RAMBO: First Blood, In particular.

Rambo is an Icon that burst on to the screen in 1982, adapted from the David Morrell novel Rambo: First Blood published ten years earlier. Rambo is a series of books and films that has recently been adapted to four parts. But the Focus here is on John Rambo as an Icon and in particular Rambo: First Blood. Without referencing too much, the film shows the significance of the first story - First Blood and its difference from the later storys. This is due to the political message in the film that resonated the feelings of a nation that was characteristic to the 1980's.

In First Blood Rambo represents the Vietnam vets' that came home, & shared in common a similar experience to that of Rambo. Many Vietnam vets' returned home to find an anti war movement had turned the public against them for the attrocities comitted by U.S. troops in the war. Furthermore many of the returning veterans' suffered from posttraumitic stress disorder.
The disillusioned veterans were apart of a larger feeling that was characteristic to the darker side of American culture of the 1980's, stories like Rambo: First Blood became a genre that represented a period for America, a period of soulsearching and underlying reflection.

America needed to show compassion to it's veterans, also captured in the story. "All we want is for America to love us as much as we love it."

Rambo the character became the all American Hero, the story personified the feelings of a Nation. What is key to remember is that, although Rambo is a four novel and four film series, the significance is Rambo: First Blood. The sequels are a story of one man versus an army, generic, shoot'em up. First Blood is the thriller with an Icon that represents a deeper meaning, it tell's us something about 1980's America and it's culture.

Sylvestre Stallone plays the Icon Rambo who captures an era.