Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)

Just perfect...

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Rambo first blood part 2 is the most iconic movie of the franchise and the most successful. The movie upon release was shunned by critics and star Sylvester Stallone alike the latter of whom went as far as saying this is the worst movie of the Rambo series. The film went on to win a Razzie for worst picture and to that I say... what are you talking about? it's true that the Rambo franchise went from being about how war destroys a person both physically and mentally and shows the horrors of combat and PTSD. This movie focuses around Rambo returning to Vietnam to save POW's which is in fact another horror of war. The movie doesn't promote war by showing Rambo kill around 74 people and use violence to solve his problems. It's just doing that to entertain the audience. For the most part the movie succeeds at being an entertaining flick. The villains this time have separate agendas. The main villain Podovsky is a Russian Colonel who works with the Vietcong to keep the POW's but the other main villain is actually the US army Marshall Murdock who sends Rambo on the mission hoping it would fail. The other reason i say this isn't a pro war film is that Murdock represents the Government who didn't care about the prisoners of war who were suffering for at least 17 years. This movie isn't pro-war or anti-war, the best way i can describe the film is anti-establishment since Rambo was betrayed by his government again. In the end Rambo states he wants the country to love him and the other veterans as much as they love him, is patriotic but it means more than what it sounds like. He was saying he acknowledges that Vietnam vets were scorned for the war and he wants them to be respected for their sacrifices. The only reason i'm only giving this an 8/10 is because Rambo went from a damaged individual suffering from severe PTSD to a stereotypical action hero in 3 years which pushes the suspension of disbelief too far. But the film is still a lot of fun and I would recommend it to any action fan.

When the first "Rambo" film (First Blood) came out, it became an instant classic due to its gritty and political take on the negative treatment of Vietnam War vets (or the whole Vietnam War in general). Unfortunately, this sequel turns the franchise into a shoot-em-up, blow-em-up, over- blown action farce filled with shallow plots, tired clichés, and groan-inducing one-liners.For a basic plot summary, in this movie John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) is temporarily recruited back to the service with Colonel Trautman (Richard Crenna) to help rescue Vietnam prisoners of war. However, when the mission goes awry, Rambo must once again turn into a "killing machine" in order to salvage the objectives and get the men out alive.This film should have been focused on the next chapter of Rambo's life, but it instead eschews any character growth in favor of mindless action, endless explosions, and shiny new weapons. The franchise is much the worse for this transformation, as it takes the human/political aspect of the character and throws them right out the window. The little bit of character growth that director George Cosmatos does try to nurture feels completely out of place in this smorgasbord of explosions.In terms of acting, Stallone is never really given a chance to emote like he did towards the end of First Blood. Instead, he is reduced to shouting, grunting, and growling while patrolling automatic weapons. Also, Crenna and co-star Charles Napier are quite one-dimensional and thus very difficult to form emotional connections with.Thus, I consider "First Blood Part II" to easily be the worst of the Rambo installments due to the shift from a political focus to one of pure action and little plot substance. At times, this film is so hokey that it is almost difficult to watch. You can skip it entirely and not lose out of any of the Rambo character experience.

Sent back to Vietnam on a reconnaissance mission under explicit instructions to just observe and report, John Rambo finds himself compelled to intervene after finding mistreated US prisoners of war in this violent sequel to 'First Blood'. The dynamics are vastly different this time with Rambo initiating dozens of kills. The antagonists are also less complex, as opposed to in the first film where Rambo has to protect himself from the prejudiced policemen of his own country. That said, the film carries forward the original's resentment over the reception of Vietnam War veterans very well. Rambo describes himself as expendable, but the POWs are even more expendable, and there is much to ponder when it is revealed that his mission is a box-ticking exercise for the government in order that they can say that they are looking for missing soldiers. In short, this is a more intelligent film than one might expect, if a heavily flawed one. The carnage is even more extreme this time round with whole human beings exploding (!) and Rambo's ability to escape everything unscathed is even more unlikely this time round. There is also an awkward romance and the Communist villains are downright campy, especially Steven Berkoff's Russian officer assisting the North Vietnamese. The film has more virtues than vices overall though; the film's Oscar nomination for Sound Effects Editing is particularly well deserved with all those electrocution noises and excellent background ambiance. Charles Napier is also perfectly slimy as the closest the film has to an American antagonist.

Say what you will this is still a pretty great movie, not sure why the critics hate it so much. I hadn't seen it in years and had an excellent time watching it again, just a classic. John J Rambo is such a fantastic character; silent, abused, angry and tortured. The movie is filled with extreme action sequences and the body count is high but its kinda awesome. It's also a much bigger movie than 'First Blood' in every way; bigger budget, bigger stakes, bigger body count, bigger hair and muscles.I will admit that at first it did feel a little on the cheesy side, as most of those 80's action movies do now, filled with big bright explosions, bodies being thrown through the air, our hero in tight fitting jeans but its stood up pretty well considering.Part ll finds John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) doing hard time in jail when his former boss, Col. Troutman (Richard Crenna), shows up and offers him a deal. The US government needs someone to travel to Vietnam and try to find American prisoners of war, if Rambo agrees his criminal record will be expunged. Rambo takes the assignment but his anger reaches explosive levels when it turns out that the whole mission is just PR, he's not actually supposed to find any prisoners. Fueled by fury, he rounds up the POWs and the action reaches explosive levels as he then takes on both the Russian and Vietnamese armies.There were several things I loved about this movie; the use of the crossbow, that Rambo was shirtless for half of it (Sly looks amazing). I loved that he got to be in love for a whole 2 minutes "You not expendable Rambo". There are also some great helicopter stunts, the torture scene is pretty cool, a good bad guy with the Russian and although Rambo never says much when he does look out, this is filled with some great one-liners. And that ending I loved that he just walks off ... "How will you live?" "Day by day." 12/15/15