arguably (prove me wrong!) one of stallones best movies.
the entire subsequent rambo franchise feels like a farce compared to the original… they dont even feel part of the same universe.
gritty… realistic without being over the top (remember that one?!). a good movie makes you feel, and this movie makes me so angry. the revenge is almost justified.
being the early 80s the political fallout of vietnam was still hot on everyones minds. ostracized vets a serious reality.
the small town redneck sheriff always makes for a great villain. that ignorant evil is a valid antagonist even today. brian dennehy was amazing. you just want to punch him in the face. if you look close you can spot a baby faced david caruso.
so what do you peeps think of this masterpiece?
Stallone made great first movies. It’s sequels that he kinda sucked at.
I’d say it’s a tie between First Blood and Rocky for his best performance for sure, with Rocky being a little better as a movie overall.
Tbh though, he squandered his ability as an actor chasing being an action star. First Blood was the last movie he made that had any real acting in it.
I’m not saying that he didn’t do good action movies, he did, and he still kinda does. It’s the acting part that he started phoning in. Even in the Rocky series, the second one was half-assed acting compared to the first, and it went schlocky after that. It’s like he was doing a caricature or impression of Rocky rather than seriously acting.
Now, again, as an action star, he was top tier. He had the moves, the look, and just enough skill to make characters pop a little.
Yeah, I thought he was going back to the “real acting” parts when he did Cop Land with Deniro. He was really good in Cop Land.
But it didn’t really make a splash and he went back to action movies. :/