the only redeeming quality of this movie is that it shows a sincere portrait of what John Rambo was, a broken down psychopath. The character as it seems was based on "the survivor" archetype (and not the destroyer as in follow up movies), which could be taken as a metaphor for post-war vets' condition in civilian world. Too bad it turned into an exploitation franchise. Tier up a notch for creating an iconic movie character.

You have to separate this film from its sequels in order to appreciate it for what it is. This is a pretty compelling Vietnam vet tale and very well acted by Stallone. The action is not the centerpiece instead it's a great character study of a ruined man. To this day few people "get" this film simply because of how much the sequels tarnished the original.

A strange cross between a heroic action movie and the depiction of a man broken by war.

Solid. Just plain funny rather than action packed though.

The action never lets up.

3/5

Goddamn do all the sequels completely miss the point of the original.

The best entry of the Rambo series.

Maybe it was the low expectations coming in, but I was pretty impressed by this. The portrayals of small town U.S. and the mental toll of war are distorted for cinematic effect, but still very visceral and effective.