Thursday, June 13, 2019

Road to Rambo V: Last Blood - Rambo: First Blood Part II Review



Rambo: First Blood Part II (aka Rambo II or First Blood II) is a 1985 action film and the sequel to 1982's First Blood as well as the second installment in the Rambo franchise. The movie's produced by Anabasis Investments N.V. and distributed by TriStar Pictures. Rambo: First Blood Part II was written by Sylvester Stallone and James Cameron and directed by George P. Cosmatos.





The story is John Rambo is doing jail time after the events of the first movie. That all changes when his former boss Col. Troutman offers him a deal. The deal being if he goes to Vietnam and find American prisoners and do it without getting involved his record will be expunged. Rambo accepts the mission however when the Vietnam soldiers find him it'll be time for Rambo to spring into action.








  • Negatives





Now despite how much I enjoy the film, I will admit it has flaws. For instance they completely scrap off the fact that Vietnam gave Rambo PTSD so why on Earth would he ever want to go back. Sure there is story reason but still.




My other problem with the movie is they set up this all anti-machine message...and it ultimately goes nowhere. I mean it's brought up then during the entire movie it's never talked about again. So they made it pointless by the end of the movie.








  • Mix




The true mix bag of the film is the cinematography. There are times when it's fine. It was done good and it left at that. Other times not so much. For some reason other scenes seem like the lighting was put on overdrive. It really stuck out when Rambo and Co are just talking put the lighting is just blurry and overly bright.








  • Positives




One of the best things about Rambo: First Blood Part II is it's action. Holy sh*t is the action awesome. This is clearly where some of the focus for the movie was on but hey I didn't mind. It really kicks off in the third act.




The other thing I liked which some critics just seem to ignore is the movie showcased another horror of war. That being how Rambo is suppose to take photos of POWs and then when it was true they were there and alive the higher-ups would make a cover up. Honestly it's a nice element to the movie that I wish some critics would realize about it instead of making something up like the movie was glorifying war.




The final thing I'll give the movie credit for is Stallone. Yes his acting in the first movie will also be superior but here I still say he gave a good performance.







Rambo: First Blood Part II is a pretty good sequel. It has spectacular action sequences, another horror of war, and Stallone's acting. The cinematography could have been better but was fine for the most part. The film's biggest problems were ignoring Rambo's PTSD and a anti-machine message that's never fleshed out.







My final rating is Okay









So that's going to do it for me. Come back on Monday, June 17th when we return to the Road to Terminator: Dark Fate with my review of the best Terminator film Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Until then enjoy the rest of your day.

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