10 War Films That Dealt With The Consequences

Although this series has ultimately devolved into ridiculously over-the-top action spectacles, which culminated in the critically panned Rambo: Last Blood, the Rambo series started off as something a lot more serious with 1982’s First Blood.

Based on the novel of the same name by David Morrell, the film follows Vietnam veteran John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) as he travels (on foot) to the small town of Hope, Washington to visit an old war buddy. However, after hearing that his friend died of cancer due to exposure to Agent Orange (a chemical used in the war), he’s arrested by the town’s sheriff (Brian Dennehy) when Rambo refuses to leave town.

Unfortunately for the local police enforcement, they inadvertently trigger horrific flashbacks of the drifter’s time as a POW during the war when they decide to beat him, causing Rambo to snap and seek refuge in the surrounding woods where he wages a one-man war against the police.

Though the film has a drastically different ending to the novel, Stallone’s powerful closing monologue about how the war has effected every aspect of his life nevertheless acts as a chilling reminder of what warfare can do to someone.