Director: George P. Cosmatos
Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna, Charles Napier, Steven Berkoff, Julia Nickson
Country: United States
Rating: R
Run Time: 94 minutes
Rambo: First Blood Part II takes the Rambo series in a completely new direction. Instead of being a serious and dramatic action film like First Blood, First Blood Part II is a "man on a mission/one man army" flick. While the first film depicts a man of war struggling with his inner demons, this film shows a man of war one arm an M60 without a shirt and massacre countless Vietnamese and Russian soldiers. Oh, and there's a Frank Stallone song called "Peace In Our Life" in the end credits. If anything, we are most definitely into the excess of 80's action now.
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| Troutman and Rambo are the best of buddies. |
First Blood Part II is set 3 years after the events of First Blood. Colonel Troutman (Richard Crenna) finds Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) in jail (it's a spoiler I can't really avoid in order to set up the plot, sorry). He offers Rambo the chance to earn a pardon and freedom if he can help find POW's in Vietnam. When Rambo accepts, he is told that he is not allowed to engage the enemy. He is only supposed to take pictures and than come back to base. And as we all know, that's not going to happen. Instead, Rambo goes on a one man killing spree and kills every Vietnamese and Russian soldier in his sights. Literally.
The first thing that I would like to point about this film in contrast to the original film are its screenwriters. In addition to Stallone, director James Cameron (The Terminator, Aliens) helped write the film. Cameron had just previously directed The Terminator in 1984, one of the greatest action films of all time. Therefore, his screenwriting presence may explain the excess of action found in this film.
Cameron and Stallone helped give birth to the "one many army / man on a mission" sub genre in action cinema. This kind of film usually involves a protagonist going on a mission and single handedly slaughtering countless henchmen and enemies along the way. It's also worth noting that another great "one man army" film, Commando, came out a few months after this film. First Blood Part II and Commando were both commercial successes that sparked a slew of rip offs (Missing In Action, Strike Commando, Full Reprisal) and parodies (UHF, Hot Shots Part Deux, Tropic Thunder). As I watched First Blood Part II, I could not help but think of "Weird Al" Yankovic doing his best Stallone impression. If you have never seen Weird Al's UHF, I implore you to check out the Rambo sequence. It's hilarious!
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| "Hey, how about some shoe-horned romance for ya?" |
Remember when I said that First Blood had some incredible lines? Well guess what, so does First Blood Part II! Here are two gems I couldn't help but love:
"Rambo, I want you to forget the war. The old Vietnam is dead." - Troutman. "I'm alive, it's still alive, isn't it?" - Rambo.
"Why did they pick you? Because you like to fight?" - Co Bao
"I'm expendable." - Rambo
It turns out that Stallone was quite the action movie wordsmith back in the day. I also would like to point out that his line, "I'm expendable," inspired the title for his latest franchise, The Expendables.
The performances in First Blood Part II are all pretty solid. Unlike First Blood, Rambo is reduced to being an invincible action hero. Gone is the vulnerable nature of the first film and out comes the steroid induced muscles of the second. He does a fine job though and clearly gives his all with this character. Richard Crenna comes back as Troutman, Rambo's one and only true friend. I love the friendship between these two characters. Troutman just wants to help Rambo out as best as he can and cares about him a lot too.
Other notable performances include Martin Kove of Karate Kid fame playing a helicopter pilot, Julia Nickson as Rambo's female partner, and Charles Napier and Stephen Berkoff as the two main antagonists. Napier plays Murdock, a real asshole of a marshall. He's no Brian Dennehy from the first film though, no way. Berkoff is fine too as the film's main Russian villain. He isn't given any time to develop and only appears in two very lengthy scenes (the interrogation and helicopter chase scenes).
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| Hell yeah. |
As I stated before, this film is a big improvement in the action department. The whole final 30 minutes of the film is essentially one big action scene. Rambo breaks out of imprisonment, sneaks around in the woods, steals a helicopter, destroys an entire village, and than has a one on one helicopter battle with the film's Russian villain. However, the small beats of action that lead up to this are fairly weak, much like in Commando. It could be argued that this is what I like to call a "third act build up" film. Nearly all of the action and special effects are saved for the very end in order to send us off on a big explosive note.
The film's message seems to concern how the U.S. lost the war in Vietnam. Therefore, this mission to save POW's is kind of an "our turn to win" type of scenario. Rambo says it best, "Do we get to win this time?" I also liked how Rambo just wants acceptance for the POW's and soldiers who have to go back home and be yelled at by protesters. Even though he's mainly a killing machine, Rambo is also a man with a heart.
As I stated before, this pro-soldier message is perfectly represented by Frank Stallone's cheese ball song, "Peace In Our Life", that book ends the film. First Blood also ended on a song and I realized that I did not talk about it in that review. That song, "It's A Long Road", is the most '80's thing about the first film. It's very cheesy and ends a rather serious and somber film. However, "Peace In Our Life" fits in just fine in this film. This film is already cheesy and ridiculous. Therefore, a corny Frank Stallone song ties it all up in a nice bow.
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| When the headband goes on, it's business time. |
Rambo: First Blood Part II is one of the most notable and excessive '80's action films of all time. For my first viewing of the film, I found it to be pretty enjoyable. However, it is pretty jarring to take a character from a very serious film and drop him into a ridiculously excessive film. The film drags in the second act, features underdeveloped villains, and wraps things up very quickly. Therefore, First Blood Part II is the perfect representation of a popcorn flick. Throw out your thinking cap and sit back and relax. If watching someone blow stuff up is your cup of tea, than you'll go crazy for this film. I also found it to be a good sequel that helps build upon the mythology of the first film. It continues Rambo's story and still feels like an important stepping stone in his life. All in all, I would highly recommend this film because of its awesome action scenes and importance to the American action genre.
Rating: 8/10 - The first Rambo sequel is a silly but entertaining action film. All action fans should seek this film out. You owe it to yourself to see the birth of the "one man army" film.
Franchise:
First Blood (dir. Ted Kotcheff, 1982)
Rambo: First Blood Part II (dir. George P. Cosmastos, 1985)
Rambo III (dir. Peter McDonald, 1988)
Rambo (dir. Sylvester Stallone, 2008)
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