When former Green Beret John Rambo is harassed by local law enforcement and arrested for vagrancy, he is forced to flee into the mountains and wage an escalating one-man war against his pursuers.
Acting
Stallone's raw, wounded performance before the franchise went cartoon
Cinematography
Pacific Northwest forests as beautiful, brutal trap
Writing
Stallone rewrote ending so Rambo lives; studio wanted suicide
Director
Ted Kotcheff
Sylvester Stallone
John Rambo
Richard Crenna
Col. Samuel Trautman
Brian Dennehy
Hope Sheriff Will Teasle
Bill McKinney
State Police Capt. Dave Kern
Jack Starrett
Deputy Sgt. Arthur Galt
Michael Talbott
Deputy Balford
Chris Mulkey
Deputy Ward
John McLiam
Orval the Dog Man
Alf Humphreys
Deputy Lester
David Caruso
Deputy Mitch
David L. Crowley
Deputy Shingleton
Charles A. Tamburro
Helicopter pilot
David Petersen
Trooper
Craig Huston
Radio operator
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Stallone threw the script across the room when he read Rambo's original death, insisting audiences needed to see veterans survive.
The film's massive success accidentally birthed a Reagan-era action franchise that completely betrayed its anti-authoritarian, anti-war source material.
US
