Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)
Runtime: 96 minutes
Directed by: George P. Cosmatos
Starring: Sly, Richard Crenna, Charles Napier, Steven Berkoff, Julia Nickson
From: Several different companies
As the 4th of July is only a few days away, why not view an incredibly American movie that is quite jingoistic? Technically this is not as good as First Blood as while that was a serious look at how veterans are treated once they return from war, Rambo is a big dumb action movie as he is released from prison to help look for POW's in Vietnam, only to be turned against and he is (mostly) on his own against those evil Vietnamese and (especially) those damned Soviets... although American bureaucracy is also an enemy and sad to say, it's all too easy to believe that the scenario presented here could happen with the United States.
After all the time spent on the set-up, there is plenty of action that still thrills and entertains today; Rambo is easy to root for as he tries to rescue prisoners of war while dealing with seemingly insurmountable odds. The villains are easy to hiss at, especially Charles Napier's Murdock. Of course this is preposterous and bombastic (the same goes for Jerry Goldsmith's score) yet if you love 80's action then I am sure you've seen this many times and have always had a good time with it.
Having a crowd-pleasing script (from James Cameron, and Stallone made various changes to it) and being totally a product of its time means that I am not surprised Rambo became one of the biggest icons of the 80's and personified the decade and its attitudes pretty well... for better or for worse.
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