Search - First Blood [Widescreen] on DVD

MPAA Rating: R Content Advisory: Graphic Violence, Brief Nudity, Nudity, Not For Children, Profanity, War Violence Movie Release: 1982 DVD Release: 10/21/1998 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Edition: Restored/Remastered Audio Tracks: English Subtitles: English, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 36 mins Studio: Live/Artisan Total Copies: 2 Genres: Action, Action Thriller See Also: First Blood, First Blood [Special Edition], First Blood [Ultimate Edition], Rambo: First Blood [UMD for PSP], Rambo: First Blood [Blu-ray]

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, All Movie Guide

Sylvester Stallone - John Rambo
Richard Crenna - Trautman
Brian Dennehy - Teasle
David Caruso - Mitch
Jack Starrett - Galt

Artisan should pat themselves on the back for a job well done in bringing Sly Stallone's musclebound actioner to DVD. Often dismissed as the progenitor of the saber-rattling post-Vietnam flicks that dominated the Reagan era, First Blood is well worth watching, and this DVD package makes it even more so. A batch of slickly animated menus highlighting clips from the film greet the viewer and lead to an excellently presented 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen picture. The sound is offered in Dolby 2.1, a bit of a disappointment given the ample opportunities for surround here. Writer David Morrell, author of the novel -First Blood, chimes in on an informative commentary track. There is also a documentary about the making of the film, which is really little more than an extended trailer. Of course, viewers can pore over cast and crew bios and trailers to their hearts' content or try their hands at a First Blood trivia game. In spite of the shabby audio treatment and the absence of a meaty documentary, the DVD edition of =First Blood is a solid offering, giving new life to a film that is too often dismissed as a Reagan-era relic. ~ Jeremy Brown, All Movie Guide