First Blood (1982)

        John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone), a Vietnam war vet ends up in a small town when looking for an old war buddy. The local law enforcement draws first blood, and gets into a battle they will soon regret. Rambo finds himself run out of the small town and eventually arrested for vagrancy. Will Teasle (Brian Dennehy) is the sheriff. Calling him a jerk is clearly an understatement. He tries to justify the way he acts because he believes he's protecting his town.

         PTS is one one of the things Rambo finds himself struggling with. We see some flashbacks early where it appears he's a POW. The way Rambo is treated by the law enforcement is what triggers the flashbacks. At first Rambo was cooperative but that changed quickly. Many of men and women returning home from war experience PTS. Due to this, it makes this movie that much more powerful, this is no longer about Rambo and him seeking redemption; there's so much more. Rambo was a part of an elite group of soldiers, and now he's the last one left. Which makes you realize how a lot of soldiers witness comrades die on the battlefield, and then have to find a way to cope with it. Another message that you might grab from this movie within the first fifteen minutes is, being in battle is one thing, but coming home is another. Rambo's buddy actually died of cancer. Its crazy to think you can hear bullets whizzing past you, and then you come home only to die from something else. The cancer was triggered due to agent orange exposure. Even though a solider never killed him Vietnam still did. Civilian life may have been Rambo's toughest challenge. He was a decorated war hero, so fighting in a war is what he has grown accustomed to, its all he knows. When a guy like that has to come home its not easy for him. Guys like him are important on the battlefield, but at home you become an average Joe. They find themselves working dead end jobs and are extremely unhappy.  A movie like First Blood (1982) is a must watch because even though it came out in 1982, its still relevant today. For example the brutality of law enforcement, it seems like every year we hear a tragic story about cops taking their jobs to the extreme, and killing some unarmed person.

        Sylvester Stallone needs more credit than he deserves, most people perceive him as some macho man who's not really intelligent. But, the thing is a lot of movies he played in he actually wrote them, and sometimes directed them. And if you think writing a movie or directing a movie is easy, then you are sadly mistaken.