First Blood is a 1972 novel by David Morrell that the 1982 movie First Blood was based on. The book features the character John Rambo, a vietnam war veteran, who becomes the focus of a manhunt and kills many police officers and national guardsmen in the process. The theme of the book is one that condemns the war in Vietnam and asserts that it had many adverse affects on soldiers who served during the war. It focuses very much on the senseless acts of violence that John Rambo commits and calls attention to the instinctive nature of the these acts. First Blood is the first film featuring the character of troubled Vietnam War veteran John Rambo. ...

Controversy

The movie First Blood severely alters the theme of the book by making John Rambo more sympathetic and demonizing the police and national guard. By never having Rambo directly kill any of the police officers and their deaths being brought about by their own maniacal desire to capture Rambo, there is a complete role reversal. This reversal propels Rambo into the seat of hero instead of that of the cold blooded killer that he was in the novel. First Blood is the first film featuring the character of troubled Vietnam War veteran John Rambo. ...

Sources

• Uncle Johns Bathroom Reader
• First Blood by David Morell