Rambo III 1988

"What is it." - "Blue light" - "And what does it do?" - "It turns blue"

At least in Germany this is one of the best known movie quotes that even people know who have never seen any of the movies in this movie series. After the excellent "First Blood" (10/10) and the rather disastrous sequel "Rambo - First Blood Part 2" (4/10), we get third installment "Rambo III", in which John Rambo has retired in Thailand, living peacefully among monks. However, when his former commander gets captured and his fate is left to him, Rambo decides to get active once more. He travels to Afghanistan and is aided by Afghan Mujahideen (i.e. people engaged in Jihad) who during the time of the cold war where of course supported by the U.S. army in their fight against the invading Russians under their communist regime.

Different to the last movie, this one is really good once again, even though in general there are a few parallels to the last movie: Rambo has to meet up with his contact, find a prison camp, sneak in, and get out the prisoner, which does not work right from the beginning, so he has to return, fight some more enemies until he can safe the prisoners. However, this time it's really captivating. The plot is sound, there aren't many plot holes, the action good, and not as overdone as in Part 2 - even though it's probably more. The enemy is interesting as well, and not as stupid as in the last movie. We also get some thrilling sneak and hide scenes, and a lot clever usages of blue light :D They are also hopelessly outnumbered, take some hits. Yet the body count is probably equally high as in the predecessor, and there are a number of rather innovative killing scenes that are really fun to watch.

Plus we also get some decent tag alongs that can actually pull their weight, have more personality and that actually have some chemistry with Rambo. So to me, while it cannot get near to the first movie in any way, it is still a solid, fun to watch and also fun to re-watch typical action movie that is captivating and never boring. Even though its a 102 minutes long time really passes by - something I could not say about the second installment that over long parts was boring and where I was often looking at the blu-ray counter to see how long it would still last.

And thankfully there wasn't yet another bad attempt to copy the ingenious monologue scene from the end of the first movie. Instead we get a text card just before the credits roll in:

"This film is dedicated to the gallant people of Afghanistan"

For today's standards this seems rather awkward, but keep remembering: It where other times back then.

From now on, the series gets really stupid. The introduction to this film in particular has been parodied dozens of times, and not without reason. John Rambo is no longer a character here, but a caricature. In the lead role, Sylvester Stallone also appears to be bored. In Tango & Cash, which was released a year later, he himself says, "Rambo is a pussy." And who knows, besides the weak financial results, there might be other reasons why the fourth one took way longer.

Anyway, at the beginning of Rambo III, our protagonist lives in a Thai monastery. He also keeps in shape by participating in stick fights. Stallone doesn't have an ounce of body fat here. He is shredded and looks like a machine. But the peaceful life doesn't stick. Rambo at first refuses a request from his former superior, Colonel Trautman, to accompany him on a mission to Afghanistan. But when Trautman is taken prisoner, that is it for Rambo's retirement.

The antagonists this time are the Russians, who still have control over Afghanistan. Rambo is supported by the mujahideen, who are presented as honorable and proud fighters for freedom. It should be clear to everyone that all of this has not aged well from today's perspective. However, I still find it fascinating to watch films like The Living Daylights or Rambo III that are set in Afghanistan in the 1980s.

In any case, the action starts in Afghanistan at some point, even if it takes quite a while. The tempo, however, is extremely slow. To make matters worse, the dialogue is all hollow and unintentionally funny. It's not all entertaining. The villains are even more faceless than in Part 2.

But now back to the positive: The action is convincing once again. At the time of its release, "Rambo III" was the most expensive film of all time, and it shows. In the finale, there are numerous bombastic explosions. Pyrotechnics are used again and again. In addition, masses of extras are employed. And the stuntmen probably had to work overtime. It's all of high quality and leaves you in the end with a good feeling from the finale of this original trilogy.