"The war and all this may be wrong, but, dammit don't hate your country for it.""Hey..., I'd die for it."
"Then what do you want?"
"I want..., what they want. And every other guy that came over here & gave everything he had & spilled his guts, wants. For our country to love us, as much as we love it. That is what I want."
Rambo speaks, to his Colonel, as the voice of every American Veteran, (past, present, & future) & reminds Americans & the world over that freedom has a price thats worth fighting for, but, sometimes the simple personal rewards are elusive in "Rambo: First Blood Part II"
Thanks to the big screen & video success of "First Blood", Rambo lives on this second installment, thats just as good as the previous film, but, tends to get quite cartoonish towards the films end.
Serving a five year plus jail sentence for the trashing of the town in "First Blood", "Rambo" opens with the former Green Beret hammering rocks in the local prison. That doesn't last long as Colonel Sam Trautman, Rambo's former CO in the military, pays him a visit & offering him a sweet deal.
Satelite recon had picked up some unexpected movement in the P.O.W. camp that Rambo escaped from in '71. The camp is supposed to be abandoned, but, may still be holding some of Rambo's former P.O.W.'s. Rambo's mission is to sneak into the camp and take pictures & document actions of the camp's activities and report back to base. Trautman & American Forces would step in and invade the camp reclaiming & bringing home the P.O.W.'s. This would also lead to Rambo being reinstated in the special forces and, if the mission is a success, a Presidential Pardon on his prison record, with Rambo walking away a free man.
Rambo reluctantly accepts the challenge, but, upon sneaking into the camp he does indeed find many American Troops still being held hostage beaten, malnutritioned, and one breath away from death. Rambo screws his Kodak moment, taking matters into his own hands. If you've watched "First Blood" you know what happens next.
Filmed entirely in Mexico, "Rambo" is a different film than the first, but retains and expands the violence quotient. Stallone exchanged working in weather that was ten to fifteen below zero & wading in water thats 39 degrees farenheit (remember the scene in "First Blood" where the National Guard is out looking for Rambo who was all along hiding amongst the rocks of the river? Yeah, that water was 39 degrees farenheit. Thats cold ass water to be hiding in). Instead, for "Rambo", Sly worked in weather that reached 110 degrees and, in one scene where Rambo is captured by the Viet Cong, is dipped, from the neck down, in pig slop complete with real live leeches (the Russian General uses Rambo's knife to pick one off his chest. Gross).
The helicopter battle at the end of the film was pretty dangerous. The helicopters flew so low, that in one quick shot of the Russian copter flying over one of the huts, the copter takes the roof off! Director George P. Cosmatos left the scene in to show the danger & peril of the battle.
Stallone's daily schedule was getting up and working out for two to three hours in the early morning, a ten to twelve hour shooting day, & a two to three hour workout at night. All told, Stallone's average work week with the workouts included was approx. 80 to 90 hours a week. Its also said that Stallone was at his leanest, practically resculpturing his body for this movie, as well as, for "Rocky IV".
"Rambo: First Blood Part II" was released for the Memorial Day weekend of 1985, and proceeded to punch a hole in American pop-culture. Everything from toys, bubble gum cards, & a cartoon series were produced to cash in on the success of the film.
As for the S.E. DVD, this is definitely the definitive edition of the film (the recent Ultimate Edition is a dissapointment). Features include a retrospective of the film from Cosmatos, Stallone, Richard Crenna & others, to trailers, an audio commentary from the director, DTS audio soundtrack with Dolby Digital & surround. Rambo is not expendable and neither is this DVD.
As I said, the action in this film goes way beyond anything we saw in the first one (but with James Cameron as one of the screenplay writers, that's not exactly a surprise). Less content to let the personal and political dramas propel the action, this film is pretty much the reverse, with the action being cause to create those plot developments. In many way, this film seems to forget the humanity shown in the original and opts to let the excitement of the moment wash over you, like the backwash of an F-16 fighter jet, as the explosive battle sequences blast you against the back wall. Although, while extremely over the top in almost every stunt and fight, to the point ungodly suspension of disbelief is pretty much he order of the day, it is a beautifully choreographed bloodbath to behold. It basically, for good or ill, set the stage for what the 80's action epic would be expected to achieve for the rest of the decade.
While not exactly a deeply emotive character in the first film, Sly gets even less moments here. There is no understanding to what Rambo is feeling being back in the place that has tortured him so. There is almost no attempt to play on those feelings at all, save an all-too-brief scene on a boat, between Rambo and the young Vietnamese woman (played by Julia Nickson) who is helping him in the mission, but that's as far as they go to give you any idea on what Rambo is thinking and feeling, being back in 'Nam after all this time. I would have liked to get into Rambo's thoughts more, as the traumas he'd suffered there could have added even more depth to an emotionally complex character. But that simply isn't what this film was about.
Richard Crenna reprises his role, as Rambo's C.O., but he gets very little to do in this film. Whereas in the first he was a key to understanding Rambo and used to contrast the political themes that were presented, here he is merely a very small cog, used mainly to set up the plot to get Rambo back into action. He does have one very intense scene, where he argues with the slimy Washington bureaucrat (played by Charles Napier), which brought back a momentary flair from the first film, but it is over quickly, as the need to get back to the jungle slaughter is the paramount concern here.
"Rambo: First Blood Part II" was less the ending of an iconic character's saga (not the least of which is due to the fact two more sequels were made) and more the start of replacing character-driven action, with action-driven drama. It created a new standard for what action films could be (and in many cases, would be) from that point on. It set up a game of constant oneupmanship with the other action stars of the day, as they all attempted to outdo what this film began. In some ways, this film is almost a whole new entity, completely separate from the original film in every thing but the characters names, yet it is also strangely completely bound to it. As a sequel to a film that had some very deep philosophical and political themes, this film fails to recapture almost any of that same spirit, but in terms of spinning the action film genre into an ever growing and testosterone-fueled behemoth, determined to make the impossible seem probable, as well as solidifying Rambo's status as an 80's icon for all-time, the film succeeds on a level no other film could ever hope to manage. This is truly the film that epitomizes the phrase, "check your brain at the door and enjoy!" Which I am more than able to do.
Buy Rambo - First Blood Part II (2008) Now
As I said in my review of "First Blood", these movies are so much more than machine guns and explosions. There is so much truth portrayed in them about the Vietnam war, what is really was, and it's affect on men like John Rambo. Rambo is not at all a bad person, but rather a kind one who tries to get his life together after the war. Here he is released from workhouse prison by his friend and mentor, Col. Trautman, to rescue POW's in the jungles of 'nam. I won't put any spoilers in my review here, or anybody who hasn't seen this excellent sequel, but I'll use a quote from Trautman to the scumbag Murdock, "You act as if you're dealing with an ordinary man here." George P. Cosmatos's directing is superb, and stays in the middle of the action. The tension and drama isn't silly or bogus; it's superb in my opinion. Cosmatos would later go on to direct the modern-day classic Western, "Tombstone". Buy this movie today. In my opinion, it offers hope and courage that combats the Vietnam fiasco. It's anti-war piece....showing that war really is hell. It also shows there are many true patriots, men like Rambo and Trautman.Read Best Reviews of Rambo - First Blood Part II (2008) Here
I went to see Rambo 2 aka Rambo Missions movie back in 1985 when it first came to the theaters. I went to see it while on Leave from the military with my Dad. It was a fantastic movie for its time, and it made me feel damn proud that I was in the military and serving my country, just as my Dad did during and after the Korean War and the Vietnam War!! Sadly my Dad passed away in 2010 on January 1. In his loving memory and also in remembering seeing Rambo 2 together, which is the very first time that I understood my Dad and what he went through in Vietnam and Korea, and bonding so closely with him at that time, I had a Rambo style survival knife made by hand to honor him by. Now, whenever I grab my beautiful knife to use it, even though it is not an exact Rambo 2 knife replica, I can still hold it and remember my Dad and that wonderful time we spent together watching Rambo 2. Thanks for reading!Want Rambo - First Blood Part II (2008) Discount?
really a good remake of Rambo 2, the best in the series in my opinion. clear and fine in HD. the only step back i had was my wish to see arabic subtitle, so i can i enjoy it with friends who do not speak english. but i guess thats the same problem with all new blue ray titles.Save 33% Off
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