Plot
John Rambo, now incarcerated due to the attack on Hope Washington. Sam Trautman gives Rambo an option for presidential pardon. All he needs to do is head to Thailand and find Proof of Life of POW’s – and return it to bureaucrat Murdock who is overseeing the mission.
When Rambo finds the Proof of Life, and then a potential rescue mission is aborted at the last minute, Rambo and Trautman discover that there is more to this mission than just rescuing the POW’s… in fact the mission might be to ignore them completely!
Director
Directed by George P Cosmatos, who also directed Stallone in Cobra. He would go on to direct other established titles such as Tombstone as well as others.
There are some great action sets, significantly upped on the first film. At just over 90 minutes it is an explosive watch.
Cast
Returning to the franchise are Sylvester Stallone, and Richard Crenna as Rambo and Trautman.
They are jointed by new cast members such as Charles Napier as Murdoch, the bureaucrat who isn’t giving all the information he should to Rambo and Trautman.
Steven Berkoff – who plays yet another 80s bad guy (and with another terribly racist fake accent).
Julia Nickson plays Co, one of the Vietnamese intelligence agents assigned to assist Rambo.
Other cast members include Martin Kove as one of Murdock’s soldiers, and George Cheung as Tay one of the leaders of the Vietnamese Army.
Breakdown
With a script (partially) written by James Cameron, the PTSD addled John Rambo from the first film is forced to go where he thought he’d put way back in his past… back into war.
With a promise of a Presidential Pardon for his actions in the first film, John is tasked by Sam Trautman and government Major Roger Murdock to go into Vietnam, and find out if there are any POW’s left.
What Rambo and Trautman don’t know is that the entire mission is a ruse. The government don’t want there to be any POW’s left because if there are it would cause the government to spend more funds on recovery and a potential WW3. With Rambo and Trautman separated throughout proceedings once again it is mostly Trautman vs those “in charge” who are seemingly against Rambo once again – which feels rather repetitive from his time with Teasle in the first movie.
However Rambo does find the POW’S and wages a one man war on the entire Vietnamese army. I did feel like this was more a “fan service” type film which would rather show the lead actor in all his muscular glory that continue his ‘life after war’ in a realistic manner.
The tension and action that occurs in the film is over the top gratuitous at times – where Rambo kills as many of the ‘bad guys’ as he can – and the good guys – which is essentially Rambo and Co (his female ally). She gets a horrific overkill a little early in the piece (not before they have some heart to heart where John believes he is… Expendable…)
Another part the film gets right, is its graphic use of torture – especially when the Vietnamese capture Rambo at one stage. This is shown well, and does make you wince from what they put him through.
The Russian inclusion (due to their inclusion in the Vietnamese War) feels more “Hollywood” than because they were there, and Steven Berkoff is essentially playing the same character he played in 1983s Octopussy.
The final act, in which the ruse is revealed – has more of an American Politics feel to it as it is all about how the government feels about the soldiers. This has been shown in countless films where clearly those who didn’t serve – dismissed those who did. It’s hard to connect with as I’m neither American or been subject to having people I know serve. There is a very strong ‘love of country’ but ‘no love of soldiers’ sadly.
Once again the late great Jerry Goldsmith provides the score, and it’s a solid effort.
Overall
Bigger, louder and more intense than the first film, but it feels like it takes away from the heart and the ‘post trauma’ of the war that was going on in Rambo’s head – putting him right back into the middle of it.
Solid performances, and a good narrative with the ‘American antagonists’ motive.
Very watchable still over 40 years later!
4/5
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