When it comes to 80’s action look no further than Sylvester Stallone! He portrayed two of the most iconic characters of all time: Rocky and John Rambo. Time has been kind to us and given us 5 Rambo films to enjoy, so let’s watch them all again and rank them from worst to best!
#5: Rambo: Last Blood (2019)
Score:
4
11 years after Rambo IV, the world was given another Rambo sequel and fans held out hope that Stallone would deliver a fitting final send-off for our Vietnam vet.
Once again, the premise actually shows promise and is not just a re-tread of what came before. This time Rambo must take on some human-traffickers as he seeks revenge for his niece. As far as bad guys go, these ones are definitely the worst of the worst and particularly relevant to our times. Although, this entry did stir up some controversy as quite a few critics declared it to be racist. Whatever your stance on that is, let’s focus on the question: does Last Blood turn out to be a good action movie? Not really.
Much like Part IV, the gore and violence is so over-the-top that it detracts from the viewing experience for me. Granted, I am squeamish when it comes to human insides becoming outsides and prefer my action movies to feel like adventures and not like horror movies. Even if you like the gore, this is not a particularly good movie and it finds its way to the bottom of our list.
#4: Rambo (2008)
Score:
4.5
After a 20 year hiatus, Sylvester Stallone returns to direct a brand new sequel which finds our hero helping some Americans get in and out of war-torn Burma. I have to say, Rambo is looking pretty beat down and comes across as depressed and pudgy in this one. However, I like the beginning of this movie quite a bit and having just watched the third installment a few days ago, this one actually feels like an improvement in terms of quality and storytelling (for a little while).
Then it gets dark and extremely gory. We are talking horror movie, over-the-top kind of violence. For me, these films are about Rambo kicking butt and overcoming evil in creative ways. Rambo 4 seems to think we are only showing up for the blood and guts. The top priority of the second half of this sequel is to tear people apart.
While in many ways it is a superior film to part 3, I still like the 80’s vibe more so I’m scoring this one just a hair under Part 3.
#3: Rambo III (1988)
Score:
5
The third Rambo film has a decent premise – this time instead of POWs in Vietnam, Rambo has to save Colonel Trautman from some Russian bad guys. It’s as good a reason as any to get our reluctant hero back into the fray.
This sequel doesn’t quite deliver like Part 2 did for me, and rather than take itself seriously and give us new twists and turns in the action, it leans more toward cheesiness. It feels like recycled leftovers. However, this one does give us my favorite line in all of the films: “I’m your worst nightmare”.
I read somewhere that the director said it was hard to take this movie seriously, and I think that lack of belief in what he was doing translates onto the screen. Stallone is still awesome though and there are some memorable moments. I have to say that even though certain elements of parts 4 and 5 may be better than Rambo III, I am still more likely to rewatch this one just because I am a child of the 80’s and it calls to me like a whisper on the wind.
So, when it comes to favorite Rambo films, Part 3 comes in at number three!
#2: First Blood (1982)
Score:
8
The first installment of the Rambo series is actually the best movie… in certain terms. It’s the most grounded, most human and it has something on its mind other than violence and action.
However, this list is about our favorite Rambo movies and so it falls just short of the top spot. In this film Vietnam war veteran John Rambo gets harassed by a local sheriff and breaks himself out of jail. He flees into the neighboring woods and a large scale manhunt ensues. Using his training and survival skills, Rambo kicks everyone’s butt and eventually finds his way back into town, where he starts burning it to the ground.
First and foremost First Blood is a drama about a soldier suffering from PTSD and it carries quite an impact all the way through to the end when Rambo has an emotional breakdown and surrenders to the police. This is one of Stallone’s best performances and a movie that has stood the test of time.
#1: Rambo: First Blood Part 2 (1985)
Score:
9.5
I can watch Rambo 2 over and over, at any time and on any day and love it just as much as I did in 1985 (which was a great year for movies). Maybe that says something about my lack of development, or maybe it just says how awesome this movie is!
Rambo: First Blood Part 2 sends John Rambo back into Vietnam to look for POWs, but it turns out the people in charge of the mission never really wanted him to find any. So, he gets left behind with the POWs and must to fight his way out, rescue all the prisoners, and kill all the bad guys.
James Cameron is credited with the screenplay on this one (with Stallone having some input on it as well) and it feels like a James Cameron sequel all the way. In the same way that Aliens took what was great about Alien and then cranked it up to 11, Rambo 2 turns our hero into an unstoppable guerrilla warrior with all kinds of new tricks up his sleeve.
Hiding in the mud and using explosive tipped arrows, plus flying a helicopter and shooting a machine gun with one arm so much that it starts to fall apart! Julia Nickson is fantastic in this movie as well and she captured my heart as a young boy. It’s still like a kick in the gut when she meets her untimely demise.
When it comes to great sequels and action movies, Rambo: First Blood Part 2 always comes to mind and ranks at the top of my list for favorite Rambo movies of all time!