This movie definitely ruined the character of Rambo

No, not like Rambo of the second film. More like Rambo in Cameron's script of the second script.

TITLE SEQUENCE

EXT. V.A. HOSPITAL - DAY

A drab GREEN SEDAN with U.S. ARMY printed on the door stops at the steps of a fortress-like colonial-style building.
Iron bars cover the windows.
The lawn sprinklers snap mindlessly to themselves.
A CRT-style printout appears at the bottom of FRAME:

D-MINUS 117 HRS
FAYETTEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA

ANGLE ON SEDAN

as the doors open and TWO POWERFUL MPs, one of whom was driving, emerge. The other opens the rear door for COLONEL SAMUEL TRAUTMAN who stands, eyeing the imposing facade of the hospital.
Trautman is in his early fifties and wears the mantle of command sternly but without arrogance.

He takes the stairs with purposeful strides, the MPs falling in behind him.

HOLD ON THE SIGN above the main door as they go inside:

VETERANS ADMINISTRATION HOSPITAL


INT. HOSPITAL

A gray metal door bearing the sign "NEUROPSYCHIATRIC WING" bangs open and a massive ORDERLY in white passes through.
He is followed by the two MPs, Trautman, and a SHORT DOCTOR who hustles to keep up with the others.

LOW ANGLE DOLLY PRECEDING the entourage as they stride forward.
The MPs are grim-faced and walk in step.

Trautman and a doctor SINGLETERRY silently walk through the corridor.

They pass the open day-room where somnambulistic patients sit like statuary watching "The Young and the Restless" or watching the wallpaper fade.
Bleak light from an overcast day filters through the barred window.

The vets seem older than their years and although some show the physical scars of combat, there is no doubt that the greatest trauma for these men is behind the eyes.

As they pass the open doors of the rooms of the "chronic ward", haunted eyes turn toward them.

As they approach the nurse's station for the "chronic ward" the orderly nods.
The HEAD NURSE turns to her console.

INSERT - AS NURSE'S HAND

hits a button on the console.

TIGHT ON SECURITY DOOR

as a solenoid-operated bolt snaps back with a loud BUZZ CLACK.
The orderly's good hand shoves the door open.

INT. "VIOLENT" WARD

The entourage enters a long narrow corridor lined with locked doors.

POV DOLLYING ALONG CORRIDOR

Occasionally faces appear at the safety-glass windows set in the doors. Men whose souls have fled. Their eyes track us as we move past.

An emaciated MAN in an untied hospital smock and bare feet stands as if lost in the center of the corridor.

REVERSE ON GROUP

DOLLYING as they detour around the man, whose clawlike hand catches at Trautman's tunic.
A hoarse, demented SHOUTING issues from one of the doors, a desperate WAILING from another.


INT. STAIRWELL

CLOSE ON DOOR LATCH as keys RATTLE and the door opens.

WIDER as the group enters a dark service stairwell. The single fluorescent light flickers stroboscopically, a pulsing twilight.

LEWIS
*beep* Maintenance never gets down here.

They descend two flights to a door of steel bars on a sliding track.

The MPs flank Lewis as he unlocks the door.

SINGLETERRY
So what am I supposed to do? Can't transfer him to Leavenworth. He's civilian. So I put him in an isolation cell that hasn't been used since the Spanish Inquisition.

TIGHT ON BARRED DOOR

rolling aside on metal tracks. CLANG.


INT. CORRIDOR

This area of the hospital's basement has been used for little but storage in recent years.
Stacks of obsolete equipment gathers dust, leaving only a narrow walkspace.

The steel doors of the isolation cells yawn open, except for the last one.

TRAUTMAN
Maybe you should have tried cutting him some slack.

Lewis opens a cabinet near the single locked cell and removes a SMALL RIFLE. He feeds a SYRINGE-LIKE SHELL into the single-shot bolt action.

TRAUTMAN
(continuing)
What's that?

SINGLETERRY
Tranquilizer syrette gun. Borrowed it from the Animal Control Department.

Trautman pushes the barrel aside with a contemptuous snort and steps up to the cell door.

TRAUTMAN
Gimme a break.
(nods toward door)
Open it.

The two MPs flank the door. One pulls on the latching lever. Bolts slide. The door swings open, revealing blackness.

LEWIS
(muttering)
Thinks he's the *beep* Prince of Darkness.

One MP tries the switch beside the cell, flicking it several times. Nothing.

He glances apprehensively at the other MP and they step into the dark cell.


INT. CELL

TIGHT ON A HAND, dimly outlined, as it twists a light bulb a half-turn in its socket.

In the sudden light the MPs face an imposing figure.

JOHN RAMBO, wearing only a pair of filthy jeans, stands "ready" before them. The single light bulb on the low ceiling sends glistening highlights over his taught body.
A nasty piece of machinery.

Long, matted hair coils onto his shoulders, and an unkempt beard heightens the cheekbones beneath eyes which are deep, reptilian. Intense.

His position, though not overtly threatening, suggests a willingness to strike without warning which gives the M.P.'s pause.

Trautman steps forward between the MPs.

TRAUTMAN
At ease, Rambo.

Can't believe somebody actually ties in Fox News with a Rambo movie. Fox wasn't even around back then and liking action movies isn't limited to "patriotic" types. That's like saying only medical students enjoy House or ER. Or Die Hard appeals mainly to cops.

Rambo is simply part of the 80s action figure genre, like Arnold, Chuck Norris, Jean Claude Van Damme, Steven Seagal, etc.

I don't particularly disagree with you. This is a notion about Rambo II that I have read about a lot. But, to me, like the poster above said, this one just expanded on his character as an Green Beret; Rambo was back in his element, the very environment that made him the tough, if emotionally broken, soldier that he was. At the end of First Blood, Col. Trautman tell him that the mission is over, so as to appeal to the soldier inside Rambo, and for him to listen to his commanding officer. In First Blood he was a wounded, broken soldier; I don't think that changed in the second film. This time, he is on a mission, and all his skills and resourcefulness are on display. I think that his conversation with Co on the boat clarified to me that he is not just a killing machine, but a soldier who wants to serve and help. He really can't turn it off.


To me, (and this is something I have written about in other threads) one of the biggest flaws in this film and Rambo III is Rambo's over sexualized appearance. In First Blood, his nakedness was justified. It was dehumanizing. I liked how he neutralized the soldiers in the forest and the how he destroyed the enemy base once he got control of the chopper. As an action film, it really delivered on Col. Trautman's comments about Rambo's focus resilience and overall badassery.

I agree. It's a drastically different take than the first film.

Like many, I was introduced to Rambo through this film and Rambo III. I knew him only as this right-wing killing machine who goes back and retroactively wins Vietnam.

I remember when I was fifteen someone mentioned the movie First Blood. I hadn't realized there was a film before Rambo (I only saw it on TNT and didn't notice the "First Blood II" subtitle). He told me the plot and I thought that film sounded pretty awesome

Later I managed to track First Blood down and was surprised how much of a better film it was. Yeah, the dialogue is corny and some parts are stupidly macho but the core of the movie is very smart. We get this PTSD ridden vet who's become an outcast from society and finally snaps after he's subjected to police brutality. Politically, it was smart in that it was a much more even-handed film. We see how both sides of the political spectrum have thrown vets under the bus and we really get to see how damaged this guy is. I especially like his breakdown near the end when he says, "I used to drive tanks. I was responsible for millions of dollars of equipment. Now I can't even hold a job parking cars." The whole movie becomes this cool metaphor for how we create the hell of war, make other people fight it, and then abandon them when their done. Finally, one guy brings the hell of war back with him. I also think the film was smart by avoiding un-needed death and gore. I know it's partially because a US audience would never accept the "hero" killing a bunch of cops, but the movie does a good job of making Rambo feel both crazy and still appealing. Essentially, it was an 80s action movie that one didn't have to be brain dead or a hard-core right-winger to enjoy. The bottom line is that War is hell and the movie may make Rambo a bad-ass but it never glorifies the death or violence (Trautman even scolds him at the end and says, "you did everything you could to make this private war happen!") The point of the movie seems to be that you can't put people into the hell of war and expect them to just snap back to normal (which is why when Trautment says, "It's over" Rambo responds, "Nothing is over! You can't just turn it off.")

Contrast that to Rambo: FBII which does everything it can to glorify war. Now Rambo gets to go back to Vietnam and, as he puts it, "win this time." It's just an excuse for pro-War people to have a fantasy where we can go back and win Vietnam. Also, Rambo's PTSD has now been miraculously cured so he's just macho hero. His actions though aren't exactly heroic. He gets to the camp and starts murdering the guards and sentries before they've done anything. I think he's justified in killing them when they're trying to kill him or maybe even AFTER he's verified that they're holding POWs but he kills a bunch who are just patrolling the area and, at that point in the film, he's been told by his contact (the Vietnamese lady who's name escapes me), that the camp is empty. That just seems to be...well...murder. Besides, the sentry guards (like the ones who man the watch tower) are really just doing their jobs. They've been told to guard prisoners and they're following orders. In fact, apparently they're only holding them because Murdock went back on the deal to pay war reparations. Despite all this, Rambo is happy to kill the Asians without provication yet he let's Murdock and the rest of his thugs off with a stern talking to even though they're really the ones who are most at fault and have most blood on their hands. Apparently Americans can be as evil as they want and still go free but Asians (or Communists) deserve to die for just shining a spot light.