Red Scorpion (1989)

Version: Unrated Cut

Director: Joseph Zito

Cast: Dolph Lundgren, M. Emmett Walsh, Al White, Brion James, T. P. McKenna

Country: United States / South Africa

Red Scorpion is an action packed "one man army" film filled with sweaty Dolph Lundgren abs, gorey Tom Savini effects, and a body count that even John Rambo would be proud of. Directed by Joseph Zito, this excessive 80's film balances grand adventure with effective emotional beats as well. Dolph Lundgren's abs have never been bigger and his shorts have never been tighter. Read on to see how Dolph does in his own Dances With Wolves / Avatar type-story.

"I must break you."

Dolph Lundgren plays Soviet Spetsnaz Nikolai Petrovitch Radchenko (quite a mouthful). While in Africa with Soviet, Czech, and Cuban forces, Nikolai is sent on a mission to integrate into the African rebel forces and to kill their leader, Sundata. Along the way Nikolai makes friends with the hilarious Dewey Ferguson (M. Emmet Walsh), the noble Kallunda Kintash (Al White), and the silent Gau (Regopstaan). 

Much like Avatar and Dances With Wolves, Nikolai soon learns that he is working for the wrong side and ends up defecting to the African Rebels. Nikolai gets a scorpion tattoo, puts on some war paint, and wages an all out war on the Soviet forces in one of the best final shootouts I have ever seen.

This is officially the first Dolph Lundgren film that I have ever reviewed for the blog. For those who don't know, I consider Dolph to be one of the most notable action icons in all of American action cinema. However, I really feel that all of Dolph's films never quite strike that perfect cord with me the way that some of Arnold's or Stallone's do. While every action icon has their ups and downs, I feel that every Dolph film I have ever seen is either dreadful or sits somewhere in between disappointing and great. That is until I watched this unrated cut of Red Scorpion...

Rambo, eat your heart out.

Red Scorpion is easily the best Dolph Lundgren film I have ever seen. THIS is how you rip off something like Rambo: First Blood Part II or Rambo III and still make a solid and impressive low budget action film. Everything in this film just clicks together to create a definitive cult action film that is not ashamed of its inspirations (a truck chase through the desert is clearly taken from Raiders of the Lost Ark) or its over the top ness (Dolph hip firing LMG's). 

It's obvious that Red Scorpion takes many of its inspirations from the likes of Commando and Rambo III. Their heroes hip fire massive machine guns, show off their oily muscles, and throw on some war paint sometimes for good measure. Red Scorpion falls somewhere in between those two films. It has the serious drama of a Rambo film and the ridiculous "one many army" aspects of Commando. It also helps that the film doesn't scream that it is a clear rip off either. Even though you have seen elements of this film before, it still packs in a surprise or two or shakes up the elements enough to be a solid action film of its own. As far as the "one man army / man on a mission" sub-genre of action films goes, this is one of the very best and definitely the most underrated.

Dolph "The Stuntman" Lundgren.

The action scenes in this film are extremely impressive. After seeing some of Zito's previous Chuck Norris action efforts like Invasion U.S.A. and Missing In Action, I expected some low budget cheese, sloppy storytelling, and weak sound editing. Instead, Red Scorpion features very impressive stuntwork (by Dolph Lundgren himself in several scenes), a surprisingly emotional story, and one hell of an explosive soundtrack. One of the major deciding factors for why I love an action film is always the sound design and editing. Fortunately for an action fan like me, Red Scorpion features some first rate sound design. 

The film also does a good job at featuring a nice variety of action. I imagined that all of the action scenes would be straight shootouts. Instead, the film completely caught me off by guard by featuring a full blown car chase through the desert in the first 20 minutes. This scene is clearly a rip off of the famous car chase in Raiders of the Lost Ark but I loved every second of it. Its an extremely exciting scene.

The action scenes also benefit from some first rate gore effects by cult favorite Tom Savini. I am pretty sure this is the only action film I have ever seen that features Savini's trade mark gore effects. Even though most 80's action films feature the same type of bloody squibs, this film finds a way to sneak in some creative Savini-inspired gore.

Like shots like this.

The acting is pretty solid in this film too. Dolph Lundgren plays Dolph Lundgren, as usual. I don't mean to be rude to the guy but I feel that every character of his is essentially the same. It's fun to watch this film and think that Lundgren is essentially playing Ivan Drago again but after Rocky IV. I also enjoyed how the film chose to limit Lundgren's dialog. The character of Nikolai comes off as more realistic as he experiences a personal dilemma and culture clash when he is not blatantly describing what is happening to him.

All of the supporting cast are a blast too. M. Emmet Walsh is especially hilarious in this movie! I can't remember the last time an actor made cursing so funny, but Walsh sells it. He's a great character actor and I loved every second of him. Blade Runner's Brion James also pops up with bleach blonde eyes brows, ew.

It's also worth mentioning that this film pre-dates Dances With Wolves and yet contains that ever so popular storyline also found in Avatar. I am not sure where this story originated in film, but if anyone knows please let me know. I love reused plots like this and would love to get to the bottom of this one.

Would you believe that Dolph Lundgren is in another action film that also uses this plot? That's right! In 1994, Dolph Lundgren starred in Men of War, yet another action film where someone is sent to infiltrate a group and ends up joining their side instead. Men of War is much slower and drawn out than Red Scorpion though. I'd recommend the film only for die hard action fans. If you are craving action though, look up "Men of War Kill Count" on YouTube and get your small taste of the film there.

The Red Scorpion.

I'll keep this review short and sweet. Watch Red Scorpion uncut please. It's a blast, silly, and very entertaining. Dolph Lundgren and "one man army" films have never been better than they are right here. The film may suffer from some aged politics, much like Rambo III, but it makes up for it with its insanely high body count and varied action scenes. And Dolph's shorts.

Rating: 8/10 - Red Scorpion is highly recommended to all action fans. It's an extremely underrated film that deserves to see the light of day now that it has been released uncut on Blu Ray thanks to Synapse Films.

Best Kill / Beatdown: Dolph fills lots of bodies with lots of lead in this film. I could go with the originality of the Colonel's arm being blasted off with the grenade. However, the very final kill is so ridiculous but too good to spoil. Like I said, you've got to watch it.

Best Action Scene: The epic finale is just great. One of the best action scenes in all of American action cinema. 

Best Performance: M. Emett Walsh is too funny. I'm going with him.

Rambo-a-Thon, Part 4 - Rambo (2008)

Director: Sylvester Stallone

Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Julie Benz, Matthew Marsden, Paul Schulze, Graham McTavish

Country: United States / Germany

Rating: R

Run Time: 90 minutes

From Washington, to Vietnam, to Afghanistan, Rambo has been all over the place. Each of the Rambo films focus on the effects of large scale wars such as Vietnam and the Cold War. In today's society, there really are no more large scale wars such as these. Instead, riots, violent occupations, and genocide pepper the globe on a day to day basis. Therefore, the fourth Rambo focuses on a small scale "war", the genocides in Burma. In doing so, the film gives the character of John Rambo a good reason to return (besides box office dollars) and delivers on some of the most brutal violence in cinema history.

"You didn't kill for your country, you killed for yourself."

Rambo finds John Rambo living on his own in Thailand near the Burmese border. A group of missionaries come to Rambo and ask him if he will pilot them up river in his boat. Their mission is to provide aid and spread the word of God to the Karen village people. Rambo agrees to take them but only up to a certain point. While on their mission, the missionaries are captured by Tatmadaw soldiers. When Rambo gets word of their capture, he agrees to join a group of mercenaries and help free the missionaries.

There is no denying it, Rambo might just be the most brutally violent action film I have ever seen. Children are shot, heads are chopped off, and bodies are literally ripped to shreds by .50 caliber bullets. Even though the first three Rambo films are violent, they were never graphic or disgusting. This film on the other hand is incredibly brutal and very difficult to watch at times. I actually had to fast forward through two scenes where the Tatmadaw soldiers massacre two villages full of people. It was really graphic material that was depicted so realistically that one could mistake it for actual footage. I want to emphasize this aspect of the film because Rambo is not for the squeamish. Rambo defines why action films are Rated R.

Now that I have gotten that out of the way, I have another bold proclamation to make about this film. Rambo might just be the greatest come back film for any action star past their prime. If you analyze all of the current films of the great aging action icons, (Van Damme, Schwarzenegger, Lundgren, Seagal, etc.) few of their films achieve the greatness of their older days. However, Rambo came out in 2008, well after Stallone's prime. Therefore, no one could predict that Stallone would make such an incredible action film in 2008 of all years. But guess what? Stallone did it! Rambo is so balls to the wall, violent, action packed, powerful, and dramatic, it is a complete miracle.

Things do not end well for this guy.

Rambo has a lot of great stuff in it that homages the old Rambo films. The first is the classic Jerry Goldsmith "Rambo" theme. New composer Brian Tyler homages this theme at the beginning and end of the film with two fantastic pieces of score. These beautifully composed pieces remind you that Rambo is not just some violent action franchise but also an emotional and dramatic action series as well. Tyler's score is especially affective during the film's final moments as Rambo returns home to his father.

Rambo also gets to use his classic bow for one very short but memorable action sequence. How about Rambo's trademark hair, muscles, and knife? Well, Stallone never takes his shirt off in this film. Therefore, we don't get to see Rambo sans shirt. He does sport that headband in literally every scene though.

Surprisingly, Rambo no longer has his trade mark knife. When it comes time for Rambo to get ready before he goes off on his killing spree, he welds a brand new knife. It looks far different than his classic pointy knife. It looks more like a machete that you would use to hack away at bushes with. I loved this update of the Rambo knife and thought it was cool that Rambo hand made it while delivering a moving monologue. 

I'm getting Seven Samurai / Apocalypse Now vibes.

There is also an awesome scene in the film where Rambo has a dream that includes snippets of Colonel Troutman's dialogue over scenes from the first three films. The dream ends with Rambo waking up in First Blood hearing Troutman call his name. He than wakes up in real life to hear his name called by a pastor who has walked into his hut. This was a really cool scene that paid homage to the late Richard Crenna. It is quite sad to have no Richard Crenna in a Rambo film. However, he had passed away in 2003 and it was completely understandable. Still, when Rambo hears the pastor call his name, I honestly thought that it was going to be Colonel Troutman for a moment, even though that is impossible.

All of the performances are first rate. Stallone is at the top of his game as Rambo for the fourth time. You can tell that the character means the world to him and that by also directing this film, Rambo is 100% his baby. The supporting cast is pretty massive, so I won't go into detail about each and every mercenary, missionary, or henchman. The two I will point out though are Julie Benz as one of the missionaries and Matthew Marsden as one of the mercenaries. These two characters are the only people who believe and want to help out Rambo throughout the film. After seeing three movies where people crap on Rambo and consider him an outcast, it was nice to see two people out of all of the haters gravitate towards him.

Rambo is also a very swift film. At just 90 minutes (I watched the theatrical cut), Rambo has more deaths and more action than you could possibly imagine. And would you believe that it still makes time for some dramatic and heartfelt moments too? The entire second and third act are incredibly exciting. The film concludes with an epic battle of gunfire, explosions, rockets, sniping, and .50 caliber gun toting. It is truly one of the most insane and bloody action scenes to ever be put to the big screen. It's a spectacle to behold. 

And as usual, how great is the dialogue of the film? Well, I think all of the awesomeness is summed up in one chunk said by Stallone. Check it out. "You know where you are? What you're made of. War is in your blood-don't fight it. You didn't kill for your country-you killed for yourself. The gods are never going to make that go away. When you're pushed killin's as easy as breathing."

The last 11 minutes is just this.

Rambo is a fantastic way to end the franchise. It takes the gut wrenching drama of First Blood and combines it with the balls to the wall action of First Blood Part II and Rambo III. The fact that such an aged action hero could come back in 2008 and kick so much butt is truly awesome. Sylvester Stallone proves his importance to the action genre with this film and this franchise. I had a blast watching all four of the Rambo films and consider the series to be consistently entertaining from film to film. Without a doubt, I highly recommended this film and all of the previous Rambo films to all action junkies. They are all a must see!

Rating: 9/10 - A painfully realistic action film that pushes the limits of on screen violence and action. It's a contemporary classic that should be seen by all action fans new and old.

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)

Rambo-a-Thon, Part 3 - Rambo III (1988)

Director: Peter McDonald

Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna, Kurtwood Smith, Marc de Jonge, Sasson Gabai

Country: United States

Rating: R

Run Time: 106 minutes

Rambo III is a balls to the wall action epic in comparison to Part II. With over 200 on screen kills and plenty of explosions, Rambo III is one of the most violent action films ever made. Our nation literally has no need to recruit young men or even create armies. Rambo is all we need. He's un-freakin-stoppable!

The glorious head band shot is back!

Rambo III finds Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) living in Thailand. He makes a living by working with Monks and participating in a fight club every once in awhile. Colonel Troutman (Richard Crenna reprising the role for his last time) comes looking for Rambo once again in need of his help. Troutman plans on supplying mujahideen rebels in Afghanistan with weapons in order to fight off invading Soviets. When asked, Rambo declines and states that his war is over for good. Troutman goes on with the mission anyway and gets captured by Soviet forces. When Rambo hears the news, he straps on that head band of his and heads out into the deserts of Afghanistan in order to work with the mujahideen rebels in order to save his only friend, Colonel Troutman.

My favorite thing about the whole film might be the opening scene. Rambo prepares for a one on one fight in sort of a Thailand fight club. He ties his head band on and walks into a room filled with people chanting and cheering with money in hand. Rambo and his opponent grab two wooden sticks and than proceed to duke it out. It's an awesome way to reintroduce the character in a way unrelated to the plot. It also ends on a dramatic note with Rambo nearly killing the guy. It shows that Rambo will always be a tortured killing machine who needs to learn to control and hone his urges.

As I stated before, Rambo III is a sweeping epic in comparison to the first two. It's the Lawrence of Arabia of the series if you ask me. It's the longest of the series at 106 minutes, contains arguably the most action scenes, and has impressive photography to help visualize the grand nature of Afghanistan's deserts. I also want to note that Jerry Goldsmith's score really helps elevate this grand adventure. The score is very triumphant and helps make the action scenes more exciting. It also helps that all of the explosions, gun shots, kills, squibs, knife stabs, and stunts are all done sans CGI. It's all real right there on the screen. For me, any flaw with Rambo III is immediately forgivable simply for that.

Rambo vs. The Russians...again.

And how about those action scenes? Rambo breaks out of a Russian base, dodges gunfire on horseback, and even takes on a helicopter with a freakin' tank! Seriously, he charges a tank at a helicopter that is literally 10 feet off of the ground. Rambo is a beast like no other. We also get some sweet bow and arrow action too. The explosions are also extremely impressive. Michael Bay, eat your heart out. This is how you blow stuff up!

However, it's not just the action that is bigger this time around. Oh no. Rambo's hair, muscles, and even his knife are bigger! Seriously, I am certain that his knife got at least 2 inches longer since the last film. And I know that Rambo did not buy a new knife. He always keeps that knife of his like Indiana Jones keeps that hat of his. Therefore, it literally grew 2 inches! Even Rambo's muscles and hair are so huge that it is ridiculous. Slathered in sweat and oil, it's obvious that Stallone was at his physical peak in 1988. 

Stallone basically gives the same performance from the last film. He fights Russians, one hands fully automatic weapons, and blows stuff up in a helicopter. Nothing special there. Richard Crenna gets a bit more to do this time as Troutman. He actually gets in on the killing game with Rambo during the final third of the film. It's pretty cool to see Rambo's mentor demonstrate the skills that he taught to Rambo so long ago.

The Russian villain, Colonel Zaysen (Marc de Jonge), does a fair job. Unlike Part II's villains, he actually appears near the beginning of the film and is the main villain from start to finish. I also enjoyed Mousa Ghani (Sasson Gabai), a rebel who has to work with Rambo. He resembled Rambo's female partner from Part II. I preferred Gabai as a partner though because of his kind heart and willingness to help out Rambo. It's also worth noticing that Kurtwood Smith (RoboCop) has a very small role in the beginning of the film. It's nothing major, but Smith is a favorite of mine simply for his performance as Boddicker in RoboCop.

Rambo takes a page out of John Woo's The Killer.

Much like Rambo: First Blood Part II, Rambo III is another politically driven action film. And once again, the Russians are the villains. When one looks at history, this film came out right at the end of the Cold War. Therefore, the portrayal of Russians as our villains was both very outdated and a step backwards if you ask me. The film's politics are even more outdated in comparison to today's world. During an interrogation scene, Troutman even compares the Russian's invasion of Afghanistan to American's occupation in Vietnam. 

Well, if anything has become a tradition with these Rambo reviews it has been that I have to list at least two awesome quotes. And I most definitely have two for you. Read them and weep.

"What do you say John?" - Troutman

"F*** em!" - Rambo

"Are you insane? One man against trained commandoes...Who do you think this man is God?" - Zaysen

"No. God would have mercy. He won't." - Troutman

I also have to point out something that I noticed while watching my Blu Ray of this film. I normally always have the subtitles on. I live in a very open house where it is always noisy. Therefore, I like to have the subtitles on so that I don't miss a word of dialog. Around the end of the film, I noticed that the Blu Ray's subtitles were showing up on both the top and bottom of the screen during the dialog of the film's villain, Zaysen. The subtitles on the bottom were clearly from the film itself while the subtitles at the top were from the Blu Ray. I than realized that almost all of the dialog from the film's Russian speaking characters is not supposed to be understood by the American audience. Therefore, the film actually was translating what the Russians were saying in some scenes!

One of these translations is so bonkers and hilarious, I have to share it. When Rambo is sneaking around the Russian prison camp, he has to constantly avoid guards. One of these guards actually says, "Man, I have been here for two months and I haven't received any letters yet." That is hilarious! That line was in the script somewhere but not in the final product on the big screen back in 1988. However, it made it onto my copy of the Blu Ray. I feel bad for that Russian soldier! What a bad day for the guy. If anyone else has noticed this, please contact me!

Razzie Award winning actors side by side.

I have heard many people state that Rambo III is the worst film in the series. To be honest, I think it is a far better film than Rambo: First Blood Part II. First Blood is still the best film of the series, but Rambo III is a better action film. First Blood Part II set the groundwork for the series' new direction. Rambo goes on a mission, blows stuff up, kills over 60 people, the end. However, if I were to pop one of these movies in to show to a friend or watch over and over again, I would definitely choose Rambo III. The music is great, the action is epic, and the story is sweeping and massive. Every element of Part II is pushed to the extreme in this film.

The film also ends on a happy and uplifting note. I won't spoil it exactly though. However, this would be the last Rambo film for a whopping twenty years. I'm sure many people thought that this would be the finale for a long time. However, Stallone surprised everyone when he brought back the character 20 years later in the fourth and final film in the series. Get ready to experience the last Rambo adventure in...Rambo!

Rating: 8/10 - A fantastic action film packed to the brim with explosions, gun fire, and sweeping music. Rambo III is highly recommended and required action viewing.

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)

Rambo-a-Thon, Part 2 - Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)

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.

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!

"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).

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.

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)

Rambo-a-Thon, Part 1 - First Blood (1982)

Director: Ted Kotcheff

Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna, Brian Dennehy, Bill McKinney, David Caruso, Jack Starett
Country: United States
Rating: R
Run Time: 93 minutes

Stallone's films are a huge chunk of action cinema that I honestly have never truly explored. The only Stallone films I have seen from start to finish up until now are Rambo and both of The Expendables films. As a kid, I was raised on Arnie. Therefore, I didn't really watch any Stallone films at a young age. As I grew up and made my own movie watching decisions, I simply never gravitated towards Stallone.

However, if I am to understand action cinema, Stallone's filmography is quite important to tap into. Therefore, I have chosen to start with his most action packed and iconic series of them all, the Rambo films. I watched Rambo back in 2008 and thought it was a cool action film. And even though I know the final film is a great conclusion, I have never seen the original three. Therefore, let's embark on the great Rambo adventure and see how these classic action films hold up today.

Dennehy plays essentially the biggest ass hole of all time.

John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) is an ex-Vietnam soldier who is now a drifter. As he passes through the small town of Hope, Washington, Sheriff Will Teasle (Brian Dennehy, Silverado) immediately takes a disliking to him. He expresses his distaste of drifters and tells Rambo to skip town. When Rambo refuses, he arrests Rambo and brings him in. When the police officers try to shave Rambo, he flashes back to Vietnam and goes nuts. After breaking out of jail and making his way into the woods, Rambo wages a one man war against the sheriffs that will tear the woods and town apart like never before. However, the only way to stop Rambo is to get help from Colonel Sam Trautman (Richard Crenna), Rambo's former trainer.

First Blood is a great action film that is heavy on morality and theme and light on action and violence. It's funny to think that Rambo only kills one person in this film and will go on to kill hundreds in the three sequels. John Rambo started out as a realistic and vulnerable action hero, not a one man killing machine. Rambo is also a victim of the harsh realities of war. Stallone does a fantastic job playing both a crazed mad man and a redeemable victim of war all in one film.

"Don't push it. I'll give you a war you won't believe."

One thing I was surprised to find in this film was how minimal Stallone's dialog was. Rambo says little verbally and instead speaks through his actions. The film concludes with a truly powerful monologue from Stallone that is completely gut wrenching. He screams about how all he knows in life is killing and war now that Vietnam has ruined him. The modern day world feels like another planet to him. This speech alone makes the film worth viewing. It's a very convincing and moving scene that says a lot about the realities of war.

The other characters on display in the film are also fantastic. Brian Dennehy gives a performance as good as Stallone's as the town's sheriff. He plays one hard ass sheriff who is willing to lock Rambo up simply for walking back into his town. His character is just as complex as Rambo's is too. He struggles with controlling his taste for violence and the duty he has as the town's sheriff. Richard Crenna is also great as Colonel Troutman. He is the only person who understands Rambo because he got to witness Rambo become a victim of war back in Vietnam. Crenna brings a great mentor presence to the film as well.

As I stated before, First Blood is pretty light on action (in my opinion). The highlight of the flick for me came with the very first action sequence. When the police try to shave Rambo, he flips out and beats the crap out of every cop in the police station. He than proceeds to steal a motorcycle and engages in an epic off road chase with Sheriff Teasle in a police car. The two go through farm land, trees, rocks, and everything else in their path. There are a few other small beats of action until the finale of the film. Rambo comes back to town and proceeds to blow up the gas station, gun store, and even the police station. If watching Stallone shoot the crap out of windows and blow up buildings with an M60 is your kind of thing, than the ending of First Blood will blow your mind.

Some glorious M60 gun handling.

The majority of First Blood takes place in the gorgeous forests outside of the town of Hope. By the way, Hope is a great name for the town. There is no hope in that town for Rambo or anyone else. All that remains there is hate and fear. These forest sequences are photographed beautifully. Foilage has never looked so great in high definition. The woods also serve as a safe haven for Rambo. Rambo is a man of the wild who can clearly survive anywhere. Therefore, it was nice to see Rambo plunged into a wild setting suitable for his character.

First Blood also has some of the most awesome lines in all of action cinema. Seriously, take a look at some of these lines. They're amazing!

"In town you're the law. Out here I'm the law. Don't push it or I'll give you a war you won't believe." - Rambo

"You send that many, don't forget one thing."
"What's that?"
"A good supply of body bags." - Troutman to Teasle

"When you draw first blood..."

This film also reminded me of the very first film that I ever reviewed for this blog, William Friedkin's The Hunted. However, everything that The Hunted wants to be pales in comparison to what is going on in this film. First Blood excels as an action morality film. It has some good action, fantastic performances, and a very strong message about war and its effects on our soldiers. First Blood is a great start to one of the most popular action franchises of all time. I look forward to continuing the Rambo adventure in the James Cameron scripted...Rambo: First Blood Part II!

Rating: 9/10 - First Blood is a powerful and dramatic action film that reminds the viewer that not all action films are just dumb escapism.

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)