Rambo III (1988)

Director:

Peter MacDonald

Writers (WGA):

David Morrell (characters)
Sylvester Stallone (written by) ...

Release Date:

25 May 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

Tagline:

God would have mercy John Rambo won't!

Plot:

Rambo's Vietnam commanding officer Colonel Trautman is held hostage in Afghanistan, and its up to Rambo to rescue him.

Plot Keywords:

Rambo | Colonel | Rescue | Afghanistan | Soviet

Awards:

2 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Sylvester Stallone	...	Rambo
Richard Crenna	...	Trautman
Marc de Jonge	...	Zaysen
Kurtwood Smith	...	Griggs
Spiros Focás	...	Masoud (as Spiros Focas)
Sasson Gabai	...	Mousa
Doudi Shoua	...	Hamid
Randy Raney	...	Kourov
Marcus Gilbert	...	Tomask
Alon Abutbul	...	Nissem
Mahmoud Assadollahi	...	Rahim
Joseph Shiloach	...	Khalid
Harold Diamond	...	Stick Fighter
Matti Seri	...	Gun Dealer
Hany Said El Deen	...	Gun Dealer

Also Known As:

Rambo 3 (International: English title) (alternative spelling)
Rambo: First Blood Part III (Malaysia: English title)

Runtime:

102 min | Finland:87 min (1988) (heavily cut) (VHS version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Russian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Italy:T | Iceland:16 | West Germany:18 (video release) (cut) | Germany:Not Rated (SPIO/JK) (DVD release) | Finland:K-16 (1998) (uncut) (video) | UK:18 (uncut) (2001) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A | South Korea:15 | Finland:K-16 (video rating) (1988) (heavily cut) | Finland:K-18 (theatrical rating) (1988) (uncut) | Malaysia:18PL | Brazil:14 | Netherlands:16 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | France:U | Norway:18 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:18 (cut) | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Bangkok, Thailand

Company:

Carolco Pictures

Trivia:

The other helicopter disguised as a Russian gunship was really an Aerospatiale/Eurocopter SA 341/2 Gazelle (also modified as the title helicopter in the movie Blue Thunder (1983)), of British/French design. The four fighter aircraft seen at a distance in the beginning are French-built Mirage-IIIs of the Pakistani Air Force.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the scene in the cave where Rambo is pushing out the remainder of the explosive arrow from his side after being wounded by one of the Russian Soldiers, you can clearly see the square fake patch of wounded bloody skin covering his real skin when he pulls out the remainder of the explosive arrow.

Quotes:

Masoud, Afghan Mujahedeen Leader: Now you see how it is here. Somewhere in the war there's supposed to be honor. Where's the honor here? Where? Now, we're taking the survivors to the border. Are you coming?
Rambo: I'm going to the fort.
Masoud, Afghan Mujahedeen Leader: Have you not seen enough death? Go! Go while you can! This isn't your war.
Rambo: It is now.
Masoud, Afghan Mujahedeen Leader: So be it. You're a good friend.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Jake's Booty Call (2003)

Soundtrack:

THE BRIDGE

Better Than The Second But Very Uneven

Believe me RAMBO FIRST BLOOD PART 2 took some swallowing but the opening ten minutes of RAMBO 3 caused me to fall out of my chair in shock . John Rambo does prize fighting to earn his keep in a Buddhist commune ! I mean that`s a bit like having a film where the hero`s an environmentalist who goes around blowing oil rigs to save the Alaskan wilderness . Oh wait a minute didn`t Steven Seagal ....

Despite this incredible and vain attempt at character development there follows much dialogue that accurately reflects what is going on in Afghanistan in the mid 1980s . The Soviet - Afghan war actually intensified when Mikhail Gorbachev came to power and by that time over one million Afghans had died in the conflict while as many as five million had been forced over the border into Iran and Pakistan as what analysts at the time called " Migratory genocide " , a euphemism that people nowadays would describe as " Ethnic cleansing " . There`s other parts of the film that points out that screenwriter Sheldon Lettich has done his homework on the conflict with factual things like Soviet conscripts defecting to the Mujahedeen , of the red army planting mines and booby traps disguised as toys to blow off the limbs of children and of the Soviets use of chemical weapons which almost certainly proves that the sloppy script of FIRST BLOOD PART 2 was mainly down to James Cameron than Stallone , but as you`d expect in this type of action adventure movie the script rapidly degenerates into a series of set pieces of an all American superman blowing up a bunch of nasty commies who can`t shoot straight . Ah well at least the main commie isn`t played by a British actor unlike in the last film . Oh and congratulations to Peter McDonald for at least trying to make a Puma helicopter look like a Soviet helicopter gunship . The previous director was under the impression that the Soviets and Viet Cong use American Hueys

Setting the record straight : A lot of people prove how ignorant they are of the Soviet - Afghan war by confusing the Mujahedeen with the Taliban . The Mujahedeen ( Translated " The soldiers of God " ) and the Taliban ( Translated " The students of God " ) are entirely seperate things . The Taliban were created in Pakistan in the early 1990s , took over Afghanistan in 1995 and were led by Mullah Omar . The Mujahedeen were split into several different groups and were led by different leaders ( None of them called Bin Laden ) most of them forming a coalition against the Taliban called the Northern Alliance in 1995/96 . Their overall leader was the legendary guerilla leader Ahmad Shah Massoud who was murdered in a suicide bombing by Al Qai`da terrorists in September 2001 . It was the Northern Alliance who fought side by side with the Western coalition during their campaign to overthrow the Taliban government in 2001 to the present day