A troubled Vietnam war vet deserts his wife and child shortly after he returns from the war. He returns after 10 years, where he's been living like an animal in the forest. He finds himself unprepared for the changes that he will have to cope with, and when the vet tries to contact his son, he realizes that he has caused more damage than he had imagined.
Acting
Lithgow's feral physicality is genuinely unhinged.
Writing
Rambo syndrome deconstructed with zero glory.
Practical Effects
That forest encampment looks miserably real.
Director
Rick Rosenthal
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Lithgow spent weeks living in the Pacific Northwest woods to prepare, method acting before it was memeable.
This flopped in '88 because audiences wanted Rambo victories, not broken veterans—only later recognized as prescient PTSD commentary.
US
