Stylish but barely mediocre overall

Sadly Over-hyped

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Yours truly is a prototypic male specimen, meaning that I like: cold beers, beautiful women and 80s action flicks starring Sylvester Stallone! Perhaps together with the equally extreme "Cobra", "Rambo III" represents Sly's peak in terms of grotesque and excessively violent cinema, and therefore I'm simply loving it! "First Blood" was a very good film overall, "Rambo II" was a logical and almost textbook sequel, but "Rambo III" is just a completely derailed and over-the-top feast of firepower and explosions! No wonder it was once even included in the Guinness Book of World Records for contemporary being the most violent film ever made, since this film features a body count of literally hundreds of people and single-handedly gives a whole new meaning to terms like "Cannon Fodder" or "Collateral Damage". No matter how hard John Rambo tries to leave his military past behind, it always catches up with him. Once again, he initially refuses to be part of a top-secret mission, and yet once again he's mentally forced go in alone afterwards? when he learns that his friend and mentor Trautman is held captive by evil Russians. Although admittedly nobody could be blamed at the time of its release, "Rambo III" is quite ironic to watch nowadays. In 1988, during the last waves of the Cold War, the Russians were still the preferred choice as enemies, and in this particular case Rambo even allies with Afghan rebels against them. It's rather funny how the script depicts the Afghans as pitiable but courageous people who have been forced to fight wars ever since their existence, notably because the US invaded Afghanistan themselves two decades later! These days, you won't often encounter an American film that is dedicated to the "gallant people of Afghanistan" anymore.

The second edition of the First Blood series featured little more than mindless action, never- ending explosions, and a bevy of guns with unlimited ammunition, eschewing the gritty, psychological approach of the original. I was hoping that this third installment would harken back to what made that first one so memorable, but was only marginally better than Part II.For a basic plot summary, this time John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) finds himself in the middle of the Afghanistan/Soviet conflict after Colonel Trautman (Richard Crenna) is captured.Unfortunately, "Rambo III" takes the "Rambo as superhero" approach once again, focusing on the brawn and automatic gunfire instead of any deep or interesting political or psychological subject matter. There's a little bit more character development than the second effort, and the plot is a titch better as well (seeing as how it was based on a real-life conflict), but overall it once again disappoints.There's a reason why it took 20 years for Sly Stallone to return to this franchise after this film, and it's because this second lackadaisical effort in a row killed off interest in the franchise until the "reboot" years of recent filmmaking. It won't bore you as much as Part II, but it won't have you cheering like you did at Part One, either.

Last time we saw John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone), he had freed American P.O.W.s from a Viet Cong prison camp and shot down a whole regiment of the Soviet army with hardly any battle scars. Here, he's doing the same thing, except now he's rescuing his former superior, Colonel Trautman (Richard Crenna), and he's in Afghanistan. How did this happen? Well, after watching Rambo in a stick-fight in Thailand, Trautman and an agent played by Kurtwood Smith (Clarence Boddicker from Robocop) follow him to a Buddhist monastery with the hopes that he'll join Trautman on a mission to give Afghan rebels Stinger missiles to fight the Soviets. Rambo refuses, not wanting to give up a life of peace, and Trautman goes in without him and gets captured. Hearing this, Rambo just decides to go in and get him back without a shred of doubt.This is easily the most pointless entry in the Rambo series for a multitude of reasons. First off, the film plays up the idea that Rambo needs to "come full circle" and accept that he is a combat soldier at heart. Trautman tells him all he did was "chip away the rough edges." Whatever happened to "God didn't make Rambo. I made him?" Is Trautman a liar? Throughout the film, Rambo defends the Afghans from the Soviets and by the end...just goes back home and doesn't seem to have changed one bit. We don't get any indication that he has "come full circle," so that's just a bunch of BS.Also, I'm really getting sick of Trautman. For the past couple of movies, he's been telling everyone how good Rambo is at what he does. In the first film, he does so to warn Teasle and the state police about how dangerous he could be when they hunt him. In the second, he does it to tell Murdock how good he is for the mission, and to warn him not to mess with Rambo when Murdock reveals his true intentions. Here, it's just too much. Even the scene where he tries to get Rambo to come with him on the mission is frustrating. It sounds like he's just trying to come up with excuses to get Rambo fighting again. He might as well be one of those action-obsessed kids fat on popcorn who loves these kinds of films. Stallone also seems pretty bored except during the action scenes.Once again, Rambo shows almost no indication that he's a traumatized war veteran except in the stick-fight where he seems he might let his anger get the best of him. Shame it was just that one scene, but at least somebody working on the film remembered that aspect of Rambo's character. His being in Afghanistan however, is completely out of place for what his character is about. The essence of Rambo's character is tightly-knitted with the Vietnam War and the poor treatment of American soldiers who fought in that war. If Rambo's in Afghanistan, nothing can be done to bring that point across. Basically, this film just comes off as an excuse for Rambo to go off somewhere and shoot more Communists. The fact that Trautman has a line comparing the Soviet-Afghan War to Vietnam doesn't help matters.Some additional problems are that once again, the Communist villains are one-dimensional and they think that endlessly torturing their prisoners will make them more menacing. It doesn't work that way, guys. Sorry. Also, there's an annoying kid living with the Afghan rebels who's a soldier (I can hear the political outcries already), who always wants to fight with Rambo and does nothing to help, and yet, Rambo eventually gives him his good luck charm (see the previous movie to learn about that little subplot). He's more like one of those annoying kids from sci-fi B-movies who are only there to make things harder for the main protagonists. He almost gets himself and Rambo killed for that matter.The cinematography is still great and the action is still fun (even if you know that the film's going to do nothing to serve character and story in a movie like this, enjoying the action means you get something out of it), but those positives alone can't make a movie like this great. By now, the subtext, commentary, and seriousness of First Blood (first in this series) is non-existent and Rambo 3 is just sub-par action shoot 'em up with nothing to stick around for. Quite a fall from greatness, I must say.

Rambo III may not be the most popular in the Rambo series due to many people criticising the ordinary and derivative plot. Then again, apart from First Blood (1982) nobody is taking any of the Rambo movies seriously. First Blood (1982) saw a tormented John Rambo symbolically wage war on society following his mistreatment. Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) sees Rambo redeem himself saving the forgotten POW's left behind enemy lines in Vietnam. Rambo III sees Rambo back in action to save his friend. I thought Rambo III was enjoyable for it's quality action and Sylvester Stallone in his element.Rambo III starts off with John Rambo now living in Thailand helping out the locals build a Buddhist monastery while dabbling in stick fighting contests on the side. When his friend and former commander Colonel Sam Trautman (Richard Crenna) and Embassy official Robert Griggs (Kurtwood Smith) approach Rambo to join him to help the Mujahedeen rebels who are fighting the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Rambo declines, stating he is tired of fighting and wants to live the rest of his life in peace. Trautman reluctantly leaves and continues to proceed with the mission. The mission goes awry and Colonel Trautman is captured and taken prisoner by the brutal Soviet Colonel Zaysen (Marc de Jonge). Griggs later informs Rambo of Trautman's capture and upon hearing the news, Rambo launches a rescue operation to save Trautman with the rebels. When asked why Rambo is doing this, he simply replies "Cause he'd do it for me." Sylvester Stallone returns in his now famous role as John Rambo along with Richard Crenna as Colonel Sam Trautman. Kurtwood Smith, well known as his role as Clarence Boddicker in Robocop, has a small role as embassy official Robert Griggs but as a good guy. Marc de Jonge was a quality villain as Colonel Zaysen although he was rarely sighted in Hollywood but instead well known for his roles in France before his untimely death in 1996.The best way to enjoy Rambo III is to ignore the negative reviews and criticisms about its plot. It is what it is. Enjoy Rambo III for its explosive action and Sylvester Stallone in his titular role.7/10.