Preparing For War: Revisiting ‘Rambo: First Blood Part II’

On September 19th, Sylvester Stallone returns to the big-screen as tortured Vietnam War Veteran John Rambo in the final installment, Rambo: Last Blood. To mark the occasion, we’ll be taking a look back at the franchise as a whole, looking at the fascinating 37-year history of one of Stallone’s most iconic characters. Heading into action this week: Rambo: First Blood Part II.

As I’m sure many Rambo fans are aware, John J. Rambo was meant to die. In the original novel, and indeed in the initial ending to First Blood, Rambo was put to death by his mentor Colonel Trautman (the scene can be found easily on YouTube). After that tested badly with audiences, the new more hopeful conclusion for the Vietnam Vet was added on to the end, a conclusion which also held the potential for further adventures with the one man army that is Rambo.

In 1985, that sequel arrived with Rambo: First Blood Part II (and so also began the journey of the weird title formats for this franchise). This time, Rambo is offered a presidential pardon for his crimes in the first film when Trautman comes to him with a recon mission to survey a camp in Vietnam that may still be holding American POWs. Rambo soon finds himself in the middle of a fight bigger than he anticipated, with Soviet meddling and bureaucratic callousness leading him once again down a path of war and violence.

First Blood Part II definitely represents more of what people probably presume a Rambo movie to be like than First Blood does. With more quips from Trautman, even the odd one from Rambo himself, and a focus on more shooting, destruction with big guns and helicopters, this is the kind of gung-ho one-man-army movie that came to propel Stallone and his 80’s action movie classmates to superstardom (First Blood Part II is still the most successful film of the franchise by some margin).

Related: New official poster for Rambo: Last Blood

There is a sense that the character of Rambo has been repackaged to represent something more in line with the public feeling of the time, and particularly with that of Ronald Reagan’s foreign policy, as well as Stallone’s own star-image. It is Vietnam-rematch fantasy, very much established with the opening exchange between Rambo and Trautman (‘Do we get to win this time?), and one that ropes in those dastardly Soviets into the picture as the puppet masters of the conflict. It’s the 80’s, man.

This is more Stallone operating as a movie star in both his roles as lead actor and screenwriter, playing to the feeling of the time in order to connect with as broad an audience as possible (Rocky IV follows a similar mindset). As a result, this is a more over-the-top, Saturday morning cartoon of an action movie that lacks a lot of First Blood’s pathos in favour of portraying Rambo as more of a put upon hero than a man warped by rage and trauma.

That’s not to say First Blood Part II is a bad movie, it’s just a very different one to its predecessor. The enjoyment of Part II comes from reveling in its 80’s action set pieces that go for broke, with a playfulness to the combat shot with a sweaty humidity that feels palpable (this film was shot by Jack Cardiff, the cinematographer behind The Red Shoes and The African Queen among many more classics). It is also the film which truly begins to establish the myth-making of Rambo as an on-screen hero, the guy who’s just trying to do the right thing and only taking out the baddest of the bad. It is also noticeably more obsessed with Stallone’s movie-star physique than the original had any concern with.

There is also still a strong vein of anti-authority running through it, with Charles Napier’s bureaucrat Murdock coming to represent more of an antagonist for Rambo throughout the film. Rambo is essentially seen as an asset and little more by Murdoch, and to a lesser extent even by Trautman. The conflict between soldier and the one giving orders is what ties Part II to the thematic concerns of its predecessor in some way.

Rambo: First Blood Part II is arguably as equally interesting as its predecessor, if only because it’s interesting seeing the character forged more into a poster boy for American values of the 1980s. It swaps a lot brain for brawn, but there’s no denying the entertainment factor of hearing that Jerry Goldsmith theme kick in as a head-banded Rambo takes aim with his infamous bow and arrow (introduced in this flick) in the middle of a jungle. It is a film that is clear in its aim that it wants you to root for Rambo this time and not feel as conflicted about him, despite the fact that the body count is astronomically higher.

Next week, we’ll go deeper into the myth-making of Rambo as the Reagan poster boy of the 80’s with Afghanistan-set Rambo III. Until then, how will we live? Day by day, of course.