Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)
Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)
Eh…..can we just skip Rambo: First Blood Part II and keep watching First Blood on repeat? Okay, maybe this action-packed sequel is not the most awful movie out there, but the 1985 flick is definitely subpar when compared to the first film. The first film was an excellent character study about a Vietnam veteran prone to violence. This film, while exploring some interesting ideas, turns into the run-of-the-mill action flick. The “returning to Vietnam” plot has been done to death by this point, so I did lose interest. Funny enough, this film was a major hit. Major enough to keep the story of John Rambo going into current day.
The screenplay was written by Sylvester Stallone…and James Cameron. Yup, you read that right. The James Cameron that introduced himself with a bang in 1984’s The Terminator. This was an eclectic pairing, and it definitely shows. Cameron has seen better days with screenwriting. According to Stallone, his draft included a sidekick for Rambo and inserted more politics. Stallone had to give the screenplay a more neutral stance given who the character of John Rambo is. Regardless, the screenplay is pretty mediocre.
After John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) instigated a guerrilla war in First Blood and was sent to prison, his former commander, Trautman (Richard Crenna) releases him for a new mission. His new mission takes him back to the jungles of Vietnam, where he swore he would never lay a foot there again. His mission is to find where captured American POW’s are being held. Of course, Rambo is double-crossed. Now he has to figure out how to leave the Vietnamese jungles alive before he is taken by his own country or the Soviets.
Sylvester Stallone is not the best actor out there, but he is good at creating memorable characters. He did that with Rocky and he did that with First Blood. He made John Rambo an interesting character study suffering from PTSD. But here he sheds that personality to take on a role more in line with a normal action hero…and that was pretty disappointing. He did have some good lines of dialogue-especially towards the end, but I was pretty disappointed with his performance, which was only made more wooden from the script. Richard Crenna continued to be solid as Trautman as his role was magnified this film. Charles Napier played Murdock, the big boss of the mission. He also did solid given the material he was given.
I did not hate First Blood: Part II. I was just disappointed that the film was turned into a violent, standard action film. I was likewise disappointed with Jerry Goldsmith’s score. His “Rambo” theme was nonexistent and focused more on electronic music. The end credit’s song, sung by Frank Stallone, was meh. Despite everything, the action is still done well. Some of the action is brutal and well-choreographed. Maybe this is a good rainy-day action film, but it ain’t no First Blood.
My Grade: C
Eh…..can we just skip Rambo: First Blood Part II and keep watching First Blood on repeat? Okay, maybe this action-packed sequel is not the most awful movie out there, but the 1985 flick is definitely subpar when compared to the first film. The first film was an excellent character study about a Vietnam veteran prone to violence. This film, while exploring some interesting ideas, turns into the run-of-the-mill action flick. The “returning to Vietnam” plot has been done to death by this point, so I did lose interest. Funny enough, this film was a major hit. Major enough to keep the story of John Rambo going into current day.
The screenplay was written by Sylvester Stallone…and James Cameron. Yup, you read that right. The James Cameron that introduced himself with a bang in 1984’s The Terminator. This was an eclectic pairing, and it definitely shows. Cameron has seen better days with screenwriting. According to Stallone, his draft included a sidekick for Rambo and inserted more politics. Stallone had to give the screenplay a more neutral stance given who the character of John Rambo is. Regardless, the screenplay is pretty mediocre.
After John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) instigated a guerrilla war in First Blood and was sent to prison, his former commander, Trautman (Richard Crenna) releases him for a new mission. His new mission takes him back to the jungles of Vietnam, where he swore he would never lay a foot there again. His mission is to find where captured American POW’s are being held. Of course, Rambo is double-crossed. Now he has to figure out how to leave the Vietnamese jungles alive before he is taken by his own country or the Soviets.
Sylvester Stallone is not the best actor out there, but he is good at creating memorable characters. He did that with Rocky and he did that with First Blood. He made John Rambo an interesting character study suffering from PTSD. But here he sheds that personality to take on a role more in line with a normal action hero…and that was pretty disappointing. He did have some good lines of dialogue-especially towards the end, but I was pretty disappointed with his performance, which was only made more wooden from the script. Richard Crenna continued to be solid as Trautman as his role was magnified this film. Charles Napier played Murdock, the big boss of the mission. He also did solid given the material he was given.
I did not hate First Blood: Part II. I was just disappointed that the film was turned into a violent, standard action film. I was likewise disappointed with Jerry Goldsmith’s score. His “Rambo” theme was nonexistent and focused more on electronic music. The end credit’s song, sung by Frank Stallone, was meh. Despite everything, the action is still done well. Some of the action is brutal and well-choreographed. Maybe this is a good rainy-day action film, but it ain’t no First Blood.
My Grade: C
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