Sylvester Stallone has named First Blood, the 1982 film that launched the Rambo franchise, as the best action movie of his career - a distinction the film continues to earn more than four decades after its release. "Inadvertently, I'd consider it the best action film I've ever done," Stallone said, describing it as one of the first truly "pure" action films. "You're speaking with your body, your looks, your intentions... you are in action the whole time."
First Blood arrived just six years after Stallone's breakout in Rocky, cementing his status as one of Hollywood's most bankable stars. Directed by Ted Kotcheff and based on David Morrell's 1972 novel, the film cast Stallone as John Rambo, a Vietnam veteran and former Green Beret pushed to his breaking point by a small-town sheriff's harassment. The film holds a 7.7 rating on IMDb and 86% on Rotten Tomatoes, and critics continue to rank it among the greatest action films ever made.
The franchise spawned four sequels, running from Rambo: First Blood Part II in 1985 through Rambo: Last Blood in 2019, but Stallone's own verdict remains unchanged: the original still stands above the rest.
