Rambo: First Blood Part II
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| Rambo: First Blood Part II | |
 Rambo: First Blood Part II movie poster |
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| Directed by | George P. Cosmatos Sylvester Stallone (uncredited)[1] |
|---|---|
| Produced by | Buzz Feitshans |
| Written by | Screenplay: Sylvester Stallone James Cameron Story: Kevin Jarre Characters: David Morrell |
| Starring | Sylvester Stallone Richard Crenna Charles Napier Steven Berkoff Julia Nickson-Soul |
| Music by | Jerry Goldsmith Peter Schless |
| Cinematography | Jack Cardiff |
| Editing by | Larry Bock Mark Goldblatt Mark Helfrich Gib Jaffe Frank E. Jiminez |
| Distributed by | TriStar Pictures |
| Release date(s) | May 22, 1985 |
| Running time | 94 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $44,000,000 (est.) |
| Gross revenue | Domestic: $150,415,432 Worldwide: $300,400,432 |
| Preceded by | First Blood (1982) |
| Followed by | Rambo III (1988) |
Rambo: First Blood Part II (also known as Rambo II or First Blood Part II in other countries), is a 1985 second movie in the Rambo series, starring Sylvester Stallone as Vietnam veteran John Rambo. Picking up where the first film left, this sequel is set in the context of the Vietnam War POW/MIA issue; it sees Rambo released from prison by Federal order to document the possible existence of POWs in Vietnam, under the belief that he will find nothing, thus enabling the government to sweep the issue under the rug.
Rambo: First Blood Part II was ghost-directed by George P. Cosmatos, who later directed the movie Cobra with Sylvester Stallone and Brigitte Nielsen. It was later revealed that Stallone had most of the directorial control on First Blood.[1]
Rambo: First Blood Part II follows First Blood and was followed by Rambo III in 1988 and Rambo in 2008.
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[edit] Plot
Rambo is busy working in a labor camp prison, when he gets a visit from his former commander, Colonel Samuel Trautman (Richard Crenna). Trautman offers Rambo the chance to be released from prison after the events of the first film and given full clemency, but on condition of him going into Vietnam to search for American POWs. Rambo meets Marshal Murdock (Charles Napier), an American bureaucrat who is in charge of the operation and he tells Rambo that the American public is demanding knowledge about the POWs and they want a trained commando to go in and search for the POWs. However, Rambo is briefed that he is only to photograph the POWs and not to rescue them, nor is he to engage any enemy soldiers. Rambo reluctantly agrees and he is then told that an agent of the American government will be there to receive him in the jungles of Vietnam.
He is then parachuted into the Vietnamese jungles, however while parachuting, Rambo loses some of his equipment and is left only with his knives, his bow, and arrows. He meets the American agent, a girl named Co (Julia Nickson) who wants to go to America. Rambo comes to the camp and finds American POWs there, and he rescues one of them. However, he finds enemy soldiers there, even though the briefing said there wasn't any, so, he uses his bow to take them out. He, Co and the American POW are in a boat when a gunboat attacks them, Rambo however sends Co and the POW to safety and manages to destroy the gunboat with an RPG. When Rambo calls for extraction, he is denied as Murdock fears what will happen to him and his party if the American public come to know about it.
Rambo and the American POW are captured. He learns that the Soviet Army is aiding the Vietnamese and training them, and is tortured badly by a Soviet officer, Lt. Col. Podovsky (Steven Berkoff) and his robust henchman Sergeant Yushin. Rambo is ordered to contact the American military and tell them that they should not send any more commandos for rescue operations in Vietnam. Meanwhile, Co enters the camp in the guise of a prostitute and comes to the hut in which Rambo is held captive. Rambo then agrees to Podovsky's condition, but instead threatens Murdock on the radio that he is coming to get him, then escapes from captivity into a nearby jungle with Co's help. Co then tends to Rambo's wounds and begins to implore him to take her to the United States. Rambo agrees and they share a kiss. But then, some Vietnamese soldiers attack them and Co is killed. Rambo kills them all and then he buries Co's body in the jungles, promising to never forget her and deeply saddened by the romance that was never meant to be.
Following his escape, many Soviet and Vietnamese soldiers are looking for him. Rambo assembles his weapons, and using guerilla warfare tactics, is able to kill a large number of enemy troops. He then proceeds to a small enemy camp and destroys it and several vehicles with explosive arrows. He then hijacks a UH-1N Twin Huey helicopter from the Soviets after killing Sergeant Yushin and proceeds towards the POW camp. He destroys most of the camp with the helicopter, then lands and arms himself with the M60 machine gun that is mounted on the Huey, kills the remaining soldiers, and rescues all the POWs. They get to the helicopter and move towards the American camp in Thailand. However, Lt. Col. Podovsky chases them in his Mil Mi-24 helicopter gunship. Although Rambo's helicopter is heavily damaged by Podovsky's helicopter, he manages to go forward and descending his helicopter on a river, fakes his death, as soon as Podovsky comes near him and gets careless, Rambo gets up and fires an LAW at Podovsky's chopper, obliterating it.
Rambo then returns to the base and using the M60E3 machine gun from the Huey destroys Murdock's command center. He then unsheathes his knife and threatens Murdock to find and rescue the remaining American POWs in Vietnam. Trautman then comforts Rambo and tries to pacify him. Rambo however gets angry and says that he only wants his country to love its soldiers as much as its soldiers love it. Rambo then moves towards an unknown destination. Trautman asks him: "How will you live, John?" To which Rambo replies: "Day by Day." The film credits roll as Rambo walks off into the distance while his mentor watches him.
[edit] Production
The producers of the movie considered that Rambo would have a partner in the rescue mission of POWs. The producers allegedly wanted John Travolta to play Rambo's partner, but Stallone vetoed the idea.[2]
[edit] Critical and commercial reception
The movie, which had a then-enormous budget of $44 million, became a box-office success. Earning just over $150 million in North America and just under that amount in the rest of the world, it was the second most successful movie of 1985 in North America, behind Back to the Future and just ahead of Rocky IV, giving Stallone two of three top grossing movies of that year. This film captured the attention of President Ronald Reagan and he lauded Stallone for portraying Rambo as a symbol of the U.S. Army.
While the movie was a commercial success particularly with young male fans of action films, it was reviled by critics. It was voted Worst Picture at the 1985 Golden Raspberry Awards (see below).
[edit] Awards
- The only film in the series to ever get nominated for an Academy Award for Best Sound Editing.
The film won the Golden Raspberry Awards in the following categories:
- Worst Picture
- Worst Screenplay
- Worst Actor (Sylvester Stallone)
- Worst "Original" Song (Peace in Our Life)
[edit] Other media
- A novelization was written by David Morrell, author of the novel First Blood, on which the first Rambo film was based.
- There was a ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and Commodore 64 game of the same name, based upon the movie. There was also an NES as well as Sega Master System, and MSX and DOS games based on the film.
- Officially licensed knives from the movie were created by both United Cutlery and Master Cutlery. Additionally, Master Cutlery fabricated both a standard and Limited Edition version. The Master Cutlery versions are push tang construction, have a hollow aluminum cord gripped handle that contains an emergency survival kit, and a precision compass mounted in the pommel. The stainless guards incorporate standard and Phillips head screwdriver points in the design. They are 1/4" thick 420 J2 stainless blades.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Beck, Henry Cabot. "The "Western" Godfather". True West Magazine. October 2006.
- ^ We Get to Win This Time, 2002, Artisan Entertainment
[edit] External links
- Sylvester Stallone Official Website
- Rambo: First Blood Part II at the Internet Movie Database
- Rambo: First Blood Part II at Allmovie
- Boxoffice information
| Preceded by Code of Silence |
Box office number-one films of 1985 (USA) May 27, 1985 – June 16, 1985 |
Succeeded by Cocoon |
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