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Rambo (franchise)

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"John Rambo" redirects here. For the 2008 film of the same name, see Rambo (film).
For other uses, see the Sylvester Stallone character and films.

Rambo is a series of popular action films starring Sylvester Stallone, based on the characters created by David Morrell in his novel First Blood.

The films are: First Blood (1982), Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), and Rambo III (1988). A fourth film, simply entitled Rambo, was released on January 25, 2008. The films focus on a troubled Vietnam War veteran, John James Rambo, who is greatly skilled in all aspects of survival, weaponry, hand-to-hand combat and guerrilla warfare.

In popular culture, the name has become an eponym for a tactic of military aggression or, alternatively, a person demonstrating heroism through extreme violence, especially when outnumbered. However, the term can also be used somewhat derogatorily to describe someone who thoughtlessly charges into a fight with no regard for personal safety or careful planning. This term is commonly referred to as "Going Rambo".

Fictional biography

The fictional character of John James Rambo was born on July 6, 1947 in Bowie, Arizona to a Native American Navajo mother and a father of German descent. Rambo graduated from Rangeford High School in 1965[citation needed], and then was drafted into the United States Army at the age of 18 in January 1966 [citation needed]. He was deployed to South Vietnam in September of that year. He returned to the U.S. in 1967 and began training in the Special Forces (Green Berets) at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. In late 1969, Rambo was re-deployed to Vietnam. In November 1971, he was captured by North Vietnamese forces near the Chinese-Vietnamese border and held at a POW camp, where he and other American POWs were repeatedly tortured. Rambo escaped captivity in May 1972, but was then re-deployed. Rambo was discharged on September 17, 1974. His highest and final paygrade is unknown. Upon his return to the U.S., Rambo discovered that many American civilians hated the returning soldiers, and he himself was subject to humiliation and embarrassment by having antiwar hippies throw garbage at him and calling him "baby killer". His experiences in Vietnam and back home resulted in an extreme case of Post-traumatic stress disorder.

Awards

Per dialogue in Rambo: First Blood Part II, during his Vietnam era service, Rambo was awarded two Silver Stars, four Bronze Stars (for Valor), four Purple Hearts, the Distinguished Service Cross, and the Medal of Honor. This is, apparently, only a partial listing of Rambo's honors as in a deleted scene from Rambo III, Rambo's "Class A" uniform can clearly be seen with the following 13 ribbons:

Curiously, Rambo's Silver Stars were missing from his ribbon rack as well as the National Defense Medal and the Good Conduct Medal, for both of which he certainly would have been eligible.

Various special duty badges can also be seen on Rambo's "Class A" uniform, including:

Additionally, in this same scene, Rambo's Social Security Number is revealed: 936-01-1758. However, no state issues a SSN with the prefix 936. Arizona, Rambo's home state, issues SSNs with the prefixes 526-527, 600-601, and 764-765. This was probably done to avoid the chances that Rambo's fictional SSN would match that of a real living person.

First Blood

Upon returning to the United States, Rambo has difficulty adjusting to civilian life (presumably after losing a job in valet parking for unsatisfactory performance) and wanders the country as a drifter. In February 1982, Rambo travels to Hope, Washington (the movie was filmed in Hope, British Columbia) in search of an army buddy of his, named Delmore Barry, from the Special Forces, only to find upon arrival to Delmore's supposed residence a little girl who is his daughter and Delmore's depressed widow who tells Rambo that her husband had died from cancer some time prior due to exposure to Agent Orange, and besides losing her man she must eke out a living as a cleaning lady and on Delmore's military pension. Rambo, attempting some cold comfort, gives Mrs. Barry the photograph of Delmore's unit. He is left with a mild sense of survivor's guilt as he is now the last man still living of his proud unit. He then travels to Hope in the attempt to find a diner and maybe a temporary job. The town does not welcome Rambo because of his long hair and scruffy look. Rambo disobeys the sheriff's order to stay away from Hope, as he does nothing wrong to the community and he believes such banishment to be a violation of his freedom of movement, and is promptly charged for vagrancy and subject to harassment from the deputies.

The harassment triggers Rambo's awful memories of his mistreatment at the hands of the Vietnamese when he was a prisoner of war, and his mind regresses into thinking he is once again fighting in combat. Rambo fights his way out of the sheriff's department with his bare hands and makes his way into the wilderness. A manhunt ensues. The sheriff and his deputies cannot win against Rambo in the forest. The Washington State Patrol and about 200 members of the Washington National Guard are called in to assist.

At this point, Colonel Samuel Trautman, Rambo's former commanding officer of his Special Forces unit, arrives in Hope. Trautman warns that continuing the manhunt is dangerous to the authorities, as Rambo is too experienced to be captured easily in the wilderness where he thrives. Instead, Trautman recommends giving Rambo time to return to his senses by allowing him to be by himself in the Pacific Northwest back country, after which he will presumably drift to Seattle and apply for a job at a car wash (as he did after returning home from Vietnam), at which point he could be arrested without incident. However, the authorities reject Trautman's recommendation and continue the manhunt, and Rambo's subsequent rampage culminates in the destruction of the sheriff's office and most of the town's main street. Rambo stands poised to eliminate the sheriff, but Trautman finally confronts Rambo face-to-face, and ultimately convinces his former soldier to surrender to the authorities.

In the afterstory of the timeline between the first and second films, Rambo is convicted at a court-martial and remanded to a military prison where heavy duty labor is the norm. Despite being a convict, the rigid routine and discipline of prison life provides Rambo with some stability, as it reminds him of his past in the military and its own rigid hierarchy.

Rambo: First Blood Part II

In the second installment of the series in 1985, Rambo is tasked by Col. Trautman to return to Vietnam to search for American POWs remaining in Vietnamese captivity. Marshall Murdock, in charge of the mission, is portrayed as a corrupt military figure who does not want to expose the truth. Rambo is ordered to take photographs of a Vietnamese military base to prove to the American public there are no more POWs in Vietnam, although Murdock knows that there are. Rambo is sent to a part of the jungle where Murdock receives confirmation that no POWs were being held at the time. However, Rambo discovers that there is a POW camp where he was dropped. The POWs are rotated from location to location, and coincidentally are in the same area as Rambo when he was dropped.

Rambo then acts on his own initiative and starts a one-man rescue mission. After returning with POWs, Rambo becomes enraged at how the United States government has ignored the existence of surviving soldiers being held captive. Rambo then threatens Murdock and tells him to be forthright with the truth of the POWs and spare no expense in rescuing them all, else he will return for Murdock's hide. When Trautman says Rambo will be honored once again, he declines, saying the POWs deserve medals and accolades more than him as they were regular soldiers who endured torture and extraordinary hardships. For his actions in Vietnam, Rambo is granted a presidential pardon and remains in Thailand.

Rambo III

The film opens with Colonel Trautman (Crenna) visiting a monastery in Thailand to meet Rambo. He meets up with Rambo at a temple construction site after Rambo's prizefighting match. He asks Rambo to join him on a mission to Afghanistan to supply weapons including Stinger missiles to the Afghan freedom fighters, called the Mujahedeen, who are fighting the Soviets. Trautman claims one province of Afghanistan is under control of an organized Soviet military officer who is brutally suppressing the Mujaheddin and the local Afghan populace. Rambo refuses the request, saying he is happy to have found a sense of purpose and a peaceful life helping the monks.

While in Afghanistan, Trautman's troop is ambushed by the Soviets while passing through the mountains at night. Rambo learns of this incident and flies to Afghanistan, with travel and weapons arranged by Trautman's secretary. He meets up with a weapons supplier who agrees to take him to a village deep in the desert, close to a Soviet base, where Trautman is kept.

From here on Rambo's fight begins as he, with the help of Afghan freedom fighters and a young boy called Nissem, infiltrates the base and rescues Trautman along with several other Afghan prisoners. Rambo, Trautman and the prisoners escape in a stolen Soviet helicopter and are ambushed by the Soviets along the way. Their chopper gets shot down in the ordeal and Rambo and Trautman escape on foot to avoid the Soviet troops. While hiding inside a cave, the duo fights against the Soviet troopers, killing them off one by one, and escape from the cave. Later, they are confronted by the Soviets again. In a spectacular finale, just as Rambo and Trautman are about to be overwhelmed by the might of the Soviet Army, the Mujahedeen warriors charge onto the battlefield, overwhelming the Soviets. Rambo is shot through his leg but manages to commandeer a Soviet tank and collides it into a helicopter piloted by the Soviet base commander, killing the commander. Rambo survives and climbs out of the tank bruised and battered. He and Trautman wave goodbye to the Mujahedeen leaders and drive off in a jeep.

After saving Trautman in Rambo III, he departs from Afghanistan, presumably parts with Col. Trautman and continues to reside in Thailand. This is where the fourth film begins.

Rambo

In this latest Rambo installment, John Rambo has retreated to a simple life in a rural Thai village near the Burmese border, capturing snakes for local entertainers, and transporting roamers in his battered long-tail boat. After capturing a cobra, Rambo is approached by a man who asks him to take himself and his group of fellow missionaries to Burma to help the Karen tribe members — who are regularly raped, tortured and massacred by Major Tint's sadistic soldiers — with food and medicine. Rambo flatly refuses. Then, the woman in the group Sarah Miller asks him. Once more Rambo refuses, telling her that she cannot change anything and to go home. She leaves him only to return later that night alone. She asks Rambo once more, telling him that she only wants to make a difference. Rambo reluctantly agrees and takes her and her group onto the river the next day.

Rambo is taken with Sarah's determination and is only ferrying them because of it. He will only do as Sarah directs. He has no compassion or fondness for the others in the group. While the missionaries are talking, Sarah talks to Rambo about his past. He tells her his name, John, and that he is from Arizona and about how he arrived in the orient. She asks him if he has ever thought of going back or if he had family; Rambo reveals that he may have a father back home, but he has no desire to return. While traveling towards Burma, the group is approached by Burmese Pirates who after seeing Sarah, demand her. Rambo attempts to bargain with them to ascertain her freedom but seems to be failing. The Burmese man then points a gun at Sarah ordering her to him, but Rambo kills him and the other armed pirates leaving the group shaken and afraid. One of the missionaries, Michael, scolds him telling him that,"No life should be taken for any reason." Rambo assaults him explaining that he did what he had to to save Sarah. Michael and the other missionaries want to leave, but Sarah pleads with them to continue. Rambo heeds her. Rambo finally drops the group off at the riverside of the village and is informed by Michael that he will be reported for the murders he committed. Sarah stays behind much to Michael's dismay and gives Rambo her cross necklace and thanks him. Michael explains that they will be leaving by road and that Rambo is no longer necessary. He then goes and burns the boat filled with dead pirates.

The humanitarian mission goes well until the village is attacked, leaving one of the missionaries and most of the villagers killed. Sarah and the remaining missionaries are kidnapped by the Burmese army. Rambo was dreaming of the past years when he is awoken by his name being called. The pastor from the missionaries church is there and asks Rambo if he can help him find the missing missionaries who should have been home ten days ago. He continues to say that all he needs is Rambo to lead them to the spot where he left them and that his mercenaries would do the rest. Rambo wastes no time and goes back up river with the mercenaries in tow. The mercenaries are unaware of Rambos killing prowess and do not take him as anything more than "boat man." During the boat ride, one of the mercenaries introduces himself as "School Boy."

After reaching the same point where he dropped off the Christian aid workers, the mercenaries tell him to stay behind, that "Boat man should stay with the boat," but Rambo refuses. The mercenaries come about to the Karen village that the missionaries were and find it completely obliterated. They are joined by a Karen rebel who will knows the location of the missing missionaries. They start to look for any sign of the missionaries when they see an army jeep approach. The mercenaries hide and watch as the soldiers begin to run the captured to their deaths by means of landmines. One of the mines goes off killing a couple of prisoners, and the rest run to the safety of the paddy wall where they are about to be shot. Before they are killed, Rambo starts to annihilate the army men quickly with bow & arrow. The mercenaries then help and after some Rambo-style persuasion agree to go after the missionaries.

They travel into the forest and stumble upon an old WWII tall-boy bomb which never detonated. The group of mercenaries now joined with Rambo travel to the POW camp where the Christian aid workers are being held and stage a stealthy assault on the camp. They synchronize watches and agree that after a certain time they will leave, regardless of anyone left behind. School Boy had already sucessfully infiltrated the camp and succeeds in killing the watch tower guards. Rambo locates the missing missionaries and frees them telling them to stay put. He then sends a mercenary for them who rescues them and takes them to the the safety point. In the meantime, the rest of the soldiers are being entertained by three burmese women forced to dance for their pleasure. The men eventually begin to rape them. The Karen rebel saves a woman from a cage and proceeds to the safe place where the rest of the mercenaries decide to leave without Rambo and Sarah.

Rambo looks for Sarah and finds her about to be raped by a man, but Rambo kills him with his bare hands. They begin to flee, but they are spotted by a guard who points his gun at a fallen Sarah. Rambo jumps on top of her only to see the guard get killed by School Boy who returned to help them. They make haste for the river which is very far from them. It's not long before their work is noticed. The army follows them with boats on the river, and several Humvees filled with scent dogs and soldiers. The mercenary/missionary group continue into the woods only to suffer a near casualty when a mine goes off. Michael helps the mercenary hit and they proceed to the river in hopes of finding the boat. Rambo realizes they are being followed and takes some of Sarah's clothing to wear on himself and takes School boys claymore explosive and tells them to run towards the river after firing a shot to lead the men in that direction. Rambo then takes off towards the woods and is persued by the army men and the dogs. School boy and Sarah arrive at the rivers edge where they see the other missionaries and the mercenaries being beaten by the army men who caught them. Rambo is seen constructing a trip-wire type rig with the claymore and the Tall boy wrapping a piece of Sarah's shirt around it and then starts to run away quickly towards the river. The army men are in pursuit and eventually come across the explosives setting it off and blowing themselves and the surrounding area away.

Rambo himself is caught up with the aftermath. The explosion is seen from the mercenary site and they are setting up to kill the men. Sarah pleads with School Boy to do something, but a soldier in a tree-stand high powered machine gun is nearby leaving him with no choice but to stay still and not interfere. Finally, the mercenary/missionary group are put into position to be killed and Rambo arrives to kill the man in the machine-gun apparatus and proceed to kill the army-men. The mercenaries then begin to join him. Major Tint arrives at the battle via boat setting a mercenary and Rambo's boat on fire with large flame throwers. Rambo shoots the boat causing it to explode. The blood-bath ensues and Michael kills an army man with a rock to his head several times. The Karen Rebel brings more Karen rebels who all continue to fight. Another mercenary is killed and Rambo then continues to kill the Burmese finally defeating them. Rambo sees a high ranking Burmese Army man stumble up a hill unwittingly to where Rambo was. Rambo eagerly disembowels him. Sarah and Michael are reunited and after a thankful wave to a valiant Rambo, go home. The movie fades to a small road and Rambo walking down it. He arrives at a mailbox labeled ,'R.Rambo,' and looks down the driveway to a quaint farmhouse. He looks behind him to the road, then proceeds to the farm.

Animated series

Video games

Music

The original scores for all three films were composed and conducted by Jerry Goldsmith. The music from the second film was performed by the National Philharmonic Orchestra and the music from the third by the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra. Goldsmith's main theme for Rambo was the basis for the end title song "It's A Long Road," performed by Dan Hill, part of the "First Blood" soundtrack.

The music for the first film is harsher and more dissonant than that for the sequels, as is keeping with the tone of the film. As such, it bears more of a resemblance to Goldsmith's output of the 60s and 70s than it does most of his work in the 80s. The first film's score does use electronics but is primarily orchestral while the sequel scores incorporate heavier use of electronics. The second film's score is the most popular, being that it is the most exciting. The music in the third film is an extension of the style used in the second, but with a few new themes. Both sequels feature new themes for Rambo that are based on elements found in the original "It's a Long Road" theme, which is also heard in its original form in each film as well.

  • Jerry Goldsmith on Rambo Audio file "Goldsmith on Rambo.ogg" not found

Since Goldsmith died in 2003, film composer Brian Tyler (The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem) will be scoring the upcoming fourth film. He has reassured fans that his score will be based on Goldsmith's cues for the first three First Blood/Rambo pictures.

The 2008 film, Rambo, was advertised with Drowning Pool's Bodies and features two songs in the film written and performed by Jake La Botz who portrays the mercenary "Reese" in the movie.

Trivia

  • Hot Shots! Part Deux parodies the Rambo movies, as does the movie UHF.
  • John Rambo appears in the alternate history novel Back in the USSA training the communist soldiers of Vietnam.
  • According to the author of First Blood, David Morell, the name Rambo originates from the "Rambo Apple" [1], which is named after Peter Rambo who, in 1639, emigrated from Sweden to New Sweden.
  • Soldat has a game type called "Rambomatch" in which players attempt to kill each other with a single-shot bow and arrow.
  • In the film Lord of War, a character asks for "the gun of Rambo", referring to the M60. Yuri responds with "Part one, two, or three?"
  • In the film Gremlins 2, brief footage of Rambo: First Blood Part II can be seen on a TV. Gizmo is later seen acting like Rambo.
  • The character, Ralf Jones from SNK's King of Fighters starred in a game called Ikari Warriors. In this game his design is based on John Rambo's appearance.
  • In the movie True Lies, Arnold Schwartznegger plays a spy who sets out to rescue his wife from a terrorist organization. Upon rescuing and proceeding to lead her to safety, he brutally kills two men with a single knife in front of her. As they proceed onward, she mutters to herself "I married Rambo!"

References

See also

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