Rambo 3
You know, it almost makes me weep that this film set the record in 1988 for having the largest ever production budget at the time ($60 million), and yet the film that was actually produced turned out to be such an amateurish b-movie type piece of shit. A lot of this can probably be attributed to first-time(?) director Peter MacDonald for having no idea how to properly present and pace a film, including having a “carry the animal carcass” game that seems to go on forever. Of course, there is also the politics of the film given recent world events. The end credits even dedicate the film to the “gallant” people of Afghanistan so it’s ironic here to see Rambo teaming up with and befriending what would be the future Taliban, with once again the big bad Russians being the usual villains du jour. There are certainly a couple of bizarre bits of dialogue here (as when Trautman unfavorably compares the Russian war in Afghanistan with the U.S. war in Vietnam), and for some reason they go with the sad cliche of actually having Rambo get a little kid sidekick (who is said to “fight like a man” haha) who of course after getting shot in the leg and nearly bleeding to death insists to Rambo that he wants to “stay with him” for the final assault. It’s also strange that even though the film had a “record” number of violent acts, the killings are oddly rather bloodless and bland, with the goriest moment coming when Rambo removes a piece of shrapnel from his side and cauterizes the wound with gunpowder. Also on the up side is the fact that we finally see Crenna’s Trautman get a confirmed kill (not sure why this is cool). It would also have been nice if the lead Russian villain would at some point gotten out of his helicopter, but alas, it helps lead up to a VERY ridiculous game of chicken. In the end, perhaps Stallone’s worst movie, and maybe the worst action film of the 80s…
4/10