Cheap Rambo - First Blood Part II (Special Edition) (DVD) (Sylvester Stallone) (George P. Cosmatos) Price

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Customer Reviews of Rambo - First Blood Part II (Special Edition)

1/6 of the movie is pretty entertaining.
When people think of Rambo and all that he represents, they're actually thinking of First Blood Part II (and Rambo III), replaced by a more escapist-oriented tone and approach. Virtually absent from this film is the "realism" of the first picture. Through and through, Rambo is nothing more than a full-blooded action film and because it's more forthcoming with its modest aspirations, it makes for better and more consistent entertainment than its predecessor. That still doesn't say much.

After the events of the first film, John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) is still serving time in a prison, but is given the opportunity for a pardon of all wrongdoings if he participates in a top-secret operation. Informed of the plan briefly after his release, he will parachute into Vietnam to search for evidence of American POWs in a specific prison camp. He's not to engage in combat, only to take photos. Teamed up with Co Bao (Julia Nickson), a Vietnamese freedom fighter, he sets out to free all the prisoners, even against the orders of his superiors.

Anyone looking for entertainment value based on plot and characters will be sorely disappointed. Both aspects are where the movie's flaws lie. Generally, the story just isn't that interesting, usually serving to drag the picture down rather than giving it a boost in between the action scenes. Stallone still makes for an effective Rambo, this time elevating his character to genuine action hero status. The human qualities he displayed in the first film are still evident, mixing in nicely with his outlandish heroics.

But it's virtually everyone else who's subpar. As the love interest, Julia Nickson was chosen for her appearance (and yes, she's very beautiful), but this isn't a role that does her any favors. Not only is the actress obviously half-caucasian, to give her the flavor of a Vietnamese woman, she speaks broken English, meaning she says lines like "You not expendable," basically leaving a word or two out of each sentence. But her pronunciation of each word is so precise and without a hint of an accent, it's so obvious she's actually fluent in English. Why didn't the filmmakers just let her play her character as such?

Aside from Richard Crenna, all the supporting players, whether on the American, Vietnamese, or Russian side, are all one-dimensional caricatures. As service to a mindless action film, that's not necessarily a bad thing, but knowing where all the characters stand from their very first appearance (even the so-called traitors are easy to point out) makes for less interesting viewing.

When the action is on-screen, FBII is sometimes a good slice of thrilling escapism. The first hour is completely dull, none of the shootouts or fights are directed with much flair or energy, but the last fifteen minutes are actually a pretty jolly good time, with Rambo taking on both the Russian and Vietnamese armies. Standout action scenes include the fight aboard the Russian chopper, the destruction of the prison camp, and the climactic helicopter chase, one of the series' most exhilarating action setpieces (nice to see the movie end on a very high note). The film is nicely backed by Jerry Goldsmith's rousing score, one of the famed composer's best works.

Released the same year as that other one-man army flick, Arnold Scwarzenegger's Commando, FBII is superior in many ways. The action choreography is slicker and arguably on a larger scale, the cinematography and direction is overall crisper, and Goldsmith's score is far more effective than James Horner's. But in the end, Commando is the far more entertaining picture because it maintains a fast pace and a great sense of macho fun from the first minute to the last. That, and a good sense of humor, is what elevates that film to the top of its kind.

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Return to 'Nam.
FIRST BLOOD was a great movie. It was full of not only action, but also suspense; it had great characterization; and Sly Stalone actually did a fairly decent job of acting. John Rambo, though he was an extra tough hero, was a character that seemed real and one that many people could identify with.

In RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD II, John Rambo is back. The movie begins with Rambo working in a prison when he's visited by his former commander, Col. Trautman (Richard Crenna). Trautman offers Rambo a chance out of prison with a special assignment that will almost guarantee him a Presidential pardon. The U.S. government is eager to put the fiasco of Vietnam behind and wants to send Rambo into an old Vietcong prison base, which he once escaped from, to take pictures proving once and for all that there are no American POW's left in Vietnam. Along the way, Rambo looses his camera, but brings back even better proof: a live POW. Unfortunately at the sight of the POW, the beaucrat in charge orders the pickup to abandon Rambo and company. Big mistake.

RAMBO lacks much of the emotional depth that made FIRST BLOOD so enduring. In FIRST BLOOD, John Rambo was a real person. In RAMBO, he has become a one man army, straight off the pages of a comic book. The movie is also full of discrepancies, plot holes, and blunders. Nevertheless, RAMBO remains a classic action flick. Most of the action films of the 1980s and early 1990s were patterned off of RAMBO. It's a fun movie to watch and it's great to see a non-politically correct American action hero kicking the tar out of some evil Communists.

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"Rambo" DVD Review
Where "First Blood" was a low-budget sleeper hit about a Vietnam vet still caught up in the nightmare, "Rambo" is a much larger and more elaborate fireworks display of an action film. Stallone's John Rambo is offered a potential pardon if he returns to Vietnam and brings back proof that there are still American soliders being held captive there. While there, he starts a one-man war against the sadistic Vietnamese soldiers and their Russian counterparts (led by everyone's favorite villian Steven Berkoff). "Rambo" is in may ways a marketable action vehicle for Stallone using patriotism as a good excuse to use every weapon imaginable to blow up everyone and everything in sight. While it does try to provide a message about the war and its importance, it is rather difficult to take this loud over-the-top live action toy commercial seriously as a "message movie". As a fun piece of adrenaline-filled action, it does however do its job.