FIRST BLOOD: 4K Blu-ray (Orion Pictures, 1982) Lionsgate Home Entertainment
‘There is nothing more dangerous than a guy with
nothing to lose’ – a maxim certainly to apply to the psychologically
complex Green Beret mercenary, John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone). David Morrell’s
1972 novel, First Blood, was an
unvarnished account of this proverbial God’s lonely man, recusing himself from
society at large and, in the process, becoming a one-man arsenal of destruction.
As written by Morrell, First Blood
is a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions, a tome, vetted in the spilled blood
of those committed to the war in Vietnam, only to return home and suffer the
slings and arrows of ingratitude for their service. The movie, directed by Ted
Kotchell in 1982, is less probing than the book, concentrated on several
exhilarating action set pieces, leaving much of Rambo’s motivations to conjecture.
We do get momentary flashbacks, depicting Rambo’s endurance of pain at the
hands of the enemy during the war – bound with barbed wired to a makeshift
crucifix, his chest and arms repeatedly slit open with dull and/or serrated implements
of torture. Nerves of steel, cahonas the size of melons, and, the ability to
think quickly/act defensively under the most overwhelming of circumstances,
have served John Rambo well. Nearly impervious to pain, and completely
anesthetized in his emotional responses – except when unleashing a penetrating
rage that could ostensibly dissolve concrete - Rambo is a Darwinian unstoppable
force of nature. That he chooses to engage Sheriff Will Teasle (Brian Dennehy)
in a blood feud is almost a foregone conclusion; Teasle’s hard-ass approach to
administering the law, predicated on nothing more substantial than rank
prejudice against any grifter passing through these parts.
Morrell had
based elements of his novel on stories relayed to him by students who had
fought in Vietnam, gleaning the name ‘Rambo’ from his wife’s favorite apple.
Morrell also admitted to being deeply influenced by Geoffrey Household's 1939
novel, Rogue Male, germinated from that
author’s passionate abhorrence of Adolf Hitler. For Rambo, Morrell was struck
by WWII hero, Audie Murphy; the fictional town of Madison, Kentucky fashioned after
Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. Morrell’s book revels in the questioning of
authority. The movie, ambitiously reworked by screenwriters, Michael Kozoll, William
Sackheim and Stallone, the better with which to serve up an atypical Hollywood
actioner with lots of firepower, relies a great deal on its star’s sex appeal.
And let’s be clear here: apart from Stallone’s early misfire into softcore porn,
with The Party at Kitty and Stud’s
(1970), the actor’s on-screen image as a ‘leading man’ had barely come of age,
thanks to three Rocky movies (1976,
79, and 82) and Nighthawks (1981) –
a high octane thriller costarring Rutger Hauer. So, Stallone’s movie star
persona was that of a ‘fighter’ – not a lover; perhaps, just as well, as it was
perfectly in keeping with the prominence of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s arrival in
Hollywood (to which Stallone always aspired to be more than a competitor). It
also heralded from the 1980’s; a perfect decade for the male-machismo
chest-thumping legacy of Ronald Reagan’s robust political muscle flexing in the
White House.
And while
Stallone would repeatedly aspire to move away from this carefully-crafted screen
image (beefing up with anabolic steroids did not sit well with his several
flawed attempts to break into comedy – again, aping Arnold’s seamless
transition from butt-kicking to laughs), in retrospect, the margin of
opportunities in Stallone’s case was more narrowly applied and all but off
limits by the end of the decade. There is no room for levity in First Blood. Indeed, from the moment we
are introduced to John Rambo, solitary and hitchhiking through the wilds, right
until Rambo’s penultimate nervous breakdown in the movie (in the book, he dies from
wounds inflicted by Teasle), First Blood
is an unflinchingly bleak depiction of one man’s inner apocalypse having China
Syndromed its way into an unsuspecting hamlet, undeserving of his injurious
brutality. And yet, we can certainly feel for Rambo as the proverbial ‘forgotten man’ or worse - one,
absolutely undeserving of a vendetta, innocuously begun when Teasle orders him
from the Holidayland resort of Hope simply because Rambo is the ‘wrong kind’ of
people. The novel expresses more clearly Teasle’s motivations for wanting Rambo
immediately gone. The movie merely defines Teasle’s bigotry as bound to an immediate
distaste for grifters. Even after the
truth about John Rambo comes to light – a decorated war hero and member of the
military elite, a Congressional Medal of Honor appointee for conspicuous
bravery – Teasle still harbors his unflattering grudge, perhaps realizing he
has painted himself into an impossible corner and must, therefore, carry on
with the delusion John Rambo is bad news, merely to save face.
At its crux, First Blood is a devastating
indictment of one man’s abuse of power and another’s blind resistance that
results in total chaos for everyone. Our
story begins in the steely-blue/grey light of dawn, seven years after John
Rambo’s discharge from the Armed Forces. A decorated veteran, Rambo has made an
arduous pilgrimage north, to be reunited with one of his soldier buddies, only
to discover rather bitter-sweetly the man has already died from lung cancer,
ostensibly brought on by his exposure to Agent Orange during the war. Isolated
and feeling more alone than ever, Rambo follows the rain-soaked highway on foot
into Hope, Washington. Despite being billed as a resort community, Hope is a drizzly,
remote and perpetually desolate community nestled between the perpetually
rain-soaked and fog-capped mountains. It does not take Rambo long to attract
the unwanted attentions of Sheriff Will Teasle. Despite Rambo’s silent resolve and
desire to simple be left alone, Teasle does everything to hasten Rambo’s
departure. Asked for directions to a local diner, Teasle instead drives Rambo
to the outskirts of town, ordering him never to return. Rather belligerently,
Rambo defies Teasle, who now has him falsely arrested on a charge of vagrancy
and resisting arrest. Upon inspecting Rambo’s knapsack, Teasle also finds a
rather imposing barong among his pitiful possessions. So, a weapon’s charge is
added.
Barely finger-printed,
Rambo is cruelly belittled and abused by Chief Deputy Art Galt (Jack Starrett);
forced to strip and given a painful shower with a fire hose while being repeatedly
assaulted with a nightstick. Only the
youngest member of the town’s law enforcement, Mitch (David Caruso) has even a
modicum of empathy, more so after discovering Rambo is a decorated war hero and
an ex-Green Beret. None of these facts matter to Galt or Teasle. Indeed, they
have concocted a different narrative and fate for John Rambo. Their tactics
trigger reoccurring flashbacks within Rambo, reliving his torture while a POW
in Vietnam. Hence, when Galt orders Rambo physically restrained and dry-shaven with
a straight razor, something inside the prisoner snaps. With surprise ‘super-human’
strength, Rambo pummels the patrolmen; breaking one officer’s nose, and
severely blackening Galt’s eye. Next, Rambo makes a daring escape, regains his
knife, steals a motorcycle from a pedestrian, and leads Teasle and his men on a
harrowing race deep into the neighboring forest. Determined he should not be
made the laughing stock, Teasle gathers a posse with automatic weapons and a
canine unit to pursue Rambo on foot. Meanwhile, Galt boards a chopper and
burrows down hard on Rambo from the air. Against Teasle’s direct order, Galt takes
dead aim with a high-powered rifle, determined to murder Rambo before the rest
of the police can arrive; presumably, to call it an accidental death in the
official report. As fate would have it, the helicopter pilot is unable to keep his
craft steady. Rambo flings a large rock at its windshield, causing the chopper
to tilt and fatally pitch Galt from his perch, splattered on the craggy rocks
far below.
Seizing Galt’s
rifle, Rambo now high-tails it deeper into the woods. One by one, he ambushes
Teasle’s men, severely injuring each of them, but nonetheless sparing their
lives. He surprises Teasle and confides in him that he could have wiped out his
entire patrol. Rambo advises Teasle to let go of his grudge match before vanishing
into the woods once again. Now, Rambo discovers an abandoned mine shaft carved
in the mountainside. Here, he temporarily takes refuge. Teasle calls out the State
Police and National Guard to assist in his manhunt. Rambo’s mentor and ex-commanding
officer, Colonel Sam Trautman (Richard Crenna) unexpectedly appears,
forewarning Teasle he cannot possibly win this private war against a true
survivalist and ultimate warrior. Trautman’s plan is to let Rambo temporarily
escape so he can begin to feel safe again, and thus let his guard down – the only
time Teasle might have the opportunity to intercept him. Believing Rambo is hopelessly outnumbered,
Teasle refuses to comply with this request. As Rambo stole a police radio while
escaping, Teasle encourages Trautman to try and contact his former pupil and
convince him to surrender peacefully. Although contact is made, Rambo refuses
to submit, explaining to Trautman how Teasle and his deputies are responsible
for this war. All communications terminated, a National Guard unit closes in on
Rambo’s makeshift retreat, bombing the mine’s entrance. Alas, Rambo has already
burrowed deep within the mine, enduring its creepy/creaky, waterlogged and
rat-infested labyrinth, until he discovers another exit shaft on the other side
of the mountain.
Ambushing the
military convoy as he attempts to return down the mountainside, Rambo steels a
truck with an M60 machine gun and ammunition. Barreling through the police barricade
set up on the outskirts of Hope, Rambo makes his way into the center of town
under the cover of night. Now, he uses all of his resourcefulness to blow up a
gas station, creating an epic diversion while he systematically takes out the
town’s electrical transformers, thus blackening the grid and plunging Hope into
darkness. From his rooftop perch, Teasle helplessly observes as Rambo decimates
the police station in a hailstorm of bullets. Clearly, Teasle has picked the wrong guy to
tangle with. Skulking about the wreckage, Rambo is, as yet, unaware, Teasle is above
him on the roof. Teasle takes one final stand, shooting blindly through the ceiling.
Rambo spies him through the skylight, riddling Teasle’s legs with bullets. This
causes Teasle to plummet through the skylight, badly wounded but otherwise,
still very much alive. As Rambo prepares to finish the job, Trautman again
materializes, urging his soldier of fortune to stand down. This time, Trautman’s
pleas are heard and Rambo, in a moment of uncharacteristic humility, explains
what life has been like since his release from military service; mercilessly haunted
by the horrors of war and visions of being tortured by the Vietnamese while in
a prison camp; returning to civilian life, only to discover no place for him;
his inability to concentrate or hold down even the most menial job. Promising
Rambo his gracious out, Trautman convinces him to surrender. Rambo is cuffed
and escorted from the station while Teasle is carried out, alive, on a
stretcher – presumably headed to the hospital for treatment.
First Blood (the title intermittently referenced as Rambo: First Blood once the movie
became its own franchise with 3 sequels – all co-written by Stallone) debuted
on Oct. 22, 1982. And despite tepid interest from the critics, it instantly
caught on with audiences, earning back a whopping $125 million on its
relatively miniscule outlay of $15 million. Interestingly, director, Ted
Kotcheff was first approached by producers, Mario Kassar and Andrew G. Vajna in
1976. Kotcheff immediately thought of Stallone as his star, despite some
lingering studio interest in Steve McQueen, finally passed over as being ‘too old’
for the part. Stallone’s clout, after the success of Rocky, afforded him the ability to make several key alterations to
Morrell’s story. These changes made the character of John Rambo more
sympathetic. Unlike in the novel, the cinematic Rambo directly kills no one. In
fact, he puts his mercenary skill set to uncharacteristic ‘humanitarian’ good
use. Rambo ambushes his attackers merely to prevent them from killing him. In
the novel, the body count exponentially rises with each new chapter. Even in
the initial drafts of the screenplay, writers Michael Kozoll and William
Sackheim's had Rambo executing sixteen people. Stallone disagreed with this
approach and the attacks Rambo launches into were all approached from the angle
of ‘self-defense’.
Kassar and Vajna
had hoped for an Oscar-winner to beef up the meaty part of Teasle. To this end
they offered the part first to Gene Hackman, then Robert Duvall – both turning
it down. Lee Marvin also rejected the producers’ offer to play Colonel Trautman,
as did Kirk Douglas – actually hired, then quitting over a script dispute.
Douglas wanted the movie to end as the book, with no clear-cut winners: Rambo
and Teasle fatally wounding one another. This too was vetoed by Stallone, who
likely could see the potential for another franchise in his star-making canon
of opportunities as an action star. In the wake of Douglas’ exit, one-time Hollywood
hunk, Rock Hudson was momentary considered for the part of Trautman. Alas,
Hudson’s heart surgery conflicted with the picture’s shooting schedule and
thus, Richard Crenna settled into the part – receiving rave reviews for his
performance. Taking advantage of Canadian tax breaks, First Blood was shot entirely in British Columbia. Despite the
picture’s limited budget, Kotcheff managed to assemble enough footage for a 3-hour
rough cut, rumored to be so awful Stallone actually contemplated buying up the
negative and having it destroyed, as he feared it would be a career-wrecker.
Heavily edited down to 93 minutes, the new streamlined version of First Blood met with Stallone’s
approval, the original ending jettisoned in favor of another shot months after
principle photography had already wrapped. Like his fictional character, Stallone
endured negative backlash from the critics. Variety labeled First Blood ‘a mess’, while Leonard
Maltin chastising its lack of screen continuity and fidelity to the novel.
Roger Ebert rather backhandedly praised First
Blood as ‘implausible’ but ‘because it’s Stallone on the screen, we’ll
buy it.’ Stallone, however, had the last laugh – all the way to the bank, after
First Blood became the 13th
highest-grossing picture of the year.
Author David Morrell
has had mixed feelings about the picture’s success; understandably so, since it
is not entirely the way he saw either the plot or the character as first
conceived in 1971. Having zero involvement with the movie, Morrell later
confessed it was probably just as well, since the arduous ‘turnaround’ – taking
more than 10 years to bring it to the screen - would have driven him batty. Morrell’s
verve for the subject matter, as a Canadian – and therefore something of an ‘outsider’
to the Vietnam conflict and America’s homeland response to it – was what initially
sparked his creativity. But he based Rambo’s survivalist tactics on the ‘Shade Gap Incident’, the largest
mountain manhunt in U.S. history. Arguably,
the raw sentiment of Morrell’s embittered survivor is retained in First Blood – the movie. But rather predictably,
Stallone and Hollywood have made John Rambo a heroic action star – built of considerable
brawn, but little gray matter. For pure ‘good
vs. evil’ entertainment value, and possibly, for the sake of concision,
Teasle’s entire back story as a soldier at Choisin Reservoir Retreat during the
Korean conflict was also expunged from the movie. So, Brian Denehy’s Sheriff becomes
a blind-sided, bigoted monster. It works – superficially, at least, and enough
to bypass the shortcomings in the narrative structure, thanks to Andrew Laszlo’s
superb and moody cinematography and a chest-thumping score by Jerry Goldsmith.
Stallone’s strong and silent type plays to the actor’s strength – namely, to be
seen and not heard, flexing some serious muscle on screen and at the box
office. In the end, First Blood
holds its own as a gritty actioner with above average stunt work and a
slam-bang finish.
Lionsgate’s 4K
Blu-ray is a winner on all accounts, revealing a stunningly handsome image that
abounds in rich and vibrant colors, and an uncanny amount of fine detail,
sparkling and crisp. Derived from a ground-up
restoration effort performed by StudioCanal on the original camera negative, First Blood is a reference quality disc.
Blacks are inky, but defined down to the dimmest transition. The forest
sequences are breathtaking. We can delineate between blades of grass and sticky
dew clinging to drooping tree leaves. A minor oversight: some transient
aliasing in the vertical window shades at the police station. We’ll overlook
that. Contrast is spot on, and film grain is very indigenous to its source. Andrew
Laszlo’s stylized cinematography achieves a moodily magnificent glow. And just look at the razor-sharpness of
reflective surfaces, like wet pavement, and chrome bumpers. These highlights are positively spellbinding
and add to the overall visual ambiance. Deep
shadow delineation is evident throughout. The DTS 5.1 audio appears to have
been re-imagined for this release also, sporting remarkable clarity derived
from an original 4-track stereo master.
The 4K disc
offers only a pair of audio commentaries, previously released, and featuring –
on the first, an understated Sylvester Stallone, providing unique and
fascinating insight into the making of this iconic actioner. On the second, we
get author, David Morrell augmenting his impressions of the movie while contemplating on how it differs from his novel. Each track is well worth a
listen and is jam-packed with a wellspring of knowledge. This package also
comes with a copy of the old standard Blu-ray, and it is here where virtually
all the other extras are housed. These include featurettes devoted to the real
Vietnam war, documented by soldiers and Vietnamese people, a comprehensive ‘making
of’ covering everything from the gestation of Morrell’s novel to the trials and
tribulations shared in bringing First
Blood to the big screen. Newly produced for this release is Rambo Takes the 80’s; a 2-part retrospective
with a compendium of vintage and new interviews. There is also a puff piece on
the Green Berets, and a brief squib about restoring First Blood in hi-def. Finally, we get deleted scenes, outtakes and
trailers. Bottom line: First Blood
was always designed to be a crowd-pleaser. It remains precisely that. This new
4K Blu-ray offers up a stunning presentation of the movie, plus oodles of extras
worthy of the price of admission. Very highly recommended!
FILM RATING (out of 5 – 5 being the best)
4
VIDEO/AUDIO
4.5
EXTRAS
5+
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