Kept inside a claustrophobia-inducing cell, Rambo experiences a flashback to his days as a prisoner of war in Vietnam and attacks the police as they attempt to forcibly cut his hair and shave him.

Teasle, not wanting the state police to capture Rambo before he does, gets a helicopter pilot to search the woods and organizes a posse consisting of himself, his officers, and Orval Kellerman, an experienced hunter with a pack of trained dogs.

The posse catches up with Rambo, who is cornered by the helicopter and fires on it in self-defense; the pilot panics and loses control, causing the chopper to crash and explode.

Teasle's officers start firing wildly and waste most of their ammunition trying to kill Rambo; several desert their posts and try to return to town as a cloudburst stirs up.

It is revealed to Teasle that Rambo was a member of an elite Green Beret unit in Vietnam; he has extensive experience in guerrilla warfare and survival tactics and received the Medal of Honor.

Teasle, bitter over the deaths of his men but also finding himself sympathetic to Rambo's plight, insists on helping capture him even though his health is beginning to deteriorate from his recent injuries.

Rambo also finds himself torn between his instinct to keep fighting and his sense of self-preservation; he refuses to take the opportunity to escape because the rush of battle is too much for him to resist.

Captain Sam Trautman, the director of the Green Beret program, helps reorganize the National Guard units to track Rambo, who is struggling with his wounds and starving.

[4] One of the inspirations for Rambo was World War II hero Audie Murphy, in particular his suffering from untreated post-traumatic stress disorder in his post-war years.

[7][8] Cuban-Italian actor Tomas Milian read First Blood soon after its release and wanted to star in an adaptation of it; however, he was unsuccessful in persuading Italian producers to support the project.

David Morrell wrote the novelization for Rambo: First Blood Part II and explained that he was bringing the character back because of the success of the movie.