The least of the films in the Rambo Trilogy, this is actually the one that tries the hardest. Straying from the heroic ending of Rambo 2 in which the hope of years was translated into the threat of recrimination from Rambo should the Vietnamese POWs not be freed, we find Rambo living it up with monks in a monastery in Thailand.
Disappointed (yet again) by the actions of his government and asked to lead a mission into Afghanistan to rescue some captured soldiers who shouldn’t have been there, he says no. That leaves the effervescent Colonel Trautman (a fair-weather friend if I ever saw one) to lead the mission and what do you know? The old bastard can’t do missions like he used to and he gets caught. It’s now up to perennial slaughterhouse Rambo to get in and rescue his former commander.
| "God must love crazy people... he makes so many of them." |
Colonel Trautman is a bastard. He calls himself Rambo’s friend but he only ever shows up to ask him a favour or to have Rambo kill people. What kind of friend is that? Here’s poor Rambo just trying to live out his life as a recluse amidst the monks, gently tending his mullet haircut the way nature intended, and he keeps getting pestered by this warmonger who wants Rambo to wear a headband. Bastard.
With the success of the first two films behind them, the scene was set to make a third film and, being a purely cash-driven venture, there is no real plot here other than Rambo rules and any army that take him on is going to lose because he’s merciless. Or something. This time around Stallone hasn’t just co-written the screenplay, he's flat written the film (with Sheldon Lettich) and decides the time is right to inject some comedy into the Rambo character with a few snappy one-liners. This, of course, detracts from the entire Rambo psyche previously established and makes the whole film even more worthless and Rambo’s character even more one-dimensional than ever.
On a positive note though, the body count here far outweighs any previous Rambo vehicle as he fights the dastardly Russians with the Afghanis as allies. Talk about a dated film plot. The film is even dedicated to ‘the gallant people of Afghanistan’. Isn’t hindsight a funny thing? The Rambo trademark of ‘assorted ways to kill a man’ in the ending is employed though and is probably about the only recognisable part of the film when lined up against the others (possibly on a firing squad).
Yes, this is the weakest part of the trilogy and even the key scenes of Rambo self-treating a shrapnel wound (the prosthetics, while good for 1988, are still more than evident too) isn’t enough to make the film any better than a dog-eared third place.
Another fairly clean transfer here in the full size cinema aspect ratio of 2.35:1 with anamorphic bloodlust. There is nary an artefact to dust the image and lines are fairly crisp and sharp. Flesh tones are good, the hairdo is a pristine bouffant mullet and shadow detail is surprisingly good. Blacks are true and the colour palette is well saturated, though of course limited to mostly earth tones being set in the bleak landscape of the Afghanistan desert.
Another head-thumping Dolby Digital 5.1 surround setup here that goes ballistic in the surrounds, weaving and ducking around the room like gangbusters. The subwoofer rumbles like a tank throughout and does a lot to buoy the frequent action scenes. Dialogue is naturally mumbled from Sly, almost as if an errant boy being brought to book, and the last half of the film the dialogue gets decidedly lower than the overblown action noise. Still, what could there be to hear in the final acts?
Jerry Goldsmith again scores the film and this takes on a militaristic feeling reminiscent of the first two installments with firstly a Thai influence followed by a defined Middle Eastern flavour. These adaptations aren’t enough to destroy the good ole Americanism of the score though. Woo America!
Well, like him or hate him, everyone knows who he is. He’s John Rambo and he kicks everyone’s arse, regardless of who they are or what they’re doing in his way. This final film perhaps embodies this sentiment more than either of the previous efforts and is just that more unbelievable because of it. Oh sure, he gets wounded in this one, but his own strength of character to tend his own injuries again beggars belief. However, the film is at times similar to the previous two films and does seem to sit okay alongside them. That’s not to say it’s as good as the others, for it isn’t, but it’s a fairly recognisable film entirely character driven and full of everything the target audience wants. Bloodshed.
The least of the series, but still an action film requiring little audience brainwork in its own right.
