bobhelms I as a little young when I first saw this, and the First Blood movie I didn't see till a few years after this, so I didn't go in with any idea about who Rambo was or what he was about. Stallone does so well as a brooding action star, always on the edge of sanity in so many of his movies. This movie came out and mixed the current (at that time) hatred for the Soviets, with the bad taste of unfinished business within Vietnam, as many people believed (and it may have been true) that there were American POW's somewhere over there that were left behind by a government that "just didn't care and wanted it all to go away".It fills all of the typical 80's action film clichés: never ending ammo, completely unrealistic gun fights where the good guy can't be hit by any rounds, while he fires wildly with two M-60's and hits everything that moves. But, who ever asked for realism, it's a work of feel good fiction anyway, right? Rambo gets beat up throughout the movie, then comes back in the end and rains vengeance upon the bad guys. Comes back, confronts the bad government guy and his lackeys, roll credits.When I rate a movie like this, I'll rate it with an idea of what was out there at that time. Very few movies stand the test of time, like The Godfather, or 2001, or The Good The Bad The Ugly. Most movies you enjoy, when it starts getting into 10 or more years since you've seen them, you wax poetic about them and perhaps remember them more fondly. This isn't really an exception to that. The Senator in the movie comes off as too much of a representation of a government that many people hated (and still do), but he does a good job of it. Richard Crenna as Col. Trautman is probably the best acting done by anyone in the movie.The unfortunate part of a movie like this is all of the bad reviews it will get from people who want to make a fictional movie into something political. If you find the movie to be atrocious and give it one star on the basis of bad acting, or poor plot, or over the top lack of realism, so be it. But the reviews going on and on about "bad bad USA, should not have been in Vietnam" or "xenophobic" or "racist", please, you need to read up about a few of the POW camps over there that were far far worse than what is shown in the movie. And even more silly: questions like "how would Americans feel if Germany had made a film like this rescuing Nazis" Uh, the Germans did, many countries make what can be construed as "anti-american movies", but we don't hear much about it here.But, I digress, enough with my annoyance about politically motivated reviews. If you enjoy Stallone's dark attitude and cliché catch phrases, combined with gratuitous meaningless hail of bullets and knife jabs, you'll enjoy this movie.

sol- Sent back to Vietnam on a reconnaissance mission under explicit instructions to just observe and report, John Rambo finds himself compelled to intervene after finding mistreated US prisoners of war in this violent sequel to 'First Blood'. The dynamics are vastly different this time with Rambo initiating dozens of kills. The antagonists are also less complex, as opposed to in the first film where Rambo has to protect himself from the prejudiced policemen of his own country. That said, the film carries forward the original's resentment over the reception of Vietnam War veterans very well. Rambo describes himself as expendable, but the POWs are even more expendable, and there is much to ponder when it is revealed that his mission is a box-ticking exercise for the government in order that they can say that they are looking for missing soldiers. In short, this is a more intelligent film than one might expect, if a heavily flawed one. The carnage is even more extreme this time round with whole human beings exploding (!) and Rambo's ability to escape everything unscathed is even more unlikely this time round. There is also an awkward romance and the Communist villains are downright campy, especially Steven Berkoff's Russian officer assisting the North Vietnamese. The film has more virtues than vices overall though; the film's Oscar nomination for Sound Effects Editing is particularly well deserved with all those electrocution noises and excellent background ambiance. Charles Napier is also perfectly slimy as the closest the film has to an American antagonist.

slightlymad22 Continuing my plan to watch every Sly Stallone movie in order, I come to Rambo: First Blood Part 2.Plot In A Paragraph: Colonel Trautman (Richard Crenna) pulls some strings to get Rambo (Stallone) released from prison and reinstated into Special Forces, to go on a covert mission back to Vietnam, in search of proof they are still holding American POW's. This movie is nothing like its predecessor, which I rated a 10/10, it's so far removed from it, they should have dropped the 'First Blood Part 2' part of the title and simply called it 'Rambo'. First Blood was a tight thriller with some bits of action here and there, with politics (about how America treated its soldiers returning from Vietnam) in there too. This movie is an over the top, patriotic red, white and blue flag waving action movie that has Rambo killing 74 people (as opposed to 1 in 'First Blood') as the one man army once again goes on the rampage. And I love it. When I was younger this was my favourite Rambo movie, and I still have a massive soft spot for it. Stallone has never looked better than he does here, he is in the best shape we have seen him so far. He is once again backed up by the brilliant Richard Crenna (How did this man not get more work?) Julia Nickson is absolutely gorgeous (and is the reason I developed a bit of a fetish for oriental women) and does a great job. Charles Napier is perfectly cast as Murdoch (who gets of lightly in my opinion) unlike an under used Martin Kove who takes the brunt (Or end of a machine gun) of Rambo's anger. Whilst the one man army does take some believing, most are killed one of one, with Rambo sneaking about the jungle (like First Blood) slowly disposing of them. It's not a thinking movie, but it is an enjoyable one.Once again Stallone made changes and extensively rewrote the script. This time, one wrote by James Cameron (Terminator, T2, Aliens) who claims hardly anything of his screenplay was left in the final movie. Stallone had done this on every movie since 'Rocky' if he didn't write the movie, he made changes to the script to suit him.

CinemaClown The second instalment in the Rambo film franchise, Rambo: First Blood Part II may lack the intricate themes of the original that turned it into an instant classic right away but certainly goes big with its action set pieces by packing in more explosions & body counts and takes the "one man army" approach a tad too far.First Blood Part II continues the story of John Rambo and picks up from where it signed off in the previous chapter. The plot finds Rambo released from prison for a top-secret mission that requires him to return to Vietnam in order to document the possible existence of POWs but he soon finds out the real motive behind this covert operation.Directed by George P. Cosmatos, First Blood Part II is so much intent on presenting Rambo as an unstoppable & invincible force that it completely discards the human complexities of his and only focuses on his action figure persona. Sure the movie is more action-packed in content but the story definitely doesn't cut as deep as it did the first time.The technical aspects are finely executed, the action is bigger in scale, and it's surprisingly engaging to an extent but it's also very predictable & generic and the only thing that makes it worth sitting through is Sylvester Stallone's impressive input. All the action segments are clearly captured by its camera, its 96 mins of runtime is steadily paced & Jerry Goldsmith's score nicely compliments the unfolding events.On an overall scale, Rambo: First Blood Part II is inferior to its predecessor in almost every filmmaking department yet it finishes as an enjoyable, entertaining & action-packed sequel that further solidifies Stallone's star power and also contributes in elevating the character of Rambo into a cultural icon. A Hollywood attempt to abstract little American glory from the war it lost, First Blood Part II deserves a watch or two for its old-school action alone.