Continuing, my thematic movie watching, I watched First Blood on Veterans Day.

But my real reason for watching First Blood was that one my friends recently challenged my manhood because I had never seen it (or any of the Rambo movies for that matter). I hope that I have redeemed myself a bit in his eyes now that I’ve seen the first one.

Before this, the only connection I had to Rambo was a Rambo action figure’s Uzi I received in a bag of hand-me-down toys as a kid. The Rambo figure never made it to me, but that I didn’t mind as I now had the only He-Man on my block armed with both a mystical sword and an automatic weapon.

I wonder how much First Blood influenced Bruce Springsteen in the writing of Born in the U.S.A. Bruce left out the one-man-taking-a-town-under-siege finale in the song, but the movie plays out as an hour and half long version of Born in the U.S.A.

In the battle of 80’s action movies I’ve seen this week, First Blood is definitely the better film over Top Gun. Top Gun had some great fighter-jet sequences, but the bad in Top Gun was really bad. First Blood, on the other hand, was great the whole way through.

Included on the Blu-Ray is an alternate ending, where John Rambo forces Colonel Trautman to kill him. Imagine how much money they’d have left on the floor with Rambo dead! I think it’s safe to say Sylvester Stallone is very happy John Rambo survived his mental breakdown at the end of the film. As am I. I look forward to watching Rambo: First Blood Part II.