20 Most Ridiculous Overreactions From Famous Film Characters

5. The Sherriff€™s Department Harass Rambo For Very Little Reason €“ First Blood

First Blood Rambo: First Blood was a film so manly, you could automatically sprout chest hair from just watching it. It concerned itself with John Rambo, a Green Beret and Medal of Honor winner who utterly snaps in the small town of Hope after being picked on by the local police force. What was Rambo€™s crime to receive such harassment? He looked a bit drifter-ish, and that wanted something to eat. The town sheriff €“ played by Brian Dennehy €“ just chooses to harass him over and over, marching him out of town on the flimsiest of pretences before arresting him after he violates that most flimsy of pretences. Of course, what happens next goes down in the annals of cinema €“ Rambo, wracked by Vietnamese torture flashbacks, goes absolutely crazy when they attempt to shave him, overpowers three policeman and escapes into the wild armed with a combat knife. Now, these guys have already been pretty stupid in constantly provoking a man who clearly has the thousand-yard stare and battle dress of a war veteran, so when he flips the switch and goes all Green Beret on them, you might think setting dogs on him and attempting to kill him from a helicopter might be a bad idea. When they later learn that they€™re dealing with a proper military badass €“ whose record is verified by the army €“ then you might think they€™ll quit while they€™re ahead. But alas not, they continue fighting for no good reason at all. As Rambo himself mentions throughout, all he wanted was something to eat, and they€™re fighting over absolutely nothing. If they had simply let this strange man pass through their town, nobody would€™ve died, nothing would€™ve got shot up and a Medal of Honor winner wouldn€™t have ended up in prison. As it was, the police€™s overreaction to a vaguely shifty-looking man resulted in a tense standoff between a hardened killing machine and the US Army. Good going, gentlemen €“ next time a bloke in a jacket just wants to eat in your town, I suggest you let him.
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Durham University graduate and qualified sports journalist. Very good at sitting down and watching things. Can multi-task this with playing computer games. Football Manager addict who has taken Shrewsbury Town to the summit of the Premier League. You can follow me at @Ed_OwenUK, if you like ramblings about Newcastle United and A Place in the Sun. If you don't, I don't know what I can do for you.