Resurrecting Rambo: One Night of ‘First Blood’

I attended a one-night only screening of the movie that started it all tonight … no, Not Rambo, as the media seems to consistently get wrong, but First Blood. The first, and by far the best of the now four movie strong franchise, is celebrating its new DVD release packaged with all three of the other films in a metal-cased DVD box set. Despite the minor failure at the box office for the new Rambo, First Blood remains a classic … at least I thought so, until I arrives at the theatre and found it filled to less than 25% capacity. Geez …

Prior to the film, the audience was graced by the massive head of Sly Stallone, sculpted eyebrows and bulging veins to boot, in a 15-minute exclusive interview. This lengthy talking head shot started out interesting as Stallone spoke about the history and making of the First Blood movie, but eventually began drawing yawns and shifting of one’s body in the seats from the audience as he continued on talking about the new Rambo film and politics related to the film’s story.

In all honesty, the presentation was rather disappointing. One of many recent releases from NCM Fathom, promoting cinematic experiences ranging from re-releases, first-run anime, opera, sporting events, and so on … I am still intrigued by their overall concept. However, First Blood was presented via unflattering digital video projection of sub-cinematic quality. The projector was clearly not powerful enough for the distance to the screen as much of the movie was dark and washed out, making it difficult to see the film clearly. This goes without saying that the audio presentation was equally poor.

For those unfamiliar with First Blood, Stallone plays John Rambo (obviously), a Green Beret who found in ‘Nam but has returned home and is traveling as a drifter from town to town to find his friend from the war. He finally reaches his home, only to discover he’s died of cancer from the Agent Orange. As he moves on reaching a small mountain town, Rambo finds himself being harassed and pushed out of town by the local sheriff (Brian Dennehy). Rambo just wants to know where he can get a meal, but when push comes to shove and Rambo is arrested for vagrancy, physically abused by the town cops, he snaps and switches into survival mode, sparking a guerrilla-style battle of one against an army of cops and National Guard soldiers, none of which he wants or feels he’s provoked.

This presentation was shown in its original edit, mainly speaking of its ending. After the film’s credits roll, the audience is treated to the alternate ending which had never before been seen in theaters. Trust me, the original ending used in the film is far better. While it was cool to see First Blood on the big screen for the first time [I was four when it released in theaters.], I was also somewhat insulted by the disrespectfully lame technical presentation of the film, especially for a whopping $10 admission.