Sylvester Stallone has been in a wide range of films throughout his career. His most acclaimed franchise is the Rocky series, wherein he plays the тιтular Philadelphia boxer. 1976’s Rocky gave Stallone the chance to both write and act, and led to winning Best Picture at the Oscars. Stallone’s Rocky legacy lives on through the Creed movies, the first of which earned him another Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He is now the lead in the Paramount+ series Tulsa King.

Stallone is a lot more than Rocky Balboa, however. He has contributed his talents to franchises of varying quality over the years. One such IP is The Expendables movies, which have gotten mixed reviews throughout its four-film run. He has been an MCU actor in two of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, and a lead in the mixed-reviewed Escape Plan series. Now, a movie from another one of Stallone’s key franchises gets reviewed by a Special Ops expert.

First Blood Gets A Positive Review From An Expert

Former Special Forcers Operator Calls It “100% Legit”

First Blood is given a positive review from a real-life former Special Ops member. The 1982 film saw Stallone make his debut as John Rambo, a Vietnam War veteran adjusting to life back in the United States. This movie spawned multiple sequels, and as with Creed, the Rambo franchise continued in the 21st century with two sequels. These included the 2008 film Rambo and 2019’s Rambo: Last Blood.

In an interview with Insider, former US Army Special Forces and Delta Force Operator Bob Keller gives his review of the wilderness tactics used in First Blood. Keller begins by calling First Blood a “classic.” He notes that the character could indeed have trained heavily on wilderness living, thus making his tactics seem “legit.” He thought it would be realistic that a man with this training would dominate compeтιтion. First Blood was so believable, in fact, that Keller awards it 9.5 out of 10 stars for accuracy. Check out the full quote from Keller below:

Classic, I always wanted to be Rambo. What kid didn’t? Rambo First Blood is going off of a, like he’s an SF guy from Vietnam. All this stuff would be 100% legit. Like as an SF guy, being in the woods, like you’ll be trained on booby traps, and all these tactics. But are you getting a lot of it? Like you might get one class. Now some guys will actually train on this, on survival stuff, all the time. John Rambo trained on that all the time. He had done it in Vietnam for years and years. Like that’s probably ingrained in his head. Like, you’re done. I mean cause he knows how to live in the woods, right? So, 100%. This is legit.

In this situation, he’s not wanting any trouble. They push it upon him and now he has to use his skills. I think most Special Ops guys getting out of the military do continue to do that in other organizations. Or they do it, you know, create their own business doing it. It’s kind of because for one you might miss it. And for others, it’s just all you know. Like if you go in the military at 17 years old. So yes, that happens. Even though the scenes might look a little bit hanky. But the reality of it, of this guy doing all that stuff to these guys and it being that easy? 100% legit. I mean I give it a 9.5, easy. I mean it’s almost a full 10.

What This Means For First Blood

Keller Is Not An Easy Critic

This rating is notable coming from Keller, who was not so kind to other films in the interview. He gave the 2013 Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx action film White House Down, for example, only 4 out of 10 stars. Even the hugely famous war film Apocalypse Now could not get past Keller, who gave the movie a 5 out of 10 for accuracy. First Blood is the most grounded movie in the franchise, and this professional evaluation highlights the Stallone movie as a realistic depiction of Vietnam War tactics.

Keller also acknowledges, in brief, how influential First Blood was as a film. He begins his analysis by noting that he “always wanted to be Rambo” when he was younger. The Specials Ops expert mentioned something similar in the Apocalypse Now section of his video, saying that the Coppola film was part of what inspired him to go into the army. This direct influence highlights the importance of the depiction of war in movies like First Blood. For some viewers, these are not just action movies, but formative pieces of media.

The Rambo Movies’ Legacy

Rambo Continued On For Five Movies

The Rocky movies may be Stallone’s most influential series, but Keller’s analysis is a good reminder of how important the Rambo films were too. First Blood is often praised for its darker take on the themes in comparison to the later works in the series. This heightened seriousness is reflected in the film’s rating. This first action installment received critical praise, carrying with it an 86% Tomatometer from critics and an exactly even 86% Popcornmeter from audiences. In contrast, Rambo: Last Blood got just a 26% Popcornmeter.

The Rambo series is also a good way to highlight Stallone’s box office potential. First Blood ended up bringing in $125.2 million worldwide, which was an impressive total given its estimated $15 million budget. Rambo: First Blood Part II more than doubled that box office take home, making just over $300 million. While this box office did not stay consistent throughout all the Rambo movies, the success of these franchise films helped prove Stallone’s value as a box office darling after he had already proven his awards potential through Rocky.

Source: Insider/YouTube