First Blood
if u asked me yesterday, i would tell u i had almost zero desire to watch this movie. it's just that today I didn't have much time, so i wanted to find a movie under an hour. also i was in the mood for a Dad movie, so I just stumbled onto Rambo and went, "oh well, it'll probably be a fun time i guess."
From the very first 10 minutes of the movie, I genuinely thought I had picked the wrong movie somehow. Yeah sure, Sylvester Stallone's face is on it, but why is this movie so sentimental? That's not what I got from pop culture's depiction of Rambo. I was intrigued, and I watched on. 15 minutes later, it becomes more like the Rambo I was familiar with; and an hour later i was ready to hail it as a masterpiece.
You got that right; First Blood (I can never get used to that title) is not only a masterpiece, it's perfect in what it sets out to do. I don't throw that phrase around very much, hell I wouldn't even call the Godfather perfect. But this movie really is perfect in my eyes. If I had to nitpick, the only thing wrong with this movie is that cheesy ending song.
What I expected was a Predator esque mindless action movie about a badass war vet doing badass shit. I did not enjoy Predator, so I wasn't expecting to like this. To be fair, Rambo is quite the badass here, but this movie is anything but a dumb action movie. If anything, this is a psychological examination on the mental effects of the Vietnam War and the difficulties of transitioning to civilian life. And god is it effective in showing you Rambo's struggles and why he is the way he is in a way that doesn't feel ham fisted or tacky. Sylvester Stallone's acting is perfect in delivering that. You don't really feel that sense of awe when you see Rambo the way you'd see your typical action hero. And that's because of how wounded Rambo's expression is, that you feel more sorry for him than anything. He's such a sympathetic character that I genuinely ended up tearing up at the end of the movie. (I cried in the fuckin Rambo movie! What the fuck?!)
The villains are also shockingly amazing in this. With an obligatory Fuck the Police out of the way, the way they're presented is so refreshing. They're not one dimensional cartoon villains; they're egoistical and corrupt, but all too human. They care about their own town too, and they have their warped sense of duty. Sure they're ultimately doing it for their pride, but they still keep the facade of being enforcers of the law. Brian Dennehy plays one of the most hateable villains despite never doing anything that's particularly a crime. He doesn't even engage in police brutality the way the other police do, and yet you hate the motherfucker.
So what do you get when you have a perfectly paced movie, a highly sympathetic protagonist, an antagonist you want to watch fall, nuanced and poignant social commentary, highly effective action cinematography, a score that actually fits the movie's tone in being haunting yet beautiful (notice the lack of your usual triumphant heroic musical number), and a memorably powerful ending to tie everything up? You get a perfect movie.
I have zero desire to watch the sequels though. Maybe they'll be good too, but I highly doubt it.