Rambo Series Thoughts Part II

Part II with the last two movies prior to Last Blood.

Rambo III's story is a lot more simpler. Colonel Trautman is captured after trying to help the rebels in Afghanistan against the Soviets. He tried to get Rambo to help, but he refused. When the capturing happened, Rambo decides to save his mentor from torture and possible death. Out of the entire series, it has the most action and it has a good pace between having the dramatic moments and then squeezing in some action here and there. The cinematography made great use of lighting and the script is decent.

That being said, it is very over the top. A lot more than the second film. With all the stuff Stallone made Rambo do, I wonder how much of it tried to imitate or take over Schwarzenegger for ridiculous action. The amount of one man army gunplay and set ups to kill the enemy is a lot to swallow.  There isn't much use to the guerrilla warfare, but a lot more of the arrows and knife kills. One thing before I forget is the soundtracks done by Jerry Goldsmith. The first three films have similar motifs and themes, They work very effectively and add to the tones of the movies. As a whole, Rambo III is the weakest of the bunch and the one I would more than likely skip if I want an action film from the series.

Score: 6 out of 10

Twenty years later came a new film in the series, simply named Rambo. Living life in Thailand, where it was actually filmed, Rambo leads a quiet life and after some begging, reluctantly agrees to take a Colorado missionary group to Burma to help villagers. It goes sour very quick after he drops them off, which leads to him and a mercenary group a couple weeks later doing a rescue mission. As far as story goes, it's as simple as the third. Not to mention it is a lot more grounded in reality without being as ridiculous as III and not having any cheese like the second one. It is very gritty and some of the shots, I hope some of you have strong stomachs.

This is a very gruesome movie. It doesn't have a lot of action and it's more along the line of the second film, though less action. I wouldn't be surprised at how that part of the world is. There are places where civil war is still a big issue. The first half is about the drama and the missionaries, where as the second half starts the rescue and the action, which is mostly reserved for the last 20 minutes. The pacing is very quick and you get to see some drama and a new composer taking over with new music that is different but fits the film to full effect.

I don't have too much else I can say with 08 Rambo. Less cheese is a good thing and I would watch this instead of III. That being said, the second film I would put above it just because it didn't go that overboard in its kills. I don't mind it in its own ways. Not a great movie, but not as bad as the third.

Score: 6.5 out of 10