First Blood

UPC: 012236115007

Studio: Live/Artisan

MPAA Rating: R   Contains:[Graphic Violence, Brief Nudity, Nudity, Not For Children, Profanity, War Violence]

Summary: First Blood is the Sylvester Stallone film that unleashed "Rambo" onto an unsuspecting world. Wandering into a small, hostile town, ex-Green Beret John Rambo (Stallone) is targeted for persecution and abuse by potbellied Sheriff Will Teasle (Brian Dennehy). When he can stand no more, Rambo goes bonkers, killing a deputy and heading into the surrounding hills, armed to the teeth. Only after Rambo has picked off practically every law enforcement officer within a radius of 50 miles do the local authorities bring in his former commanding officer, Trautman (Richard Crenna), for advice. Trautman's response -- that the locals had better get a lot of body bags ready -- is hardly encouraging. First Blood proved to be one of Stallone's biggest non-Rocky hits. Kirk Douglas had originally been cast as Trautman, but he quit the project when the producers refused to cave in to his demand that Trautman kill Rambo in the finale. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Category: Action

Features: 16:9 widescreen version
2.0 Dolby Surround
Digitally mastered
Commentary track with author David Morrell
Vocally enhanced motion menus
Trivia game
Featurette: "First Blood: A Look Back"
Scene Access
Theatrical trailer
Production notes
Cast and crew information
Spanish subtitles
Closed captioning

First Blood

Format: DVD

Release Date: 08/14/2001

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Cinemascope

Audio: DDS2.0 Dolby Digital w/ 4 channels

Runtime: 96 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English

Subtitles: English,Spanish

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Side #1 --
0. Scene Index
1. Main Credits [2:21]
2. Served Together [2:23]
3. The Law [3:21]
4. Concealed Weapon [1:47]
5. "Your Name?" [2:52]
6. Fingerprints [2:14]
7. Escape [2:34]
8. Tailing Rambo [4:29]
9. Fleeing Justice [2:42]
10. Free Fall [7:22]
11. War Hero [2:01]
12. Decoy [3:02]
13. Weakening the Enemy [4:54]
14. Col. Samuel Trautman [5:04]
15. Defuse the Situation [3:04]
16. Drew First Blood [3:33]
17. No Shooting [4:26]
18. Trapped [4:17]
19. Rats [5:21]
20. Passage Out [2:31]
21. On the Loose [2:54]
22. Diversion [1:53]
23. Evacuation [2:20]
24. On the Roof [1:24]
25. Power Outage [2:56]
26. Revenge [2:13]
27. "It's Over" [2:06]
28. Can't Forget [2:11]
29. Surrender [1:13]
30. End Credits [3:25]

Derek Armstrong

Before John Rambo became one of the most parodied action figures in film history, known primarily for strafing deserts full of enemies with his machine gun, First Blood introduced him as a hunted dog just trying to stay alive after a wrongful arrest. In a performance mostly free from dialogue, which many agree finds Sylvester Stallone at his best, the actor makes frantic escape an engrossing experience. The film's middle portion is its best, as Rambo sprints through a dense forest, emerging bleeding but intact after many near misses, including the memorable moment when he's forced to leap from the side of a rocky crag, hoping against hope that the evergreens beneath him will provide cushion. That Rambo's survival instincts often involve killing innocent cops is rendered less offensive by the first act, in which he is imprisoned merely for looking sketchy and utterly mishandled by every station of hick cop. A film whose skewed morality is best ignored in favor of veteran action director Ted Kotcheff's finesse with crisp set pieces, First Blood was a hit whose relative subtlety was quickly overshadowed by the box-office bravura and overblown idiocy of its sequels. ~ Derek Armstrong, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Bruce Greenwood  Actor 
Suzee Pai  Actor 
Bruce Barbour  Actor 
Charles Tamburro  Actor 
Donald Adams  Actor 
Stephen Dimopoulos  Actor 
Robert Metcalfe  Actor 
Stephen E. Miller  Actor 
Craig Huston  Actor 
Frank Tamburo  Actor 
Mike Winlaw  Actor 
Raimund Stamm  Actor 
Gary Hetherington  Actor 
Patrick Stack  Actor 
David Peterson  Actor 
Buzz Feitshans  Producer 
Jerry Goldsmith  Composer (Music Score) 
Mario Kassar  Executive Producer 
Ted Kotcheff  Director 
William Sackheim  Screenwriter 
Sylvester Stallone  Screenwriter 
Andrew G. Vajna  Executive Producer 
Herb Nanas  Producer 
Michael Kozoll  Screenwriter 
G. Moonblood  Screenwriter 
Sylvester Stallone  Actor 
Richard Crenna  Actor 
Brian Dennehy  Actor 
David Caruso  Actor 
Jack Starrett  Actor 
Michael Talbott  Actor 
David Crowley  Actor 
Chris Mulkey  Actor 
Don Mackay  Actor 
Alf Humphreys  Actor 
John McLiam  Actor 
Bill McKinney  Actor 

Country: USA