“You picked the wrong man to push!”
It’s hard to believe, but that line is just one of many that became part of pop culture all of four decades ago now.
Many people, myself included, never got the chance to witness the first Rambo installment on the big screen so we couldn’t be more excited here to report that StudioCanal, in partnership with Park Circus, is bringing First Blood back to cinemas in the UK and Ireland on 24 June to celebrate the film’s 40th anniversary.
Screening in 4K, First Blood is the explosive action thriller that started it all. A stunning portrait of an America at odds with itself. Starring Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna, Brian Dennehy and Bill McKinney and directed by BAFTA winner Ted Kotcheff (Wake in Fright, Joshua Then and Now, Weekend at Bernie’s), the film will be playing in over 100 cinemas across the UK and Ireland, including Vue, Odeon, Showcase and selected independent venues.
And as if that wasn’t enough news, StudioCanal has also announced the release of a brand-new 40th-anniversary SteelBook edition, which will include a Blu-Ray disc and 4K Ultra HD™ slated for distribution in all StudioCanal territories (UK, France, Germany, Australia and New Zealand) as of November this year. The new release will feature stunning new artwork by graphic designer and illustrator Matt Ryan Tobin, as well as a myriad of bonus features and an in-depth essay written by David J. Moore.
Synopsis: When small-town Washington sheriff Will Teasle (Brian Dennehy) detains a vagrant drifter for resisting arrest, little does he realize that he has set in motion a series of events that bring mayhem and bloody reckoning to his community. The shabby vagrant is in fact former Green Beret John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone – Rocky, Creed, The Expendables), a hero of the Vietnam War who has returned home to find America no longer wants him. Responding to brutal treatment from Teasle’s Deputies with sudden ferociousness, Rambo makes a daring escape from the town jail, steals a motorcycle, and roars off towards the wilderness with the sheriffs not far behind.
