One of the definitive Muscle Guy action movies of the 1980s. It takes war vet and sad-eyed drifter Sylvester Stallone only a few minutes into this film to get arrested merely for looking like he doesn’t belong in a sleepy Pacific Northwest timber town. Then, it’s only a few more minutes until he starts having ‘Nam flashbacks, busts out of police custody in a violent frenzy, hauls ass into the deepest darkest woods and begins fighting the war all over again, but this time against the cops. The plot is dog simple. It’s just one man trying to survive. That man just happens to be a world class combat expert, all screwed up in the head, but still a keen animal who reacts with precision against predators. It’s not a great movie, but it is entertaining. Its characters are B-movie cardboard cutouts given life by some strong actors. Brian Dennehy does everything he can as a smarmy sheriff and Richard Crenna, God bless him, overacts wonderfully (if you see this in a theater today, Crenna usually gets laughs) as Rambo’s wartime mentor now come to get his boy out of trouble. Sylvester Stallone (who co-wrote this adaptation of David Morrell’s novel), meanwhile, mostly glares and looks wounded, building up to a cathartic speech. He’s your Great Underdog, a guy who gets shoved around and underestimated… until he shoves back and puts the fear of God into those who picked on him.