MovieChat Forums > First Blood (1982) Discussion > anyone else love the way the flashbacks ...

anyone else love the way the flashbacks are depicted?

posted 9 years ago by mrrockey
8 replies | jump to latest

I don't know why, but there's something I just love about the way the flashbacks are done in this film. The way it's edited, with these unsettling flashes of frames appearing onscreen, accompanied by the gritty cinematography, just makes for a really unsettling mood. It actually feels like genuinely having a flashback, not just the audience being told something important that happened in the past. For those that haven't seen it, I recommend checking out the deleted scene where Rambo has another flashback to his time in Vietnam about this chick he banged, it's a great scene.

Who else loves the way the flashbacks are depicted?

Discuss...

[–] Dan_Garten 9 years ago

Agreed.

[–] !!!deleted!!! (63057267) 9 years ago

The flashbacks are unforgettable. Expertly handled and nightmarish. The first one, with the V.C. soldier dumping the pan of human waste into the pit on top of Rambo... Chilling stuff there. Of course the one that comes when the deputies are about to shave Rambo is the most brutal, made all the more unnerving due to Stallone's humblingly realistic shriek of anguish.

I think they're so effective because they're appropriately brief, establishing that they're forever part of Rambo's conscious awareness while also avoiding the humanization of the perpetrators of the torment Rambo is recalling.

[–] eugene_stoner 7 years ago

they're appropriately brief

i get the idea that most flashbacks these days are just to fill space, like lots of space. often when they're over i can't even remember what was going on cuz the flashback was so long. or it could be the brownies

[–] Times_Up 7 years ago

they're appropriately brief

They are actually clipped from an entire sequence that was shot of Rambo's ambush, capture and subsequent torture. There is an interview on youtube with the VC guy who cuts him and they talk about it.

What do you say, you dumb bitch?

[–] BOandBarbecue (2264) 2 years ago

yes. and stallone say first cut so bad that he try and buy movie and destroy it. i still like to see this first cut.

[–] Tabbycat (811) 2 years ago

Agreed.

[–] 7 years ago

[deleted]

[–] millsey72 (9764) 2 years ago

I think this was the first movie ever to use flashback scenes