Ruckus

I was too young when I first saw this movie to connect it to First Blood, knew they were similar but didn't realize until way later that this was likely born of the circulating First Blood script. Don't hold that against it though. While it does get much sillier and the repetition of the same song over and over is quite noticeable this movie is very much a product of its time and a great, fun flick from 1980. It's very much flawed but Dirk Benedict makes Kyle Hanson a very likeable protagonist. The villains are terrible, like rejects from a Smokey & The Bandit movie and the violence is more of the A-Team type with no one being injured beyond the likes of a schoolyard brawl but it is still a good time and I will always remember it as a childhood favorite. Check it out at least once and try to judge it on its own merit!

This film is okay from what I remember of it. Unfortunately, it is not all that much seeing as how it has not come on television in many years and I have never seen a DVD of it. Heck, I never even knew the title of this movie and had the hardest time finding it on this site. I remember it having a bit of humor in it so I had added comedy to part of the search criteria and that is what threw off my search for the longest. Then I looked up Dirk Benedict as I was sure he was the guy and I finally found this title. Like I said I remember this one being a bit humorous at times, but like in Rambo it is about a Vietnam vet being treated badly by a small town. Which like I have said before in my review of "First Blood" and "Tank" makes little sense to me. There may have been a hatred of veterans of wars by those on the coasts and such, but usually the small towns embrace those who serve their country. This one though has him more of a drifter and looking rather filthy so I can see it a bit more here as rednecks do tend to act stupid like the ones that started the whole mess at that restaurant. The movie is a bit one note, usually involving the local law and such trying to capture the guy then he ends up busting some heads. Nothing like what is seen in "First Blood" where traps are set and spikes get stuck in a dude's legs. Somewhat good movie, but it needed some work too.

Two years before "First Blood", there's "Ruckus". A Vietnam veteran(Dirk Benedict who was fresh off from "Battlestar Galactica") arrives at a small town. He is trying to get back to civilization when the local rowdies decided to harass him. He uses his techniques from his military days to even the score. Dirk Benedict would years later play a lieutenant in the army TV show "The A-Team" where he is more of a slick than a soldier. Linda Blair plays a mother and widow of a Vietnam veteran who asked the veteran if he had known her husband. This movie is more of the comedic version of "First Blood". Not a satire. Just comedic. Yes, there's a lot of action, and a lot of slapstick. This movie is just plain funny. It has opened up a door to future entertainment. It was great fun. 3 out of 5 stars

Having read "First Blood" I told everyone what a tremendous movie it would make. Imagine my surprise when I watched this movie. The hero's name was different but there was no doubt that this was the same story. Linda Blair had been added as a love interest but the battle against the small town sheriff by a disturbed Vietnam vet was definitely the story of John Rambo later made famous by Sylvester Stallone. I have spent years trying to convince others that this movie existed. It didn't help that I forgot its name. Fortunately I did remember it starred Dirk Benedict. Although not a great movie, it does satisfy the "machismo" ethos. In a way, Stallone's version was a let down. The book has a much grimmer ending than either movie. If Stallone-Rambo had suffered the fate portrayed in the book there could have been no sequels.

Dick Bendict is a loner who still has trouble getting over the horrors he faced in the Vietnam war. All he wants to do is be by himself and try to move on, but a group of hoodlums take it upon themselves to terrorize him after a beautiful widow (Linda Blair) takes an interest to him.

Well, you can give this credit as being the film that First Blood ripped off. It is entertaining and Richard Fransworth is excellent as always and Linda Blair turns in a rather appealing performance capturing the right balance between being lonely yet madly in love. This is one of her better vechiles, but other then Fransworth's and Blair's good turns there really isn't anything special or praticully distinguishable about this film.