Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna, Charles Napier, Steven Berkoff, Brian Dennehy

Director: George Pan Cosmatos

Summary: Features: 'Rambo - First Blood', 'Rambo - First Blood - Part II' and 'Rambo III' RAMBO III, which could be called 'Rambo In Afghanistan', is set in 1988, near the end of the Soviet Union's involvement there. At the beginning of the film, John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) is living a secluded life in a Buddhist monastery in Thailand. When Rambo's close friend and mentor from the American military, Colonel Trautman (Richard Crenna), asks for Rambo's help with a top-secret mission in Afghanistan, Rambo declines. Trautman goes in anyway and is captured by a ruthless Russian commander. In response, Rambo leaves his peaceful life, determined to rescue Trautman. Armed with only a handful of glow sticks and a dozen detonators, Rambo travels to Pakistan where he meets with a group of Mujaheddin freedom fighters who agree to lead him across the border into Afghanistan. On horseback, Rambo and the Mujaheddin approach the daunting Afghan landscape high cliffs, jagged desert mountains, and networks of underground tunnels and caves. But before they even reach the prison where Trautman is held, the Russians head them off in a high-speed helicopter chase through steep ravines. From this point forward, the action never abates. Rambo, whose complexion is a deep crimson throughout the film, scales cliffs with his bare (bleeding) hands, and defies husky guards and scores of heavily armed Russian soldiers. There are many intense parts of RAMBO III, including a disturbing look inside a shop that sells machine guns and prosthetic limbs to mine victims, and several action sequences in which Afghan soldiers use American-supplied shoulder-mount rocket launchers against the Soviets. But perhaps the most memorable scene of the film is a close-up on Rambo, alone in a dimly lit cave, where he removes a bullet from his stomach and then performs a dazzling medical trick with the leftover gunpowder.

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Reviewed by: davybozal24-7
Posted on October 4, 2006 10:51 AM

Absolutely brilliant, and this iconic trilogy really kicked a** when it first came out and their still showing it regularly on the old gogglebox when Sly was a lean mean a**kickin' machine who took no prisoners literally ! Boys own stuff and well worth the money to buy !

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Sylvester Stallone never courted as much controversy as he did with the screen violence of the Rambotrilogy. From 1982 to 1988, they kept his name above Schwarzenegger's in the muscle hero league, with "Rambo" becoming a descriptive phrase in the language to describe gung-ho aggression (in Japanese, "rambo" means "violence"). The strangest part of the character's success is that originally he had none. Both David Morrell's novel and the original incarnation of First Bloodhad the Vietnam vet committing suicide after his rampage through small town America. The un-Hollywood ending was changed when Stallone and the producers recognised here was a character with possibilities.

First Blood: Part IIwas co-written by James (Titanic) Cameron, a man who has always recognised box office possibilities. Stallone took a very relevant (to 1985) issue of surviving POWs and created an alternative end to the Vietnam War. This was achieved courtesy of the Cold War animosity that still existed towards the Russians, embodied in a suitably vile cameo from Steven Berkoff. A little love interest helped ground the movie and prevent it from completely turning into a video game, as did the best of Jerry Goldsmith's stirring scores for the trilogy.

After saving himself and then his Country, Rambo IIIwas simply about saving his friend Richard Crenna. The code of honour was by this point watered down into a song lyric, "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother". Nevertheless the final instalment continues to say something about the indomitable American spirit that will not accept defeat lightly. Patriotism may never have been portrayed quite so bloodily before Rambo's arrival, but at least a generation learned to question attitudes to war veterans, as well as the benefits of carrying a compass in your hunting knife.

On the DVD:The Rambotrilogy on disc brings together all three movies in crisp 2.35:1 widescreen transfers. Sadly the extras are a little thin considering how much more was on the old Laser Discs. The first film has but a trailer; the third has a few minutes of behind the scenes material; the second has quite a few mini-documentaries that could really have done with being edited together, and having repeated interviews cut out. But there's still fun to be had hearing how deep and meaningful the movies were in conception.--Paul Tonks

Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Trailer - 1. Original Theatrical, Interactive Menus, Film Stills, Trailer - 1. RAMBO FIRST BLOOD PART II, Documentary - 1. THE LAST AMERICAN P.O.W., 2. SEAN BAKER- FULFILLING A DREAM, Making of - 1. CREATING THE REALITY OF WAR, 2. ACTION IN THE JUNGLE, Personalit
Year:	1999
Release Date:	October 10, 2005
Runtime:	401 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	M P 440 D
Keywords:	Action, Box, Pack, General, Gift, Set, Rambo, Trilogy, Adventure
Genre:	Action/Adventure