Plot
Rambo's Vietnam commanding officer Colonel Trautman is held hostage in Afghanistan, and its up to Rambo to rescue him.
Release Year: 1988
Rating: 5.2/10 (42,960 voted)
Critic's Score: 36/100
Director:
Peter MacDonald
Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna, Marc de Jonge
Storyline John Rambo's former Vietnam superior, Colonel Samuel Trautman, has been assigned to lead a mission to help the Mujahedeen rebels who are fighting the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, but the Buddhist Rambo turns down Trautman's request that Rambo help out. When the mission goes belly up and Trautman is kidnapped and tortured by Russian Colonel Zaysen, Rambo launches a rescue effort and allies himself with the Mujahedeen rebels and gets their help in trying to rescue Trautman from Zaysen.
Writers: David Morrell, Sylvester Stallone
Cast: Sylvester Stallone
-
Rambo
Richard Crenna
-
Trautman
Marc de Jonge
-
Zaysen
Kurtwood Smith
-
Griggs
Spiros Focás
-
Masoud
(as Spiros Focas)
Sasson Gabai
-
Mousa
Doudi Shoua
-
Hamid
Randy Raney
-
Kourov
Marcus Gilbert
-
Tomask
Alon Aboutboul
-
Nissem
(as Alon Abutbul)
Mahmoud Assadollahi
-
Rahim
Joseph Shiloach
-
Khalid
(as Yosef Shiloah)
Harold Diamond
-
Stick Fighter
Matti Seri
-
Gun Dealer
(as Seri Mati)
Hany Said El Deen
-
Gun Dealer
Taglines:
The first was for himself. The second for his country. This time it's to save his friend.
Trivia:
In this movie, in keeping with proper, albeit subtle, continuity, we see Rambo's scars from
First Blood (the scar on his right arm, caused by the fall through the trees) and
Rambo: First Blood Part II (the small scar right above his left cheek, caused by the heated knife scraped by his eye).
Goofs:
Continuity:
In the scene where Rambo is asked to join the Afghanistan soldiers in the game where they use a sheep, at certain times during the game, the sheep looks like either a dead sheep, or a fake sheep with stuffing in it, as can be clearly seen when Rambo picks it up off the ground.
Quotes: Masoud, Afghan Mujahedeen Leader:
Now you see how it is here. Somewhere in the war there's supposed to be honor. Where's the honor here? Where? Now, we're taking the survivors to the border. Are you coming? Rambo:
I'm going to the fort. Masoud, Afghan Mujahedeen Leader:
Have you not seen enough death? Go! Go while you can! This isn't your war. Rambo:
It is now. Masoud, Afghan Mujahedeen Leader:
So be it. You're a good friend.
User Review
Better Than The Second But Very Uneven
Rating: 6/10
Believe me RAMBO FIRST BLOOD PART 2 took some swallowing but the opening ten
minutes of RAMBO 3 caused me to fall out of my chair in shock . John Rambo
does prize fighting to earn his keep in a Buddhist commune ! I mean that`s a
bit like having a film where the hero`s an environmentalist who goes around
blowing oil rigs to save the Alaskan wilderness . Oh wait a minute didn`t
Steven Seagal ....
Despite this incredible and vain attempt at character development there
follows much dialogue that accurately reflects what is going on in
Afghanistan in the mid 1980s . The Soviet - Afghan war actually intensified
when Mikhail Gorbachev came to power and by that time over one million
Afghans had died in the conflict while as many as five million had been
forced over the border into Iran and Pakistan as what analysts at the time
called " Migratory genocide " , a euphemism that people nowadays would
describe as " Ethnic cleansing " . There`s other parts of the film that
points out that screenwriter Sheldon Lettich has done his homework on the
conflict with factual things like Soviet conscripts defecting to the
Mujahedeen , of the red army planting mines and booby traps disguised as
toys to blow off the limbs of children and of the Soviets use of chemical
weapons which almost certainly proves that the sloppy script of FIRST BLOOD
PART 2 was mainly down to James Cameron than Stallone , but as you`d expect
in this type of action adventure movie the script rapidly degenerates into a
series of set pieces of an all American superman blowing up a bunch of nasty
commies who can`t shoot straight . Ah well at least the main commie isn`t
played by a British actor unlike in the last film . Oh and congratulations
to Peter McDonald for at least trying to make a Puma helicopter look like a
Soviet helicopter gunship . The previous director was under the impression
that the Soviets and Viet Cong use American Hueys
Setting the record straight : A lot of people prove how ignorant they are of
the Soviet - Afghan war by confusing the Mujahedeen with the Taliban . The
Mujahedeen ( Translated " The soldiers of God " ) and the Taliban (
Translated " The students of God " ) are entirely seperate things . The
Taliban were created in Pakistan in the early 1990s , took over Afghanistan
in 1995 and were led by Mullah Omar . The Mujahedeen were split into several
different groups and were led by different leaders ( None of them called Bin
Laden ) most of them forming a coalition against the Taliban called the
Northern Alliance in 1995/96 . Their overall leader was the legendary
guerilla leader Ahmad Shah Massoud who was murdered in a suicide bombing by
Al Qai`da terrorists in September 2001 . It was the Northern Alliance who
fought side by side with the Western coalition during their campaign to
overthrow the Taliban government in 2001 to the present day
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