Rambo II

I watched Rambo II this week as well. Unlike popular perceptions of the film, it is not exactly an action film, but it is at heart a deeply political film (at least for Part 1 and 2, haven't watched Part 3). In Rambo I, the film portrays the US' abandonment of its Vietnam war veterans during the hippy movement period; Rambo made an iconic statement that during the war he drove tanks, but back home, he's not even fit to be hired as a car-washer (or is it a mechanic).

This time in Rambo II, Rambo's theme statement is that he hopes the country will love them as much as they love their country. In the show, Rambo is abandoned to the Vietcong just when he had rescued a US prisoner of war. An American civilian bureaucrat in charge of finding POWs ordered the aborting of the mission after Rambo unexpectedly rescues a POW despite being ordered just to take photographs of an apparently empty camp. After being tortured and a long fight, he singlehandedly rescues the rest of the POWs and flies back to the US base camp. During the show, he also found his love, who told him that he's not an "expendable" contrary to what he believes, but unfortunately she's killed seconds after revealing her feelings for Rambo.

The action in Rambo II is not as good as in part one; it's not as innovative or against-the-odds, but it's still alright. The political resonance is not so much there as well; Rambo demands that the US find the rest of the POWs even at risk of triggering another war with Vietnam. It probably would have much greater resonance for Americans last time, now POWs are mostly a non-issue.

Watching the Rambo films as an adult has really helped me see Sylvester Stallone in a different light. He is a different action hero, from say Arnold Schner(whatever) or Bruce Willis. This guy is a serious thinking guy. Ironically, it's Arnold who's become a governor. I'll be looking forward to seeing more of Stallone's films, Rambo III and the Rocky series.