It's a Crime! M.I.A. DVD of the Day: RUCKUS

Two years before FIRST BLOOD told the story of a Vietnam vet killing machine harassed by yokels to the point where all hell breaks loose, there was a movie called RUCKUS, which told the story of...a Vietnam vet killing machine harassed by yokels to the point where all hell breaks loose!

Writer director Max Kleven made the low budget flick with a bunch of friends, and the geniune "hey kids, let's put on a show" attitude gives makes this a great B movie.

Dirk Benedict, between gigs as Starbuck on Battlestar Galactica and Face on The A-Team, played the shell-shocked vet "Kyle Hanson" and Linda Blair played the female lead, with a great cast rounded out by Richard Farnsworth as the local sheriff and John Ford regular Ben Johnson treating the proceedings with respect. Willie Nelson contributed to the banjo-heavy soundtrack. Playing out like a tongue-in-cheek TV movie of the week version of Rambo, but with stunts that look so suicidal and reckless you can't imagine what maniacs outside of a Hong Kong movie would possibly agree to perform them, it's one heck of a fun movie.

A great company called Anchor Bay put out a DVD of RUCKUS in 2000, but it has since become unavailable.

DVDs on Amazon will now run you upwards of $65.90! Ouch.