First Blood is a 1982 American action film directed by Ted Kotcheff and co-written by and starring Sylvester Stallone as Vietnam War veteran John Rambo. It co-stars Richard Crenna as Rambo’s mentor Sam Trautman and Brian Dennehy as Sheriff Will Teasle. It is the first installment in the Rambo franchise, followed by Rambo: First Blood Part II.

The film is based on the 1972 novel First Blood by David Morrell, which many directors and studios had unsuccessfully attempted to adapt in the 1970s. In the film, Rambo is a troubled and misunderstood Vietnam veteran who must rely on his combat and survival skills when a series of brutal events results in him having to survive a massive manhunt by police and government troops near the small town of Hope, Washington.

First Blood was released in the United States on October 22, 1982. Initial reviews were mixed, but the film was a box office success, grossing $125 million and becoming the 13th highest grossing film at the domestic box office[5] and the seventh highest grossing film worldwide. In 1985, it also became the first Hollywood blockbuster to be released in China, holding the record for the largest number of tickets sold for an American film until 2018. Since its release, it has been reappraised by critics, with many highlighting the roles of Stallone, Dennehy and Crenna, and recognizing it as an influential film in the action genre.

Vietnam War veteran John Rambo goes to a lake house looking for an old comrade, only to learn his friend died of cancer over a year earlier, brought on by exposure to Agent Orange during the war. He offers his condolences to the soldier’s widow for her loss and gives her a photo of the pair and the rest of their unit, Baker Team.

Continuing his travels, Rambo reaches the town of Hope, Washington. The sheriff, Will Teasle, heads him off and drives him to the outskirts of town, explaining that he considers it his job to keep drifters out of Hope. Neglecting the sheriff’s warning, Rambo returns to Hope, prompting Teasle to arrest Rambo on charges of vagrancy, resisting arrest, and possessing a concealed knife. Led by the sadistic chief deputy Art Galt, Teasle’s deputies abuse Rambo, triggering flashbacks of the torture he endured in Vietnam. When they try to dry shave him with a straight razor, Rambo snaps, fights his way out of the sheriff’s station, regains his knife, and flees on a motorcycle into the woods. Teasle organizes a search party with rifles, dogs, and a helicopter.

Defying Teasle’s orders, Galt attempts to shoot Rambo from the helicopter. Cornered on a high cliff, Rambo leaps into a tree, injuring his right arm. With Galt still shooting at him, Rambo throws a rock at the helicopter, cracking its windshield and causing the pilot to briefly lose control. Losing his balance, Galt falls to his death on the jagged rocks. Rambo tries to surrender to Teasle, reasoning that Galt’s death was an accident and that he wants no more trouble, but the deputies shoot at him, and he flees. Other deputies warn Teasle that Rambo is a Green Beret, war hero, and Medal of Honor recipient, but Teasle swears revenge and continues the search.

Using guerilla tactics, Rambo non-lethally subdues all the deputies. With his deputies incapacitated, Rambo corners Teasle, holds a knife to his throat and threatens “a war [Teasle] won’t believe” if he does not give up the pursuit, before retreating further into the woods. The Washington State Patrol and Washington National Guard are dispatched to assist Teasle, along with Rambo’s mentor and former commanding officer, Colonel Sam Trautman. Trautman advises that Rambo should be allowed to escape to Seattle to defuse the situation, then be permitted to surrender peacefully later, but Teasle, confident that Rambo is hopelessly outnumbered, refuses. Teasle allows Trautman to contact Rambo to persuade him to surrender, but Rambo refuses, condemning Teasle and his deputies for their abuse and citing that they ‘drew first blood.’

At the entrance of an abandoned mine, a National Guard detachment corners Rambo. Ignoring Teasle’s instructions to wait for his arrival, the guardsmen fire a rocket launcher, collapsing the mine entrance and seemingly killing Rambo. However, Rambo survives, escapes the mine through a ventilation shaft, and hijacks a military truck carrying an M60 machine gun and ammunition and returns to Hope to cause as much damage as possible. In an effort to distract the authorities, Rambo blows up a gas station, cuts power to most of the town, destroys a sporting goods store, and shoots up the sheriff’s station. Trautman, understanding that Teasle is outmatched, tries again to convince him to leave Rambo be. Teasle, seeing Rambo’s rampage as a personal attack, ignores Trautman’s orders and tries to hunt for Rambo on the station’s roof, but Rambo manages to shoot and wound Teasle after a brief exchange of gunfire.

As Rambo prepares to kill Teasle, Trautman appears and warns Rambo that he will be killed unless he surrenders, reminding him that he is the last survivor of Baker Team. Rambo vents about the horrors of war and his traumatic experiences—watching his friends die in Vietnam, being treated poorly when returning home, being unable to hold a job, and being forgotten despite his sacrifices—and breaks down crying as he recounts how a good friend was killed by a Viet Cong child soldier using a shoeshiner box wired with explosives. After being comforted by Trautman, Rambo surrenders and is taken into federal custody, while Teasle is taken to a waiting ambulance for transport to the hospital.