From the moment tortured Vietnam veteran John Rambo (Stallone) staggered onto movie screens, the character has developed in a cinematic canon that's almost equally half good, half bad.
First Blood: The Best Of The Rambo Series
The series launched in 1982 with the film First Blood. This tense, brooding and excellent piece of dark action cinema pitted the unstable loner Rambo against a bullying small town sheriff and his cronies. At times it's hard to know who to root for, especially when the vet's former commander Colonel Samuel Trautman (Richard Crenna) shows up and offers some insight into Rambo's past that raises questions about who the good guys are.
It's a great piece of 1980s action, considerably darker in tone than a lot of other efforts being made around that time, and a perfect role for Stallone. The minimal dialogue means the audience can focus on watching the actor's impressive athleticism as he convincingly portrays a Special Forces star gone off the rails. The bullying town members remind Rambo of the North Vietnamese that tortured him during the war.
Rambo: First Blood Part II Doesn't Live Up To The Original
Rambo: First Blood Part II came along in 1985 and had the promising idea of sending the soldier back into Vietnam to rescue some American prisoners of war. Only the U.S. government is trying to cover up the fact that there are still vets in the country -- something that doesn't sit well with John Rambo.
Most of the movie is essentially a brainless shoot-em-up game turned into a movie as Rambo blazes a trail on his way to rescuing the POWs. Unfortunately, what made the first movie great is entirely lacking here. Gone is the dark and brooding nature of one man fighting his demons both imaginary and real, and instead here is a one-man killing robot who hacks and blasts his way through the jungle.
While generic action movies are all well and good, in comparison to the original movie the sequel doesn't succeed. Sure, there's a moment at the end where Rambo exposes the government's cover up, but it feels tacked on, as if Sly Stallone realized at the last minute he should put some thought into the script.
Rambo III Lacks The Spirit Of The First Two Movies
In 1988's Rambo III, the veteran this time has to take on pesky Soviets in Afghanistan as he tries to rescue Colonel Trautman, who has become the closest thing Rambo has to a father figure.
Unfortunately, the hints of bad tidings to come in the first sequel are amplified here and the movie is barely more than a smorgasbord of bloody violence, pointless scenes, far-too-loud explosions and a script so weak it's ready to buckle under the slightest pressure. This movie also involves Rambo commandeering a helicopter and destroying pretty much 95 percent of Afghanistan. Right.
Rambo: The Fourth Movie Brings Back Some Of The Original's Appeal
So 2008 brings Rambo, which once again sees the soldier on a rescue mission -- this time to help captured missionaries in Burma. Although the violence is bloody and relentless, there's something about this movie that appeals. It's unabashed large scale non-stop action in a cinematic climate that offers anything but, and Rambo is actually given a few moments of contemplation rather than the comic book character he became in the second and third outings.
Now comes talk of Rambo V. Sly, how about setting this one in the United States again? And a little advice. That whole rescue mission plot? Think it's time to move on to a new one.
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