Review of Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) by Chris W — 28 Nov 2012

Second only to Commando in the ranking of "most iconic action film of the 1980s," Rambo: First Blood Part II carries on the tradition of a one-man army leaving waste to entire armies, this time that of both Communist Vietnam and the Soviet Union. Also like Commando, the action hero definitely relies on braun over brains. Large muscles, explosive-tripped arrows, machine guns, and the iconic Rambo survival knife definitely portray the "peace through superior firepower" mantra of the decade that saw the victory in the Cold War for the United States and the collapse of the Soviet Union. While not even coming close to achieving the level of unmitigated excellence of the first film which introduced us to the John Rambo character (First Blood), the sequel nevertheless ups the ante considerably in terms of action, body count, and mayhem. Like the first film, this sequel also features a heartfelt and patriotic speech by Rambo at the end of the film about the importance of accepting Vietnam veterans and the role they played in defending freedom hallway around the world.

John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone, Rambo) has been incarcerated in a manual labor prison as a result of his actions in First Blood. Colonel Samuel Trautman (Richard Crenna, The Sand Pebbles) calls on Rambo for yet another mission inside of Vietnam, offering him a full pardon for his services. The mission: to gather intelligence of a Vietnamese camp where there still may be several American prisoners of war some ten years after the cessation of hostilities. Rambo agrees. His incursion into enemy territory is botched, and he is feared dead. Col. Trautman, however, convinces the man behind the operation, Marshall Murdock (Charles Napier, Annapolis) to give Rambo the 36 hours promised and return for him at the designated coordinates. Indeed, Rambo survives, and teams up with Vietnamese woman, Co Bao (Julia Nickson, K2), who has been assigned to aid him. Together, they must infiltrate the prison camp, find the POWs, and take on an enemy more cunning, ruthless, and cold-hearted than either the Vietnamese or the Soviets.

Rambo: First Blood Part II is a tour-de-force of 1980s-style action, an over-the-top, completely unrealistic, relentless movie that is one part conspiracy, two parts cat-and-mouse, and all action. The film shares much in common with Chuck Norris's Missing in Action, that film released some six months prior to this one. Of course, the 1980s was all about Vietnam, that war the subject of both classics (Platoon, Hamburger Hill, Full Metal Jacket) and clunkers (Platoon Leader). Despite the excellence of the award-winning and highly celebrated films listed above, Rambo: First Blood Part II is nevertheless one of the most iconic and widely recognized of the Vietnam films. It's even been widely parodied in movies such as Hot Shots! Part Deux and UHF, the latter being so brilliant in its mocking that I cannot even watch the second Rambo film without thinking of it. It's not that the story itself is timeless, or that the movie itself is brilliant that makes it so well-known. Rather, it's the film's star, Sylvester Stallone, and the world-famous character he portrays, whose presence, stature, skill, and relentlessness certainly helped define America both at home and abroad in the 1980s.

Rambo: First Blood Part II is a true American classic, not because of the strength of the film but because of the statue of its hero. John Rambo defined a generation and his brute strength, cunning, size, and perhaps most important of all, his heart, struck fear into America's enemies and brought home a sense of pride and respect domestically. John Rambo is the classic action hero, and while Rambo: First Blood Part II isn't the best film of the Rambo series, it's definitely the most widely recognized.