Rambo (film series)

This article is about the film series. For the 2008 film, see Rambo (2008 film). For other uses, see Rambo (disambiguation).

File:סילבסטר סטלונה.jpg

Stallone in Rambo III, photographed by Yoni S. Hamenahem

Rambo is a film series based on the David Morrell novel First Blood and starring Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo, a troubled Vietnam War veteran and former U.S. Army Special Forces soldier who is skilled in many aspects of survival, weaponry, hand-to-hand combat and guerrilla warfare. The series consists of the films First Blood (1982), Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), Rambo III (1988), and Rambo (2008).

Films

First Blood (1982)

Main article: First Blood

Upon returning to the United States, Rambo has difficulty adjusting to civilian life and wanders the country as a drifter for almost a decade. In December 1981, Rambo travels to the fictional town of Hope, Washington, in search of a U.S. Army Special Forces buddy named Delmore Barry. Rambo arrives at Delmore's supposed residence and finds Delmore's little daughter and his depressed widow. Delmore's widow tells Rambo that her husband had died from cancer the previous summer due to exposure to Agent Orange, and that she must seek out a living as a cleaning lady and on Delmore's Service member's Group Life Insurance. Rambo, attempting some cold comfort, gives Mrs. Barry the photograph of Delmore's unit.

He is left with a mild sense of survivor's guilt as he is now the last man still living of his once-proud unit (known in the Army Special Forces as Operational Detachment Alpha or "A" teams). He then travels to Hope in the attempt to find a diner and maybe a temporary job. The overconfident town sheriff Will Teasle (Brian Dennehy), does not welcome Rambo, judging the military hero negatively because of his long hair and scruffy look. Rambo disobeys the sheriff's order to stay away from Hope, as he has done nothing wrong to the community and he believes such banishment to be a violation of his freedom of movement, and is promptly charged for vagrancy and subject to harassment from the deputies, who spray him with a hose, beat him, and try to shave his beard while he is held down.

The harassment triggers flashbacks of Rambo's traumatic memories of his torture at the hands of the North Vietnamese when he was a prisoner of war, and his mind regresses into thinking he is once again fighting in combat. Rambo fights his way out of the sheriff's department with his bare hands and makes his way into the wilderness on a stolen motorcycle. A manhunt ensues. The sheriff and his deputies cannot win against Rambo in the forest, and indeed, all are badly wounded as a result of trying to capture him. Rambo deals with them efficiently and although capable of doing so, he doesn't kill any of them. He does unintentionally kill a police officer in self-defense by throwing a rock at a helicopter, causing the pilot to lose control and an officer to fall out. The Washington State Patrol and about 200 members of the Washington Army National Guard are called in to assist.

At this point, Colonel Samuel Trautman (Richard Crenna), the former commanding officer of Rambo's old Special Forces unit, arrives in Hope. Trautman warns that continuing the manhunt is dangerous to the authorities, as Rambo is too experienced to be captured easily in the wilderness where he thrives. He instead suggests giving Rambo a chance to escape; if Rambo is allowed to slip away, he'll be given time to calm down and he can be arrested without incident. The authorities reject Trautman's recommendation and continue the manhunt, and Rambo's subsequent rampage culminates in the destruction of the sheriff's office and more of the town's main street. Rambo stands poised to eliminate the sheriff, but Trautman finally confronts Rambo face-to-face, and ultimately convinces his former soldier to surrender to the authorities.

Between the first and second films, Rambo is convicted and remanded to a civilian maximum-security prison where heavy duty labor is the norm. Despite being a convict, the rigid routine and discipline of prison life provides Rambo with some measure of much-needed stability, as it reminds him of his past in the military and its own rigid hierarchy.

Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)

Main article: Rambo: First Blood Part II

In the second installment of the series in 1985, Trautman offers Rambo his freedom if Rambo will return to Vietnam to search for American prisoners of war remaining in Vietnamese captivity. Marshall Murdock (Charles Napier), the official in charge of the mission, is portrayed as a corrupt political figure who doesn't want to expose the truth. Rambo is not to engage the enemy and instead is ordered to take photographs of a North Vietnamese military base to prove to the American public there are no more POWs (prisoners of war) in Vietnam, although Murdock knows that there are.

Rambo is sent to a part of the jungle where Murdock receives confirmation that no POWs were being held at the time. Rambo works with anti-communist Vietnamese female rebel Co Bao (Julia Nickson), who is serving as an intelligence agent. Rambo discovers that there is a POW camp where he was dropped; POWs are rotated between camps, and coincidentally are nearby when he was dropped. Rambo breaks one POW out of the camp and attempts to escape, only to be refused access to the base by Murdock and to have himself and the POW recaptured by the Vietnamese soldiers. Rambo is immobilized in a pit of sewage and leeches, then tortured by Soviet soldiers, who are allied with the Vietnamese and training Vietnamese soldiers. Co enters the base under the guise of a prostitute for hire, where she aids Rambo in escaping. After Rambo expresses his deepest gratitude for his rescue, the two share a kiss, after Co implores him to take her back to America with him. As they prepare to move on, Co is shot down by surprise gunfire.

Enraged, Rambo then acts on his own initiative and starts a one-man rescue mission, stealing a Soviet helicopter and breaking all the POWs out of captivity. After returning to the US base in Thailand with all the POWs, Rambo becomes enraged at how the United States government has ignored the existence of surviving soldiers being held captive. Rambo then threatens Murdock and tells him to be forthright with the American public regarding the truth of the POWs and to spare no expense in rescuing them all, or else he will return for Murdock. When Trautman says Rambo will be honored once again, he declines, saying the POWs deserve the accolades more. For his actions in Vietnam, Rambo is granted a presidential pardon and decides to remain in Thailand.

Between the second and third films, Rambo takes up residence near a monastery where he engages in frequent meditation to find a sense of inner peace. Although Rambo believes his soldiering days are apparently over, he does not become a complete pacifist, as he often participates in violent stick fighting matches and donates his winnings to the monks to help renovate the monastery.

Rambo III (1988)

Main article: Rambo III

The film opens with Colonel Samuel Trautman (Richard Crenna) returning to Thailand to once again enlist Rambo's help. After witnessing Rambo's victory in a stick fighting match, Trautman visits the temple Rambo is helping to build and asks Rambo to join him on a mission to Afghanistan. This brings Rambo more into the realm of the CIA's famed Special Activities Division which primarily hires Army Special Forces soldiers. The mission is meant to supply weapons, including FIM-92 Stinger missiles, to Afghan freedom fighters, the Mujahideen, who are fighting the Soviets. Despite having been shown photos of civilians suffering under the Soviet rule, Rambo refuses and Trautman chooses to go on his own.

While in Afghanistan, Trautman's troops are ambushed by Soviet troops while passing through the mountains at night. Trautman is imprisoned in a Soviet base and tortured for information by commanding officer Zaysen (Marc de Jonge) and his henchman Kourov (Randy Raney). Rambo learns of the incident from embassy field officer Robert Griggs (Kurtwood Smith) and immediately flies to Pakistan where he meets up with Mousa (Sasson Gabai), a weapons supplier who agrees to take him to a village deep in the Afghan desert, close to the Soviet base where Trautman is kept. The Mujahideen in the village are already hesitant to help Rambo in the first place, but are convinced not to help him when their village is attacked by Soviet helicopters after one of Mousa's shop assistants informed the Russians of Rambo's presence. Aided only by Mousa and a young boy named Hamid (Doudi Shoua), Rambo makes his way to the Soviet base and starts his attempts to free Trautman. The first attempt is unsuccessful and results in Hamid getting shot in the leg, and Rambo himself getting hit by wooden shrapnel. After escaping from the base, Rambo tends to Hamid's wounds and sends him and Mousa away to safety.

The next day, Rambo returns to the base once again, just in time to rescue Trautman from being tortured with a flamethrower. After rescuing several other prisoners, Rambo steals a helicopter and escapes from the base. The helicopter crashes and Rambo and Trautman are forced to continue on foot. After a confrontation in a cave, where Rambo and Trautman kill several Russian soldiers including Kourov, they are confronted by an entire army of Russian tanks, headed by Zaysen. Just as they are about to be overwhelmed by the might of the Soviet Army, the Mujahideen warriors, together with Mousa and Hamid, ride onto the battlefield in a cavalry charge, overwhelming the Russians despite their numerical and technological superiority. In the ensuing battle, in which both Trautman and Rambo are wounded, Rambo manages to kill Zaysen by driving a tank into the helicopter in which Zaysen is flying.

At the end of the battle Rambo and Trautman say goodbye to their Mujahideen friends, and leave Afghanistan to go home.

Rambo (2008)

Main article: Rambo (2008 film)

The film opens with news footage of the crisis in Burma. Burma (also known as Myanmar) is under the iron fist rule of Than Shwe and takes harsher stances against the nation's pro-democracy movement. Rebels are thrown into a mine-infested marsh and then gunned down by a Burmese army unit, overseen by Major Pa Tee Tint.

Former U.S. soldier John Rambo still lives in Thailand, now residing in a village near the Burmese border and makes a living capturing snakes and selling them in a nearby village. A missionary, Michael Burnett (Paul Schulze), asks Rambo to take him and his associates down the Salween River to Burma on a humanitarian mission to help the Karen people. Rambo initially refuses but is convinced by another missionary in the group, Sarah Miller (Julie Benz), to take them.

The boat is stopped by pirates who demand Sarah in exchange for passage. After taking advantage of the pirates' complacency, Rambo kills them all. Although his actions save the missionaries, it greatly disturbs them. Upon arrival, Michael says that they will travel by road and will not need Rambo's help for the return trip. The mission goes well until the Burmese army, led by Major Tint, attacks the village, killing most of the villagers and two missionaries, and capturing the rest. When the missionaries fail to come back after ten days, their pastor, Arthur Marsh (Ken Howard), comes to Rambo to ask for his help in guiding hired mercenaries to the village where the missionaries were last seen.

Troubled by Sarah's potential fate, Rambo decides to accompany the soldiers. After seeing the destroyed village filled with mutilated humans and animals, Rambo encourages the team to move on. Hijacking a truck, they create a plan to save the hostages at the P.O.W. camp, doing so within fifteen minutes to avoid alerting the army. Rambo helps Sarah and the others to escape. The Burmese Army (Tatmadaw) unit finds their hostages missing and organizes a massive manhunt. Everyone except for Rambo, Sarah, and "School Boy", the mercenary team's sniper, is captured. Just as the group is to be executed, Rambo hijacks a truck-mounted .50-caliber machine gun and engages the Burmese army. A group of Karen rebels joins the fight to help Rambo and the mercenaries defeat the Burmese unit. Seeing that the battle is lost, Major Tint decides to flee, only to run into Rambo's machete, which Rambo then uses to disembowel the Major.

Encouraged by Sarah's words, Rambo returns to the United States. The last scene shows him walking along a rural highway, past a horse farm and a rusted mailbox with the name "R. Rambo" on it. He makes his way down the gravel driveway as the credits roll.

Fifth film

Asked about a fifth Rambo film, Stallone informed Reuters in a February 2008 interview that he was "gearing one up" that it would "be quite different," but a sequel would depend on the success of the fourth film. A month later, Stallone stated that he was "half-way through" writing Rambo V and that it would not be another war film. In November 2008, Stallone confirmed the film was still in the works. The film's plot was rumored to involve Rambo's daughter being kidnapped by the leaders of a cult and his ensuing mission to rescue her, a story once considered for the fourth film. Tentative initial plans were to shoot the film in Bulgaria with the country also doubling for John Rambo's home town in Arizona, but Stallone noted in January 2009 that "the conflict is whether to do it in America or a foreign country."

On August 30, 2009, Millennium Films officially gave the green-light to Rambo V, with Stallone writing, directing, and starring again. The plot was reported to revolve around Rambo fighting his way through human traffickers and drug lords in a Mexican city to rescue a young girl abducted near the U.S.-Mexico border. However, Stallone denied this to Ain't It Cool News, sharing that the film would instead be loosely based on the 1999 James Byron Huggins sci-fi thriller novel Hunter. Now titled Rambo V: The Savage Hunt, the plot featured a ferocious half-human beast, created by illegal genetic experiments in a secret research facility near the Arctic Circle, that broke free and slaughtered the scientists who made it. Making its way south toward civilization, Rambo, a young hunting partner, and a team of special forces operatives are hired to hunt down and kill it. However, in November 2009, it was reported that the plot had reverted to the Mexico story, and that Stallone was considering adapting Hunter as a separate film.

By 2010, Stallone considered moving on. Speaking to Empire, he said, "I think Rambo’s pretty well done. I don’t think there’ll be any more. I’m about 99% sure. [...] for Rambo to go on another adventure might be, I think, misinterpreted as a mercenary gesture and not necessary. I don’t want that to happen." At the 63rd Cannes Film Festival, though, Millennium Films and Nu Image advertised Rambo V with posters and handouts. Stallone emphasised the finality of his decision to end the franchise to AICN's Harry Knowles, who reported that "the folks behind those posters essentially said that if Sly didn't do it - someone else would. And Sly seems fine with that."

Later in 2010, when asked during a fan Q&A session, Stallone considered the possibility of a prequel that would focus on the origins of Rambo. Millennium Films was still developing a fifth film, and in August 2011, Sean Hood submitted a finished script titled Rambo: Last Stand. Hood described the film as "more in line with the small-town thriller of First Blood" with the "tone of Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven." He based the script on an incomplete draft of Rambo V by Stallone, which consisted of 20 pages. The project did not go forward. In 2012, Stallone was rethinking a sequel, saying "I'm dying to do another Rambo."

Nu Image's Avi Lerner announced in August 2013 that they and Entertainment One were developing a Rambo TV series, and that Stallone was in talks to join the project. However, Stallone's press representative denied his involvement. A June 2014 press release by German movie company Splendid Films confirmed that Stallone had started work on a script for Rambo V that had the character going against a Mexican cartel. The release stated that Stallone described the planned film as "his version of No Country for Old Men." In September 2014, it was reported that the film would be called Rambo: Last Blood and that it was planned as the final Rambo outing for Stallone.

On January 5, 2016, Stallone told Variety that he has retired from playing Rambo, effectively cancelling his planned fifth film. The announcement left open the possibility of someone else taking on the role. Development on a Rambo TV series continues for Fox, purported to focus on John Rambo's son. However, in May 2016 Stallone teased about another concept for Rambo 5.

Characters

Main articles: John Rambo, Sam Trautman, and List of Rambo characters

List indicator(s)

• This table shows the characters and the actors who have portrayed them throughout the franchise
• Italics indicate the actor only appears in flashbacks via archive footage from previous films
• A dark grey cell indicates the character was not in the film

Character	Films
	First Blood (1982)	Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)	Rambo III (1988)	Rambo (2008)
John Rambo	Sylvester Stallone
Sam Trautman	Richard Crenna			Richard Crenna
Sheriff Will Teasle	Brian Dennehy
Deputy Art Galt	Jack Starrett
Mitch	David Caruso
Co-Bao		Julia Nickson
Marshall Murdock		Charles Napier
Ericson		Martin Kove
Lifer		Steve Williams
Lieutenant Tay		George Kee Cheung
Banks		Andy Wood
Lieutenant Colonel Podovsky		Steven Berkoff
Colonel Zaysen			Marc de Jonge
Robert Griggs			Kurtwood Smith
Mousa Ghani			Sasson Gabai
Michael Burnett				Paul Schulze
Sarah Miller				Julie Benz
Lewis				Graham McTavish
School Boy				Matthew Marsden
Reese				Jake La Botz

Crew

Title	Director	Producers	Writers	Music	Cinematographer	Editors
First Blood	Ted Kotcheff	Buzz Feitshans, Mario Kassar, Andrew G. Vajna	David Morrell, Michael Kozoll, William Sackheim, Sylvester Stallone	Jerry Goldsmith	Andrew Laszlo	Joan E. Chapman
Rambo: First Blood Part II	George P. Cosmatos		Kevin Jarre, Sylvester Stallone, James Cameron		Jack Cardiff	Larry Bock, Mark Goldblatt, Mark Helfrich, Gib Jaffe, Frank E. Jiminez
Rambo III	Peter MacDonald		Sheldon Lettich, Sylvester Stallone		John Stanier	O. Nicholas Brown, Andrew London, James R. Symons, Edward Warschilka
Rambo	Sylvester Stallone	Avi Lerner, Kevin King Templeton, John Thompson	Art Monterastelli, Sylvester Stallone	Brian Tyler	Glen MacPherson	Sean Albertson

Box office performance

Film	Release date (US)	Budget	Box office revenue
			United States	International	Worldwide
First Blood	October 22, 1982	$15,000,000	$47,212,904	$78,000,000	$125,212,904
Rambo: First Blood Part II	May 22, 1985	$25,500,000	$150,415,432	$149,985,000	$300,400,432
Rambo III	May 25, 1988	$62,000,000	$53,715,611	$135,300,000	$189,015,611
Rambo	January 25, 2008	$50,000,000	$42,754,105	$70,490,185	$113,244,290
Total		$171,000,000	$294,098,052	$433,775,185	$727,873,237

Reception

Ratings collected from film review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes.

Film	Rotten Tomatoes	Metacritic	CinemaScore
First Blood	87% (38 reviews)	62 (7 reviews)	N/A
Rambo: First Blood Part II	30% (33 reviews)	N/A	N/A
Rambo III	36% (28 reviews)	36 (15 reviews)	B+
Rambo	37% (142 reviews)	46 (26 reviews)	A-

Other media

Home video and television

All four existing films in the Rambo series are available from Lionsgate by virtue of the studio's output deal with StudioCanal (the company that currently holds the underlying rights to the first three films) and Lionsgate itself co-producing the latter film (in partnership with The Weinstein Company). Paramount Pictures (via Trifecta Entertainment and Media) holds the television rights to the first three films, while Debmar-Mercury handles television distribution for the latter film on behalf of parent company Lionsgate.

Novelizations

David Morrell, author of the original First Blood novel, wrote novelizations (book adaptations) for the first two Rambo sequels. Morrell has said that he wrote the novelizations because he wanted to include characterization that he felt wasn't in Rambo: First Blood Part II and Rambo III. Morrell did not write a novelization for the 2008 film, Rambo, as he felt the film's characterization matched that of the original First Blood novel.

Animated series

Rambo: The Force of Freedom was an animated series that ran in 1986 where John Rambo leads a team called the Force of Freedom to fight an evil organization called S.A.V.A.G.E. (short for Specialist-Administrators of Vengeance, Anarchy and Global Extortion). 65 episodes were aired. Rambo and the Forces of Freedom spawned a line of toys.

Comic books

In the late 1980s, Blackthorne Publishing published a few comics starring the character. One, titled Rambo III, adapted the film of the same name. Also, there was a comic simply titled Rambo featuring other adventures of the character. Rambo III was also published in a 3D version by Blackthorne.

TV series

On August 21, 2013, it was announced that Entertainment One, along with Avi Lerner and his production company, Nu Image, are to develop and produce a Rambo TV series and that Stallone is in talks to join the project. However Stallone's press representative has denied reports that Stallone will reprise Rambo on the small screen. On December 1, 2015, Deadline reporting that FOX are developing a Rambo TV series titled "Rambo: New Blood" with Stallone reprising his role as Rambo, while he, Lerner and Jeb Stuart will executive produced the series, Stuart will also be penning the script. The series will explore the complex relationship between Rambo and his son, J.R., an ex-Navy SEAL. Fox chairman and CEO Dana Walden has stated that Stallone is off as the producer of the series.

Video games

• Rambo – side-scrolling platformer based on Rambo: First Blood Part II. Released for the NES
• Rambo – action RPG based on Rambo: First Blood Part II. Developed by Pack-In-Video for the MSX.
• Rambo: First Blood Part II - Released for Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Commodore 64, DOS, Master System and ZX Spectrum.
• Rambo III – Various games released for Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Arcades, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, MSX, Master System, Sega Genesis, and ZX Spectrum.
• Super Rambo Special - Released for MSX2.
• Rambo On Fire – Released for mobile phones.
• Rambo Forever - Released for mobile phones.
• Rambo Arcade - Sega 2-player light gun game, first released in Japan in 2008, in US in 2009.
• Rambo: The Video Game - Released in 2014 for PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3.
• Rambo - The Mobile Game - Released in 2015 for iOS devices.

Collectible card game

Rambo is a character in Fight Klub, a trading card game published by Decipher, Inc in February 2009.

Soundtracks

Soundtracks with music from the films were also released. The soundtracks for First Blood, Rambo: First Blood Part II, and Rambo are available on iTunes. However, the soundtrack for Rambo III is not available on iTunes. For more on the music of the Rambo series, see the "Music" section below.

Music

The original scores for the first three films were composed and conducted by Jerry Goldsmith. The music from the first and second films was performed by the National Philharmonic Orchestra and the music from the third by the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra. Goldsmith's main theme for Rambo was the basis for the end title song "It's a Long Road", performed by Dan Hill, part of the First Blood soundtrack.

The music for the first film is harsher and more dissonant than that for the sequels, as is keeping with the tone of the film. As such, it bears more of a resemblance to Goldsmith's output of the 1960s and 1970s than it does most of his work in the 1980s. The first film's score does use electronics but is primarily orchestral while the sequel scores incorporate heavier use of electronics. The second film's score is the most popular, being that it is the most exciting. The music in the third film is an extension of the style used in the second, but with a few new themes. Both sequels feature new themes for Rambo that are based on elements found in the original "It's a Long Road" theme, which is also heard in its original form in each film as well.

Because Goldsmith died in 2004, film composer Brian Tyler (The Fast and the Furious films and The Expendables) scored the fourth film. He reassured fans at the time of Goldsmith's death that his score would be based on Goldsmith's cues for the first three First Blood/Rambo pictures.

The 2008 film, Rambo, was advertised with Drowning Pool's "Bodies" and features two songs in the film written and performed by Jake La Botz, who portrays the mercenary "Reese" in the film.

The theme music for 1986 animated TV series, Rambo and the Forces of Freedom, came from a trailer for First Blood, whilst additional music was composed by Shuki Levy and Haim Saban.

See also

• Hunter, a novel which Rambo V was to be loosely based on before it changed directions
• The Intruder, an Indonesian film based on Rambo
• Son of Rambow, a comedy-drama film that references Rambo

External links

• First Blood at IMDb
• Rambo: First Blood Part II at IMDb
• Rambo III at IMDb
• Rambo at IMDb
• First Blood author David Morrell's official website
• The Rambo Knives
• Official Rambo Facebook Page
• wikiasite:rambo:John Rambo on Rambo Wiki