History Film / FirstBlood

** There's also the claim that he "treated him (Rambo) like one of my neighbor's kids." Apparently he's in the habit of arresting kids for vagrancy and hitting them with a fire hose.

* BloodierAndGorier: The movie inverts this from the book. In the novel, Rambo kills at least a dozen people. In the movie he kills three people at most--one guy who falls out of a helicopter when Rambo throws a rock at him in self-defense and two cops who he ran off the road (and who quite possibly survived).

** Supposedly, the Christmas decorations were already up when they began shooting, and they left them both for the ironic quality and to worldlessly remind the viewer that Rambo is on the lam in a wifebeater and jeans during a very cold time of the year.

* GoodVersusGood: With the exception of JerkassVictim Art Galt most of the people Rambo fights are regular, reasonable guys who are trying to hunt down an escaped killer. Rambo himself is good too, and goes out of his way to avoid killing the deputies. The final showdown between Trautman and Rambo is a classic non-violent take on this.

* KnifeNut: Rambo has a very iconic knife.
* LetsSplitUpGang: Sheriff Teasle orders his deputies to do this whilst hunting Rambo in the woods, despite losing two of them to Rambo moments earlier because they were seperated from the group.

%%* {{Mangst}}

** Deputy Mitch Rogers also counts, due to his occupation as a police officer in contrast to the unhinged and power-mad Teasle and Galt as well as his {{Jerkass}} colleagues; however, he is of lower rank and most of his advice is ignored by his superiors.

* FromACertainPointOfView: Quoth Trautman: "You did ''everything'' to make this private war happen." Except for Rambo being the innocent victim when Teasle chose to harass him, arrest him on trumped up charges, before subjecting to cruel mistreatment at the hands of his fellow officers. All Rambo did was deliberately head back into town to spite Teasle for kicking him out, as well as exercise his right to remain silent when refusing to answer any questions.

* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: All Rambo wanted was to buy lunch before leaving town, but Teasle apparently decided that it was a crime for transients to patronize the local restaurants. See the Film subpage of DisproportionateRetribution for the extent of the destruction such pride cameth before. In the original novel, this was averted as the sheriff was willing to let Rambo buy some food in town - so long as he ordered it to go.

* GoodGunsBadGuns: The deputies, state troopers and National Gaurdsmen carry M16's. Justified as they are the official "good" guys. Rambo uses these and an M60 too, so he's using the GoodGun. Teasle uses an Heckler and Koch G3, which is justified as he is both an authority figure but not necessarily good, so it shows he can be viewed either way. Trautman is unarmed despite being ColonelBadass which shows he is the truly heroic character as he'll face a KnifeNut AxeCrazy ShellShockedVeteran with a CoolGun with nothing at all.

** Colonel Trautman is also the only one who undersatnds the gravity of the situation.

* SlowMotionFall: Happens in one scene [[spoiler:when Galt falls to his death from the helicopter]].

** After Rambo incapacitates all of the remaining deputies (Galt having died falling from the helicopter), he ambushes Teasle and holds a knife to his throat:

* BloodierAndGorier: The movie inverts this from the book. In the novel, Rambo kills at least a dozen people. In the movie he kills three people at most - one guy who falls out of a helicopter when Rambo throws a rock at him in self-defense and two cops who he ran off the road (and who quite possibly survived).

** Except that it's really ''not''. Most of the scenes that display the anguish of Rambo's personal psychological trauma (and represented it very well) were deleted from the final cut. Also, real post-traumatic stress cases (which include combat veterans, police officers, firefighters, doctors, nurses, and anybody else who has experienced a traumatic event) manifest with depression, hypervigilance, nightmares, insomnia, and often alcoholism and/or drug abuse. Violent behavior is rare, even among combat veterans, and when it does happen it is almost always ''self''-destructive (as of 2015 there is an alarming epidemic of suicide by Iraq/Afghanistan veterans, yet almost no violent crimes committed against others). In fact, mental health professionals agree that violent aggression is a sign of other problems besides post-traumatic stress. This movie has unfortunately built the violent ShellShockedVeteran stereotype, which has almost no basis in reality, to the point that violent criminals (who usually never served in the military, or if they did, never went near a war war zone much less actually ''fought'') will sometimes claim this trope in RealLife ''and people believe them without question''. This trope has also led to many returning war veterans experiencing some level of ostracism when they come home, which some argue increases the problem of depression and suicide as they fear the social stigma of admitting they suffer from this badly-misunderstood condition. Very sad when you consider that [[BrokenAesop the movie was intended as an indictment of the mistreatment of Vietnam veterans by American pop culture]].

** Except that it's really ''not''. Most of the scenes that display the anguish of Rambo's personal psychological trauma (and represented it very well) were deleted from the final cut. Also, real post-traumatic stress cases (which include combat veterans, police officers, firefighters, doctors, nurses, and anybody else who has experienced a traumatic event) manifest with depression, hypervigilance, nightmares, insomnia, and often alcoholism and/or drug abuse. Violent behavior is rare, even among combat veterans, and when it does happen it is almost always ''self''-destructive (as of 2015 there is an alarming epidemic of suicide by Iraq/Afghanistan veterans, yet almost no violent crimes committed against others). In fact, mental health professionals agree that violent aggression. Is a sign of other problems besides post-traumatic stress. This movie has unfortunately built the violent ShellShockedVeteran stereotype, which has almost no basis in reality, to the point that violent criminals (who usually never served in the military, or if they did, never went near a war war zone much less actually ''fought'') will sometimes claim this trope in RealLife ''and people believe them without question''. This trope has also led to many returning war veterans experiencing some level of ostracism when they come home, which some argue increases the problem of depression and suicide as they fear the social stigma of admitting they suffer from this badly-misunderstood condition. Very sad when you consider that [[BrokenAesop the movie was intended as an indictment of the mistreatment of Vietnam veterans by American pop culture]].

* AdaptationalModesty: Rambo's escape from the jail happens after after getting hosed, and putting on some clothes. In the novel, he did this completely in nude.

* BloodierAndGorier: The movie inverts this from the book. In the novel, Rambo kills at least a dozen people. In the movie he kills three people at most - one guy who falls out of a helicopter when Rambo throws a rock at him in self-defense and two cops who he ran off the road (And who quite possibly survived).

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Colonel Trautman is level headed, practical and wants to spare both his protege's life and the lives of the police men. Justified as he's also AFatherToHisMen.

* ElitesAreMoreGlamorous: Lampshaded as Rambo is clearly an elite soldier but his head is so fucked up that his life couldn't be called glamourous. He has presumably drifted from llace to place since the war, clearly smells and needs a good feed. His escape and evasion is hardly glamourous too and shows the difficulties of surviving in the wild with minimal gear. Also subverted in the novel with Teasle being a JerkAss but also a decorated veteran from the1st Marine division in the KoreanWar.

* AnAssKickingChristmas: Rambo's capture, escape and counterattack takes place around christmastime.

** --> "Rambo" I could have killed your men. I could kill you. Down in the town you're the law. Don't push it. Don't push it or I'll give you a war you won't believe. Let it go. Let it go.

** Deputy Mitch Rogers also counts, due to his occupation as a police officer in contrast to the unhinged and power-mad Teasle and Galt as well as his {{Jerkass}} colleagues, however, he is of lower rank and most of his advise is ignored by higher ranking Teasle and Galt.

* OnlySaneMan: Mitch, the young red-haired cop, is the only one to express dismay when Galt [[{{Jerkass}} starts messing with Rambo]]. He's the lowest ranking officer, though, so no one listens to him. For his part, he does get off lighter than the rest of the cops, as Rambo disables Mitch by simply stabbing him in a non-vital area (the ass) that's mostly healed by the next time we see him.

* ElitesAreMoreGlamourous: Lampshaded as Rambo is clearly an elite soldier but his head is so fucked up that his life couldn't be called glamourous. He has presumably drifted from llace to place since the war, clearly smells and needs a good feed. His escape and evasion is hardly glamourous too and shows the difficulties of surviving in the wild with minimal gear. Also subverted in the novel with Teasle being a JerkAss but also a decorated veteran from the1st Marine division in the KoreanWar.

* AFatherToHisMen: Colonel Trautman is distinctly this to his last man John Rambo.

* DaChief: Teasle to a certain extent to his deputies and is clearly seen as this to the town. Trautman to Rambo.

* InspectorJavert: Teasle towards vagrants like Rambo.

** While Teasle was still a bit of a jerk in the novel, he was also a far more complex character. The novel goes into great detail on his motives, his relationships with his family and other members of the town, and acknowledges several similarities between him and John. He arguably comes off as more sympathetic than Rambo. The film makes him into a one-dimensional asshole who the audience has no trouble rooting against.

* AdaptationalVillainy: While Teasle was still a bit of a jerk in the novel, he was also a far more complex character. The novel goes into great detail on his motives, his relationships with his family and other members of the town, and acknowledges several similarities between him and John. He arguably comes off as more sympathetic than Rambo. The film makes him into a one-dimensional asshole who the audience has no trouble rooting against.

* ArtisticLicenseGunSafety: In the first film, John Rambo could've just as easily sat back and let the sheriff and his deputies kill each other in friendly fire accidents (fingers on triggers, sweeping muzzles through heads and chests, etc.)

* AnAssKickingChristmas: First movie.

--->'''Sheriff Teasle:''' What would possess God in Heaven to make a man like Rambo?
--->'''Trautman:''' God didn't make Rambo. ''I'' made him!
* BlatantLies: "Dammit, Dave, you think this kid just waltzed into town, announced he was a Medal Of Honor winner, and then I just leaned on him for the hell of it? I tried to do him a favor." That's kind of ''exactly'' what Sheriff Teasle did.

* BloodierAndGorier: The first movie inverts this from the book. In the novel, Rambo kills at least a dozen people. In the movie he kills three people at most - one guy who falls out of a helicopter when Rambo throws a rock at him in self-defense and two cops who he ran off the road (And who quite possibly survived).

* BrokenAesop: ''First Blood'' - two hours illustrating and condemning the dehumanization of soldiers. The sequels - two hours of gleeful carnage by a OneManArmy.

* DidIMentionItsChristmas: Christmas decorations are visible throughout the first movie, though nobody ever actually makes mention of the holiday.

* JaywalkingWillRuinYourLife: Invoked in ''First Blood''. Rambo gets picked up by the police for 'Vagrancy', which leads to them messing with him and dredging up his Vietnam-war trauma, which leads to rapidly escalating troubles, which leads to a dead cop and, eventually, Rambo working a prison-quarry. Towards the end of the movie, during the police's HopeSpot when they ''think'' they've managed to kill him, Rambo's old general has this to say:

* MadeOfExplodium: One of the police cars in the first film crashes into another car, and both cars explode.

* {{Mangst}}

* OnlySaneMan: Mitch, the young red-haired cop in ''First Blood'', is the only one to express dismay when Galt [[{{Jerkass}} starts messing with Rambo]]. He's the lowest ranking officer, though, so no one listens to him. For his part, he does get off lighter than the rest of the cops, as Rambo disables Mitch by simply stabbing him in a non-vital area (the ass) that's mostly healed by the next time we see him.

* RevisedEnding: The ending of ''First Blood'' was changed not because they were hoping for sequels, it was changed because they felt the film was bleak enough as it was. Apparently, the original author said he was okay with the change. Said original ending can be seen in a flashback in part 4. [[spoiler: Trautman shoots Rambo in the gut on his urging]]. The original ending was played after a 2008 theatrical reissue, following the closing credits and a textual introduction.
* SelfSurgery: Rambo sewing up his wounds.

* SparedByTheAdaptation: The originally filmed ending to ''First Blood'' was much closer to the novel by David Morrell, which had [[spoiler:John Rambo forcing Trautman to kill him]]. However, due to Rambo's more sympathetic portrayal in the film, a new ending was filmed [[spoiler:which had Rambo being arrested instead]], making the sequels possible. [[AdaptationDisplacement Due to the relative obscurity of the novel]], not many are aware that [[spoiler:Rambo was supposed to die in the first film]].

--> '''Colonel Trautman:''' Well you did some pushing of your own, John.
--> '''John Rambo:''' They drew first blood, not me.
--> '''Colonel Trautman:''' Look, Johnny, let me come in and get you the hell out of there.
--> '''John Rambo:''' [to himself] They drew first blood.

''First Blood'' is the first film in the ''Franchise/{{Rambo}}'' franchise, released in 1982. It is based on [[Literature/FirstBlood the novel of the same name]] written by David Morell.

''First Blood'' is the first film in the ''Franchise/{{Rambo}}'' franchise, released in 1982.

[[redirect:Franchise/{{Rambo}}]]

[[redirect:{{Rambo}}]]