‹ All movies
First Blood poster

First Blood

year 1982decade 80sdirector Ted Kotcheffgenre Actiongenre Thriller

93 minutes

Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Sylvester Stallone John Rambo
Richard Crenna Colonel Sam Trautman
Brian Dennehy Sheriff Will Teasle
Bill McKinney Captain Dave Kern
Jack Starrett Deputy Sergeant Art Galt
Michael Talbott Deputy Balford
Chris Mulkey Deputy Ward
John McLiam Orval Kellerman
Alf Humphreys Deputy Lester
David Caruso Deputy Mitch Rogers
David L. Crowley Deputy Shingleton
Don MacKay Deputy Preston
Patrick Stack Lieutenant Clinton Morgen

First Blood | The Rewatchables

host Bill Simmonshost Brian Koppelman
Explore episodeClose episode

Producer credits not yet identified.

What’s Aged the Best?

Hero survives ending; premise; score; PTSD theme; early David Caruso; police brutality; original John Rambo; Teasle rising in his office; National Guard photo; Clinton Morgen character; "They drew first blood"; Kassar and Vajna credits; real-life touches

In the discussion (11)
Approx. transcript time · 00:24:14Read transcript
  • Pulled forward from What's Aged the Best: not having Rambo kill himself, as in the script, after test audiences disliked it may be the smartest action-movie decision ever; don't kill your hero.
  • The premise is unassailable and the score is great, including when he plows through the cars near the end.
  • A hero with PTSD was still new; it is how one host learned about PTSD at 13.
  • Objection: the PTSD flashbacks as a filmmaking technique did not age well; Spike's Five Bloods did them better.
  • Early Caruso, sneering with a terrible haircut, was somebody to watch.
  • Police brutality, cops treating someone like dirt for no reason, was new in a popular movie; original John Rambo has aged well.
  • Teasle slowly standing in his office when told Rambo is alive, and the weekend National Guard guys posing for a picture ("back to the drugstore on Monday") are singled out.
  • The actor playing Clinton Morgen, named as Timothy Stack's brother, is hilarious and should have been in Bill Murray movies.
  • "They drew first blood, not me" says the title in the dialogue and has aged perfectly; Rounders should have done the same.
  • The producer credits for Mario Casar and Andrew G. Vajna sound almost fictional, marking a movie friends would watch and act out.
  • Small real-life touches add credibility: the jail being painted and a radio monitor reading a magazine in the command tent.

Most Rewatchable Scene

Jail escape to the cliff; Trautman's entrance

In the discussion (16)
Approx. transcript time · 00:29:35Read transcript
  • The jail escape is the first pick; a son watching found the first ten minutes slow until the shaving scene, when Rambo cleans house.
  • Taking the motorcycle, including Stallone's little happy-feet dance compared to Jared Goff, is the greatest part.
  • Per the research, the bike-and-car jump over a bump went too high on the first take and the stunt driver hurt his back.
  • Stallone's wordless actor instincts in the sequence bond the audience to Rambo; Stallone is called underrated, and Caruso helps.
  • From the arrest to the motorcycle is as good as action filmmaking gets; the stretch from the shaving to the cliff runs about 30 minutes.
  • Stallone took real punishment, as when Ernie Shavers sent him to the hospital.
  • The cliff scene: Art threatens Rambo from the helicopter, Rambo jumps into the tree; Stallone did the bottom third of the fall himself and broke a rib.
  • The jump has been ripped off for 40 years; unlike Butch and Sundance, Stallone looks like a war machine hanging from the cliff.
  • The perfectly timed rock hitting the helicopter glass is compared to a throw from deep left field.
  • The night hunt, with the "We ain't hunting him, he's hunting us" line, has Rambo taking out the deputies one by one.
  • Troutman's first scene ("God didn't build Rambo. I made him") and Teasle's disgust are another pick.
  • The rats play better on a theater screen; Stallone reportedly got bitten and needed a tetanus shot.
  • Rambo taking the Jeep ("That's how accidents happen") and blowing up the gas station are two more rewatchable moments.
  • The "Nothing is over" ending is shockingly good acting, but it is flagged as not rewatchable because it is so emotional.
  • The final pick is the jail escape through the cliff, about a 30-minute stretch; kept to one scene it is jail to motorcycle, with Troutman's entrance also named.
  • Crenna is praised along with The Flamingo Kid; someone else reportedly had the Troutman part until the day before.

What’s Aged the Worst?

Trautman–Teasle bar scene; unused Korea–Vietnam veteran tension; Dan Hill's end song "It's a Long Road"

In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 00:45:57Read transcript
  • Research: the first rough cut ran over three hours, Stallone wanted to buy and destroy it, and it was recut to 93 minutes.
  • The 93-minute cut is fine, though ten more minutes in the woods would be welcome.
  • The cuts show, as when Teasle is told the deputies were rough on Rambo and a state cop just says "those assholes."
  • The Troutman–Teasle drink at the bar feels forced.
  • The long version probably had Teasle's war service; the book's Korea-versus-Vietnam veteran tension was an easy thing the film did not use.
  • Counterpoint: the bar scene is loved for putting the two actors together.
  • There are almost no women and the one woman is also the only person of color, raised explicitly as an interesting point rather than an aged-worst pick.
  • The number-one aged-worst pick is the Dan Hill end song "It's a Long Road," which is played on air.
  • Dan Hill, of "Sometimes When We Touch," is defended; the other side wishes for a band like Foreigner.
  • Partial concession: there is no reason an American movie should have a Canadian singing the end song.

The Joey Pants “That Guy” Award

Miami Vice deputy hit by the stake trap

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 00:57:06Read transcript
  • Chris Malky, also in 48 Hours two months later, is considered, though it is unclear he qualifies as a That Guy.
  • The award goes to the deputy hit by the stake trap, a Miami Vice sidekick cop (Zito or Switek) for five years.

Apex Mountain

Richard Crenna; David Morrell; Vietnam action movies; hunting knives; early-'80s movie graphics; exploding ammo

In the discussion (9)
Approx. transcript time · 01:02:58Read transcript
  • Stallone is not yet at Apex; 1985, with Rambo II and Rocky IV, was his apex.
  • Dennehy, the number-two star of a major hit, is a case that can be made either way.
  • Crenna definitely, since he kept playing Troutman in sequels and a parody.
  • David Morel too, since all his books became bestsellers afterward.
  • Crenna's many TV movies and the high-difficulty exposition role he made look easy are discussed.
  • Vietnam action movies are accepted, and hunting knives are called a great call.
  • Early-'80s movie graphics and opening credits are added.
  • The deleted-scene Pet of the Month model could maybe go in too, said hesitantly.
  • Exploding ammo is the last addition.

Sequel, Prequel, Limited Series, or All-Black Remake

Ten-episode series with an Iraq veteran; Michael B. Jordan as Rambo; Russell Crowe as Teasle; Kevin Costner as Trautman

In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 01:10:45Read transcript
  • A 2021 version could star an Iraq veteran in a small town, working as a short-order cook who snaps early and drifts town to town like Bruce Banner.
  • For a 2021 First Blood on Netflix, Michael B. Jordan as Rambo is not even a conversation.
  • For Teasle, Vin or the Rock would be amazing if they would do it; John Ham is floated then set aside.
  • Russell Crowe is the choice for a 50-to-55-year-old Teasle.
  • Ben Affleck could also play Teasle if he wanted to.
  • Rambo would have to be Black to give it a 2020s layer, since Vietnam and PTSD would not land the same way.
  • Charlize Theron as a female Teasle who fought in the first Iraq war is another option.
  • Kevin Costner as Troutman, who trained Jordan's Rambo, is a good call.

Who Won the Movie?

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:17:39Read transcript
  • Stallone by a landslide; it eventually made him about a billion dollars and started an 11-year battle with Schwarzenegger.
  • The star-power belt passes among Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Eddie and Tom Cruise through the 1980s and early 1990s.
Podcast choices
Speaker not identified
Sylvester Stallone