The original First Blood movie is widely regarded as the best of the Rambo franchise films. It introduced audiences to the character long before he became a superhero capable of blowing people up with exploding arrows. The movie touched on Rambo’s pure character as a former Vietnam vet suffering from extreme PTSD and the actions that cause him to snap.
It’s an excellent picture that is no less entertaining to watch than it was so many decades ago, but it’s not perfect. There are a lot of things about First Blood that simply make no sense, whatsoever. Here are the most head-scratching moments of the film in chronological order.
Hating On Rambo
Though the Vietnam War was still fresh on everyone’s mind in the early 1980s, it shouldn’t have been enough for John Rambo to get singled out by the police. Sheriff Teasle (played by versatile actor Brian Dennehy) specifically refers to his clothes and the American flag on his jacket as triggers for the people in the small town of Hope.
In reality, these types of small towns are where many Vietnam vets came from, so it bears little sense that an entire town would care whether he was passing through or not. Plus, Teasle’s involvement in law enforcement would have suggested a sense of patriotism that extended outwards to those who risked their lives in service of their country, regardless of the conflict.
Fire Hose In A Police Station
When Rambo is booked and scheduled for a court appearance, the sadistic police begin abusing their authority by taunting and threatening him. As the torment continues, Rambo becomes increasingly agitated until the police decide to up the ante.
For some reason, their precinct has its own fire hose to wash down prisoners, which doesn’t make any sense at all unless it was built in a previous fire station. They proceed to blast Rambo to “clean him off,” which seems more like a plot device than something grounded in reality.
The Policeman’s Barber Shop
The police continue their ill-treatment of Rambo by subjecting him to a number of torments, until they finally decide to do their job and get him prettied up to go in front of a judge. In reality, Rambo wasn’t too dirty or unkempt to stand before a judge and make his case, which makes the shaving scene nonsensical.
It was obviously designed so that Rambo would flashback to being tortured as a POW, but the entire scene could have taken place in a local barbershop under police guard. To have an inexperienced police officer shaving a shaky and unnerved prisoner being restrained by another cop seems silly at best. It also runs contradictory to the novel source material – one of many changes.
Non-Existent Obstruction
When Rambo makes his escape into the woods, the cops begin to follow before they lose him. Realizing that they’ll never catch him on their own, Teasle begins calling in reinforcements, including the civilian population.
He orders one of his officers to get a civilian pilot and his helicopter to join in on the hunt under threat of obstruction if he fails to comply. In reality, a civilian would have no legal obligation to partake in such an operation.
A Nonsensical Headshot
After Sergeant Galt falls to his death from the helicopter, Rambo attempts to calm the situation down by pleading his case to the officers above him on a cliff face. Teasle takes a shot at Rambo, which causes the other officers to open fire, even as he stands there with his hands in the air.
The bullet somehow manages to graze Rambo’s head without killing him, and the resulting secondary gunfire fails to produce enough impact effects to be believable. Worse, Teasle is the one who gets angry and orders everyone to stop shooting, when he’s the one who started it all.
Trautman’s Arrival
Colonel Trautman somehow manages to make it to Hope, Washington, just in the nick of time to provide some exposition. This is convenient, seeing as how Rambo was captured earlier in the midday, which means Trautman was either in the neighborhood or flew in on the Concord.
In reality, this is merely a method by which the massively underappreciated Trautman can shed some light on who Rambo is, as well as his training and experience as a Green Beret. Otherwise, the earliest he’d have heard about Rambo’s scuffle with the cops would have been later that night, or the following morning.
Everyone Moves At The Speed Of Light
The 1980s had no internet, smartphones, email or text messaging, yet somehow Teasle manages to put together a huge manhunting force in little under a few hours. This is, of course completely senseless, as such an operation would take at least 12 to 18 hours to achieve half-readiness.
By the time early evening rolls around, Teasle is ready to go with a team of over 200 men, including the National Guard. He would have stood a better chance of being hit by lightning three times in a row.
Nobody Pursues Rambo After He Runs The Barricade
After Rambo commandeers the National Guard truck and kicks out the driver, he proceeds down the highway towards Hope, where he plans to make his last stand. This makes absolutely no sense, given the circumstances after he runs the barricade.
Not only are multiple police cars fully undamaged with police officers firing on the truck, but they could have easily given chase and outran him. Instead, they just seem to give up and call it a day, allowing a wanted fugitive and supposed cop-killer to go on his merry way.
Rambo’s Intentions
It’s clear that Rambo was desperate to get away from the police, who were tormenting him to the point that his PTSD was going into overdrive. He’d already made his point by successfully wounding all of the pursuing cops in the forest, but the inclusion of the National Guard should have been too much for one man to deal with.
Yet, Rambo decides to head back to Hope in order to terrorize it enough for Teasle to show up so he can get his revenge. This makes little sense, as Rambo didn’t seem interested in anything except getting as far away from his pursuers as humanly possible.
The Front Cuff
After evading law enforcement and laying waste to a large percentage of the town of Hope, Rambo’s vendetta comes to end when Trautman convinces him to spare Teasle’s life. Rambo’s PTSD finally overwhelms him in the movie’s most powerful (by far) and emotional moment.
For some reason, however, Rambo is led out the front door handcuffed in the front. This would have been a definite faux pas considering how unstable Rambo was at that point, not to mention his penchant for delivering some of the most brutal kills in military combat. Nobody would dare think twice about cuffing him around the back, instead.
