MEMORIES:
Mikey remembers...Although the first one will always be my favorite out of the bunch, Rambo III was pretty darn good. Sylvester ... More »
Posted on 02/08/08
PHOTOS:
CATCH PHRASE:
Bringing the franchise full circle, Rambo III cemented the legacy of John Rambo in the public mind as the butt-kicking badass of Rambo: First Blood Part II instead of the psychologically traumatized Viet Nam veteran from Rambo: First Blood. Ironically, the man who authored the novel on which First Blood was based (David Morrell) ended up writing the novelization of this beloved bastardization. Director Russell Mulcahy (Highlander) was replaced due to creative differences with camera operator Peter MacDonald, who subsequently found himself directing for the first time.
When Colonel Sam Trautman (Richard Crenna) is sent on a mission into Afghanistan to help the Mujahedeen rebels fight the invading Soviets, he seeks his old protege John Rambo for help. Having forsaken his warring ways for Buddhist isolation, Rambo refuses his old mentor’s plea. When Trautman’s mission turns disastrous, Rambo reluctantly takes up the torch, if for no other reason than to set fire to lots of explosives. With Soviet soldiers falling in swathes, Rambo and his Mujahedeen allies free Trautman only to discover that one final confrontation against overwhelming odds is inevitable.
Although domestic ticket sales came $10 million short of the production budget, Stallone’s international appeal made the movie a huge success with almost $190 million brought in from overseas. The 1990 Guinness Book of World Records would proclaim Rambo III the most violent movie of all time with one hundred and eight deaths stemming from over two hundred acts of violence. The franchise would experience greater ignominy after Michael Ryan announced that his famed killing spree was inspired by the Rambo films; the film was subsequently banned in Great Britain. Nevertheless, Rambo became a cult icon for excessive violence. Characters in other films often make references to the character (most notably the 1991 spoof Hot Shots Part Deux) and in American culture Rambo has come to be associated with a certain shoot-first gung-ho machismo. While out of active duty for almost twenty years, the rumor still floats around concerning a fourth film in the franchise, Rambo IV: In The Serpent’s Eye.
