Rambo III - 1988

Carolco Pictures

Directed by Peter MacDonald

Cast:

• John Rambo – Sylvester Stallone
• Col. Sam Trautman – Richard Crenna
• Col. Zaysen – Marc de Jonge
• Griggs – Kurtwood Smith
• Masoud – Spiros Focas
• Mousa – Sasson Gabai
• Hamid – Doudi Shoua
• Kourov – Randy Raney
• Tomask – Marcus Gilbert

Story: Three years have passed since John Rambo recovered the POW's in the Vietnamese prison camp and walked away from his connections with the U.S.. He's been living in Thailand with the monks, doing manual labor and odd jobs, and occasionally raising some cash by stick fighting. But eventually his past is going to come back to haunt him. Col. Trautman gets wind of his location and with the help of the U.S. Embassy, tracks him down. When he finally meets up with John, he offers him another mission, this one in Afghanistan. The Soviet commander in one zone just over the Pakistan border is a particularly cruel and effective man, the mission is to investigate and discover how this man is getting his intelligence. Rambo refuses the mission, and Trautman leaves. Several weeks later, Griggs, the man from the Embassy comes to tell Rambo his friend has been captured. Without hesitation, Rambo volunteers to go in to rescue Trautman, knowing full well if he is caught or captured, the U. S. government will not acknowledge him. When John goes into Pakistan to meet his guide, he discovers the source of the leak, and must go into battle against the Soviets to free his friend.

Review: So First Blood 2 was a segue? Start with the Vietnamese and end up with the Soviets? Sigh. Well, the truth of the matter is this third film of the franchise is no less exciting than the first two, although in the first film we were dealing with a man who felt disconnected from his country. In this film, Rambo has found a sort of peace in his life with the monks, a simple life without the hustle and distraction of modern living. While I doubt Stallone's character has achieved a state of Zen, there is a calmer, more focused individual who is working on the temple buildings. Even in his communication with his Afghan guide, John is calmer, more easy going, yet still guarded in his person. He lets go only what is needed. Technically, the film is superb. The photography and stunts are nothing short of amazing, and the quality of the plot is par for the Rambo action genre. Rated R for violence and language, this film is collectible with the set and viewable once if you have seen the others. Not my favorite of the series, but certainly not the worst.