All Rambo Movies
(Photo by TriStar Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection)
Rocky. Rambo. Indeed, a little R & R was all Sylvester Stallone needed to set up his Hollywood fortune for life. 1976’s Best Picture-winning Rocky established that character as a symbol of populist inspiration, so Stallone maneuvered Rambo as a political creation, reflecting America’s military might and meddling, especially inside the first three movies.
Now, the 1982 original doesn’t even have Rambo in the title: It’s just First Blood, and sees Stallone as the central John wandering America as a disaffected Vietnam War veteran, one already chewed up and spit out as he crosses a sadistic small-town sheriff (Brian Dennehy). Despite mediation from Stallone’s former Colonel, Sam Trautman (Richard Crenna), the sheriff’s cruelty reverts John back to a primal state, deploying survival techniques learned in the jungles of Southeast Asia.
Originally considered a career killer in its original cut, wholesale editing of First Blood transformed Stallone’s character from a wisecracking ass to a hardened, stoic action icon, the right man for the wrong times of a post-disco, post-recession America. First-time First Blood viewers will be surprised at the body count of one.
The same certainly can’t be said of the sequels, as the guilt-obliterating outlook of Reagan-era society took the lead. 1985’s Rambo: First Blood Part II witnesses John returning to Vietnam for a POW reconnaissance mission in exchange for a prison sentence pardon. Once the Soviets get involved (they apparently didn’t learn their lesson in Rocky IV, which was playing on big screens down the hall that same year), only a hail of gunfire, explosions, and rockets can wrap up the job.
The international havoc continued with 1988’s Rambo III, as John leaves Thailand for involvement in the Soviet-Afghan War, supporting the Mujahideen in order to get close to a captured Colonel Trautman. Nine months after John Rambo’s fictional involvement, the real-world conflict ended.
After the success of rehabilitating Rocky Balboa’s reputation with the 2006 title movie, Stallone similarly pulled writer/director/star triple duty with 2008’s Rambo. The film is even more fascinated with violence and commentary, as John, still in Thailand, leads a mission to Burma to save Bible-spreading missionaries. A decade later, Stallone finally brings it back home with Rambo: Last Blood, as he decorates his Arizona homestead with Home Alone-esque (or Death Wish 3, if you will) booby traps to defend against the Mexican cartel.
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