Rambo III

Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna
Directed by: Peter MacDonald
Rating: R
Genre: Action, War
1988

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) reluctantly comes out of a self-imposed exile to travel to Afghanistan to rescue his best friend (Richard Crenna) from the Russians who have imprisoned him.

Review:

Tim: The conclusion to the trilogy ends on somewhat of a higher note, not reaching the level of the orginal, but at least redeeming somewhat the lackluster showing of the first sequel. However, it should be noted that this film is still closer in comparison to Rambo: First Blood Part II than the first film.

Sylvester Stallone returns to his now-familar character in decent fashion. He doesn't particularly do anything we haven't seen before, although this time, it is nice to see him interacting in combat with Richard Crenna (who amazingly has stuck around for all three films).

This movie does serve an important purpose- it helps us to realize how far away the two sequels are from the excellent original. This franchise, which started off so strongly, turned into just another action series lead by just another action hero.

The change of scenery is nice, having Rambo do his thing in the deserts of Afghanistan, rather than in the forrests or jungle that we have previously seen him in. This new terrain does offer some new opportunities, like Rambo fighting in caves, etc. The helicopter battles are particularly exciting, and there are some good action sequences, even if we feel like we've seen all this before.

I don't really know how to feel about this movie. I am thankful that it improved over the last one, but it also left a bad taste in my mouth about how great this franchise could have been. Even still, this trilogy has given us a great action hero in John Rambo, even if the films around him leave something to be desired. At least he doesn't have some ridiculous love interest in this one.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: First Blood, Rambo: First Blood Part II, Rocky