MovieChat Forums > Rambo III (1988) Discussion > Why it bombed in the US

Why it bombed in the US

posted 14 years ago by Thadeeus
4 replies | jump to latest

I think that Rambo 3 wasn't as successful in the US,because it hasn't dealt with an American problem,unlike Rambo 2.The Americans don't care what goes on outside their own country.You could clearly see that from reading some of the reviews for R4.Even the critics couldn't care less,let alone the average movie goers.
What the the Americans don't seem to realize is,that Rambo is an international icon,known and loved all over the world.Rambo already became popular with the release of First Blood way back in 1982,which was just called Rambo in the rest of the world..And he grew way more popular with the sequel.
Rambo 2 was the most successful because of the patriotism,general political situation which was going on in America.The American audience was craving for a movie like Rambo 2.It was USA vs Russia.Just like Rocky 4,which also became a hit because of that reason.Even the producer of Rambo 2 said that if the movie came out 2 years earlier, it wouldn't be nearly as successful.

[–] speccyboy 13 years ago

That's a very good point. This movie was more successful in Europe than in the US, so it's not a complete loss. :)

[–] zeeboe82 13 years ago

Sly once said in an interview that in America, people talk to him more about Rocky then anything else, but in other parts of the world, more people come up to him and call him "Rambo" and talk to him about the Rambo movies. So yeah, I can agree with this post.

[–] TMC-4 11 years ago

Other theories that I've heard:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC1d0rAaloI

*It immediately dated very poorly because Rambo III came out by the end of the Communist era.

*By 1988, virtually everybody was dismissive of the Rambo franchise because of oversaturation (because of the video games, the first-run syndicated animated series, action figures, etc.) and the feeling that the John Rambo character and the films had become sort of a cliche (especially after the second movie).

[–] 11 years ago

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