Rambo: First Blood Part II

• Directed by George P. Cosmatos
• May 22, 1985 (US)
• Based on John Rambo created by David Morrell

Rambo is sent to Vietnam to infiltrate a Vietnamese basecamp and photograph American POWs possibly still held there.

I miss 80s action films. They just do not make them like the Rambo movies anymore. Unapologetically testosterone driven action fests with more adherence to physics and logic than your average FF movie but not by too much.

There’s just a lot of dumb mindless gunplay in Rambo: First Blood Part II. All those bullets sprayed with testosterone. This here is what this series of films became known for despite the attempts at intelligence of the first. But you know something? It’s fun and enjoyable for what it is. It tries to say something poorly about the government and Vietnam.

In the 80s there was a subgenre of action films where the hero-usually a Vietnam vet-refights and wins the conflict to some extent. It was a distinct and dominant action movie form that went extinct when those who could believably star in them became eligible to pull social security benefits and get hip replacements. The end of hostilities was very close in living memory when these were birthed. Then and now there are people that feel the conflict was winnable but we did not fight to win it. This and other movies were born out of that feeling.

That sentiment is driven home at a few points with Rambo (do I even need to tell you who plays the character?) asking if we are allowed to win this time. He is also thwarted at every turn by his own government when he finds and rescues POWs imprisoned and tries to bring them home. Maybe a bit heavy-handed there.

As an action movie Rambo: First Blood Part II dives headfirst into all the excesses of the era. One thing that really stands out to me on this viewing is that the Vietnamese military pulls out all the stops to kill one man. I’m not talking sending armed soldiers after him. Well not just that. These are armed soldiers that lob mortars and missiles at Rambo. Helicopters fire numerous rockets resulting in epic explosions. Really? It makes for some great visuals but it’s really silly when you think about it. 

But then, again, if you’re re-fighting the Vietnam War on film a couple of guys with machine guns are not necessarily going to cut it chasing after Rambo. But they do expend more ordinance than the US military and the Vietcong ever used in the whole conflict combined. Makes sense. Maybe.

Anybody watching this movie knows just how much of a bad ass Rambo is. We don’t need his qualifications listed by one of the people recruiting him. Show it. Don’t say it. A minor sin mostly because the moment it occurs is brief but always that’s a bit of a nuisance for me in movies. You don’t necessarily need a list of an individual’s qualifications to show how tough they are. Sometimes a good line or a few good scenes are much more effective. Rambo for example picking up on an important bit of info does more for the character than any number of listicles ever could.

Rambo is recruited out of a federal prison by Colonel Trautman (Richard Crenna) as part of a mission organized by Major Marshall Roger T. Murdock (Charles Napier). And just to make it a touch more 80s we have Martin Kove as mission member Michael Reed Ericson. Murdock, like anybody under his command, is a problem for Rambo and his goals but not the main threat.

That honor goes to a Soviet character named Lieutenant Colonel Sergei T. Podovsky (Steven Berkoff) who shows up out of the blue to interrogate/torture Rambo. I guess the Vietnamese were busy or understaffed and needed a temp. Berkoff was riding a bit of a career high during this period playing villains and, well, he was quite good at it. He just brings the obsessed crazy that this movie needs to work.

Podovsky does evil things to be evil and because he just hates the West. Not much more context beyond that. Then again First Blood Part II doesn’t even pretend to be anything substantive like the first one did. Though not a masterpiece, it was certainly more sophisticated than this. Sophisticated enough anyway to become a classic. 

In this Rambo gets a love interest named Co (Julia Nickson) who is his Vietnamese contact. Co falls in love with him because he is played by Sylvester Stallone? Not sure where they connect but connect they do. A love interest in an action movie is not unusual but humanizing Rambo with love rather than making him a merciless fighter seems counterintuitive.

As a character Co is kinda inconsequential to anything to the point it takes you a few moments to realize that she is indeed dead once it happens. You realize she is no longer lingering around and popping her head up to remind the audience of her existence. Rambo certainly doesn’t seem bothered by her death so why should the audience be? 

Director George P. Cosmatos worked with Stallone on the over-the-top Cobra and helmed the Western Tombstone. Those are extremes in quality there. Point is while this is not art and it has flaws, it is just entertaining. The hero is better than the best and the villain grows into a massive evil before he is taken out by the hero who wins the Vietnam War and frees the forgotten POWs.

Maybe not great but rather an enjoyable guilty pleasure, Rambo: First Blood Part II is a fine example of 80s action films. There are plenty of explosions in well-crafted action scenes. If you like action, this is definitely a good choice. For that alone I highly recommend it!