First Blood (1982) * * *

Directed by:  Ted Kotcheff

Starring:  Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna, Brian Dennehy, David Caruso, Jack Starrett

First Blood is the first and best movie which introduced the world to alienated Vietnam veteran John Rambo (Stallone), a killing machine triggered in this movie by mistreatment and abuse by a local sheriff.  Picked up and booked on dubious vagrancy charges by hard-line Sheriff Will Teasle (Dennehy), Rambo is tormented while in custody, violently escapes, and lights out for the mountains where he enjoys a considerable advantage over those on his trail.

Rambo kills or wounds several of Teasle's deputies, the National Guard is called in, and soon Rambo's former commanding officer Sam Trautman (Crenna) arrives at the scene to warn Teasle about the trouble he's in and offer to bring Rambo in unharmed.   "You'll need a good supply of body bags"  He isn't wrong.  The subtext of First Blood, made in 1982, was America's lack of support for Vietnam veterans.  They served in an unpopular war in which they were soldiers in an unfortunate situation.   Rambo, when he finally erupts verbally, expresses his anger over his loneliness and rage against those who spit on him and protested against him.   It's effective, even more so than the violent acts in which he makes booby traps out of wood and eats wild boars.  

I also liked the subtle dimensions Teasle shows.  He isn't simply the villain, but someone who doesn't realize the monster he created.   In the beginning, when he gave Rambo a ride out of town, he probably should've directed him to a nearby place to eat and offered him a few dollars.   It beats being shot up and having his town reduced to ruins.