable killing machine. The DVD is a clean copy and it has a difficult job. It has to high light the mistiness of the Oregon forrest, as well as provide good contrast between the background and foreground. While other discs do a better job (ie. Last of the Mohicans), this is a acceptable transfer. The sound is good as well. However it is unfortunate that they left the last song to go to Sly's brother Frank. He stinks as a singer and actor... Rating: C+
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