Rambo: First Blood Part 2 (1985) - Review
Originally published November 2015I first saw Rambo: First Blood Part 2 as a kid on TV, where most of the violence was toned down or off-screen. I was certainly entertained by it like any little boy who was into explosions and action. Hell, I even liked Last Action Hero unironically back then. When I got a little older and snobbier, I watched it in a marathon of Rambo movies and realized how good the original First Blood was. After that, I pretty much disregarded the other 2 testosterone-driven action films as "trash."
I've since developed a taste for "bad" movies and have learned to forgive shitty sequels to classic films so long as they, at the very least, entertain. Having just watched it again recently I can safely say Rambo: First Blood Part 2 does that in spades.
Image: Tristar Pictures
Pros and Cons
Since the things that make this a bad movie are part of the entertainment, they're one and the same in certain ways.
The slow parts are never so slow that they're boring.
Acting is over the top.
Action is pretty damn satisfying.
The last act of the movie is pretty exciting, even if it's super unbelievable.
Quintessential 1980's action movie.
Clichés abound!
Predictable.
Cheezzzzzzzzzy, but serious!
Editing is poor and actually makes Rambo teleport in some instances.
Feels like an 80's political campaign ad.
Plot & Thoughts
Rambo does not measure up to the action movie classics of the time like Predator, Robocop, or The Terminator, but you can tell that it'd like to measure it anyway. I'd say this is more in the realm of Roadhouse in terms of its quality and tone. If you look at the short lists of Pros and Cons, it's hard to draw the line at what is good or bad in terms of it's entertainment value. In many ways, the very things that make this movie bad are what make it fun, not least of which, its tone.
Image: Tristar Pictures
It's funny how seriously this movie tries to take itself. It's a movie about a veteran, who just wants to be left alone, having to come in and rescue POWs who have been held prisoner since the Vietnam War. Yet, it does nothing to earn that seriousness because at every turn Rambo is cheesy and over-the-top action, which makes it that much more entertaining.
Before Rambo even becomes part of the POW rescue effort, there is just a ton of character build-up. The colonel from the original First Blood who was there to build up Rambo as a ruthless killing machine in that movie reprises his role here and does it ten-fold. That's something I think the Sylvester Stalone action movies did more than the others that I remember: they like to build up the hero a lot before he shows up. It really becomes quite laughable how much they talk up Rambo because of how serious it's all supposed to be, but you just can't shake the silly dialogue and the clichés!
Image: Tristar Pictures
If you've watched any movie from the ‘80s, you'll see everything coming from a mile away, especially with what happens immediately after Rambo kisses the girl. To demonstrate this, we'll do a little experiment for those who haven't watched it. Rambo is a "lone wolf" archetype hero (Lone Wolf is even his codename). His contact is a pretty woman from the 90's classic film, Double Dragon, playing a Vietnamese woman who helps kill a bunch of dudes throughout the film. She's a love interest, but not a damsel in distress. Lone Wolf + Independent Woman + Romantic Kiss Scene = ? I'm willing to bet that the first guess you throw out there is the right one.
Image: Tristar Pictures
You'll be able to predict everything before anyone says or does anything in this film and you'll be laughing the whole way as the film continues to build Rambo up and up as an unstoppable killing machine. The shoddy editing even helps with this myth as he becomes almost supernatural by how he's able to teleport from one location to another. There is a scene where dozens of soldiers are pursuing Rambo through a village. They're hot on his tail and he has to think quickly about how to lose them. So, he uses a fake blood trail to lead them into some sort of crop field. Once he gets a majority of the troops into the tall grass, he lights it on fire from well within the field with some sort of flammable fluid (who knows where he got it). Suddenly, he's up in a tree at the top of a hill overlooking the same field and blowing up trucks on a bridge with his explosive arrows. The editing does nothing to say that this was just something he did a short while after because it still focuses back and forth between the troops burning in the field and back to Rambo. How the hell did he get from the field to a tree at the top of a hill in less than a minute? It doesn't matter, because Rambo is the best there is!
The last thing I'll mention that I love about this movie is the final scene. It's all super cliché dialogue with one character asking, "What will you do now?" It's closed with a dramatic delivery by Stallone which is super hammy, even though it was probably considered inspiring and gut-wrenching at the time. It's finally closed out with a pensive shot of him walking away and one of the cheesiest songs I've ever heard in a film. If you thought Rocky IV had a soundtrack, well, you really have to hear this for yourself to do it justice. At any moment during Stallone's monologue and the closing song, I was half-expecting a "Vote for Reagan" ad to pop up with eagles and the American flag.
Image: Tristar Pictures
TL;DR (Conclusion)
Rambo: First Blood Part II is stupid, cheesy fun. There are some solid action sequences sprinkled throughout the film and the helicopter sequence is an exciting adventure, to say the least. Yet this is definitely not of the caliber that the original First Blood established. The Rambo series follows the same pattern as the Rocky films in that the originals of the series showcase Stallone's abilities as an actor, as well as do a fantastic job of telling a story with deep characters and emotional drama. But like the Rocky films, the Rambo sequels strip it all away real quick for the sake of action and entertainment. If you don't get enjoyment out of dumb action and cheesy clichés, this isn't for you. If you do, you've probably already seen this film and loved it.