Film

Fresh off the blockbuster success of the Rocky franchise in the 1970s, Oscar-winning megastar Sylvester Stallone solidified his status as “one of the great physical actors in the movies” (Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times) with the inaugural Rambo film. Co-written by and starring Stallone, this cult classic follows John Rambo, a former Green Beret, seven years after returning home from the Vietnam War. After wandering into a small Washington town in search of an old friend, he is attacked by a sadistic local sheriff (Dennehy) and his deputies, resulting in a showdown that forces Rambo to train all the combat skills he learned as a prisoner of war on his brutish new enemies. Packed with expertly constructed set pieces, First Blood is one of the darkest and most visceral action films of its era.