Sylvester Stallone (“Rocky”, “Death Race 2000”) stars in this interesting action picture which has more brains than most of these explosive kinds of movies. It’s nice to see Stallone do what he did with the first “Rocky” picture and be more occupied with the person than the action.

Heavily traumatised Vietnam War veteran John Rambo (Stallone) returns to the U.S.A. where he finds he can’t fit in it. When he tries to go and get some food in a small town the local police force kick him out for no real reason but when he journeys back they arrest him and beat him… they pushed him too far. Now this soldier is hiding in the woods and a whole army is waiting for him but the bets are Rambo.

Stallone isn’t exactly a great actor but his dodgy way of talking and his saddened face work almost as well here as it did when he was Rocky Balboa. The police officer characters are a little dull and there isn’t really any real reason why he abuses Rambo; that’s a real shame as if they’d have been done well the film would have been quite a bit better. I really like the Trautman character; he was Rambo’s superior in Vietnam and he is the closest thing the man has to family. They interact really well at times.

“First Blood” lacks the realism of “Rocky” but it definitely is as powerful and as entertaining. “First Blood” has probably the lowest body count I’ve seen in any real action picture yet the action is just as entertaining as it is in films such as “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and “Mad Max 2” (there just isn’t the same amount). Unlike lots of Stallone’s pictures, “First Blood” is smart making it still a flawed movie but among of the star’s best.