Plot
Green Beret from the Vietnam war, John Rambo is suffering from severe PTSD from his wartime. Having discovered the last of his unit has died of cancer, he goes on a walk of solidarity.
He is traveling through a small town of Hope, Washington, and immediately catches the town sheriff Will Teasle on a bad day, demanding him leave town.
When he doesn’t, he is arrested, and the entire departments police brutality, and apathay towards him, causes him to snap, suffering from flashbacks to his time in the war.
Retreating to the local dense mountains, Rambo seeks refuge and shelters there, but Teasle and his men decide to go to war with him.
Who will be the victor?
Director
Directed by Ted Kotcheff, this has a gritty realism about it. The locations are well shot, with moments in the wild out doors and also the tight confined spaces of the caves within the mountains (with rats and all!)
There is also some great use of practical effects, such as one scene where Rambo is sewing up a cut on his arm. This looked ultra realistic – and predated any CGI usage.
Cast
Sylvester Stallone was midway through his Rocky run when he made this, and the characters are polar opposites. John Rambo here is a shell shocked Vietnam vet suffering from severe PTSD and flashbacks to his time as a POW. He speaks very little, as most of his screentime is in the elements alone. He sells the role convincingly!
Richard Crenna plays Rambo’s mentor Colonel Sam Trautman, who comes to the small town of Hope in “hope” to talk Rambo down, and also talk the authorities into stopping their ‘war’ against him.
Brian Dennehy plays the egotistical Sheriff Will Teasle, who takes an instant dislike to Rambo, and is essentially the cause of all the chaos. If only he would let the man eat…
Breakdown
Six years after the Vietnam War ended, Green Baret, John Rambo is travelling through Washington, to visit Delmar, one of the last surviving men from his unit.
Discovering Delmar has died of cancer due to exposure to Agent Orange, Rambo is heartbroken and becomes withdrawn, as he is now the last survivor of his unit.
He walks through the small (and fictional) town of Hope – where he is spotted by the towns Sheriff Will Teasle– who immediately suspects trouble – demanding Rambo leave town, not even allowing him to eat a hot meal first.
Rambo’s refusal, leads to his arrest, and a vicious assault by the police triggers flashbacks to his time as a POW, and he escapes the police station – where the police then decide to engage with him violently – and Rambo retaliates.
However, his retaliation is non-lethal, instead using his knowledge of survival in the elements. But when the overzealous attacks by the police lead one of them to accidentally get killed, the state police and national guard are called in to capture Rambo.
This is actually a solid depiction of the horrors of the Vietnam War, not just what happened there, but also what happened to the survivors who returned. They were often looked down on and dismissed if they were proud of their time and wore it on their collars. There are also the ongoing health battles, not just physical like cancer caused by the elements that they were subject to, but in Rambo’s case, the severe PTSD due to his time as a POW. He also is unable to be reaccustomed to civilian life, unable to even hold down a job.
The ‘non lethal’ nature of Rambo is something that I forgot, as he was more about inflicting damage on the world around him, rather on the people around him, and the only real fatality was due to the characters over zealous attempt at killing Rambo – and falling out of a helicopter. The final attack on the town is explosive and brilliantly shot.
The nature of man is really the main theme of the film, with the three main performers (Stallone, Crenna, Dennehy) all delivering powerhouse performances. There are many moments between the Sheriff and Col as they are at loggerheads (mostly from the stubbornness of the Sheriff) about how to bring Rambo in.
There is an almost, too little too late admission of mistakes by the Sheriff, that he sadly doesn’t even really follow through with moments later… The dialogue heavy moments between these men, are a stark contrast to the almost dialogue free screentime that Rambo has.
Based on the novel by David Morrell , the screenplay was co-written by Stallone. There is also a terrific score by the late great Jerry Goldsmith, who excels at wilderness type themed movies (he conducted the score for my favourite film, the survival film The Edge).
Overall
A tremendous showing of the horrors of war, not just what happened there, but what can happen to those on their return, from death from long lasting effects, to PTSD.
Stallone gives a breathtaking performance, and truly sells the shellshocked and grief that only someone who was there can experience.
The supporting cast, Crenna and especially Dennehy are wonderful as well. Easy top marks.
5/5
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Ryan's Movie Reviews 