Well that explains a few things. Never watched with the context you describe, just had it pegged as another action flick tbh. To me it lacked everything that made the understated First Blood pt 1 so amazeballs.

Yeah, it was totally different in tone to First Blood, which was a hit (and then gained more fans on VHS rental) but not as big a commercial success as its sequel, they just threw alot of money at Rambo: First Blood Part II and it shows.

Well the cartoon was based off of this movie, so even back then I knew it was big.

This film is absolutely brilliant - right up there alongside Commando as one of the twin peaks of the 80s action movie genre.

Just discussing the soundtrack on another thread, I was reminded of a piece in a documentary talking about the practical effects used in this film - for the scene were he's blowing up the prison camp they just "guestimated" the amount of explosives needed 😂

If you watch at ~ 1:34 here Frank Stallone: Peace in our life you can see the explosion completely shakes the filming camera! Those were the days - no crappy post production cgi back then, a proper authentic jungle shaking "yeah I'm sure it will be safe if we set up back here" blast...

My favorite part of this movie?

The poster, showing Rambo wielding an M60, complete with an RPG on the end of a barrel... because it looked cool to someone, I'm sure. ;)

Yes, I read the history of it. It was so huge that over 50% of the viewing audience went back to see it again. I guess action movies like this was a completely new concept. I think Rambo represented how men wanted to be. Tough. Good looking. Ripped. Tanned. He was a walking action figure doll. Think about how guys looked in the 70s and 80s. Working out and getting ripped wasn't a big deal. Watch Soul Train and see how skinny men were back then.

Regardless of the action, the 'sticking it to the man' storyline worked well. I'm sure many who saw this pictured the army brass as their employers etc. The last scene was the ultimate 'i know better' and 'i quit'.