Rambo: First Blood part 2

release year: 1985
genre: action
viewing setting: home DVD, 4/16/02 (also home DVD, 2/7/99 and home laserdisc 6/11/97)

synopsis: War hero John Rambo is freed from prison to go back to Vietnam and look for POWs. When he finds some, the bureaucracy chickens out and won't let him rescue them. Guess what happens?

impressions: If this had been made in the 1990s, it'd be a Jerry Bruckheimer production. As is, it was still chock-full of good, evil, and most importantly, action. Fast-paced and violent, it's entertaining throughout. Unlike the original movie (which was more about the absolutely unfair treatment that returning soldiers got in the Vietnam era) this one is all about revenge and the righting of wrongs, and has more violence and explosions.

acting: Stallone did better in First Blood but he manages to do fine here. Richard Crenna and Charles Napier turn in good supporting roles.

final word: This may be the ultimate action movie, and was surely a template for many others made in the 1980s. This is one of the first, though, and undoubtedly one of the best.

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