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:

Director Peter MacDonald stated in the DVD commentary that for the scenes involving Rambo and Col. Trautman inside the Monks' Temple, the temple itself was a real temple in Thailand undergoing renovation at the time of filming. Also many of the Monk extras were in fact real Monks from that very temple who were paid to appear as extras for those scenes (along with additional extras who were merely dressed as Monks for the scene). MacDonald also went on to say how delighted he was to "give money to people who really needed as opposed to people who had too much of it".

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Rambo attaches a blue light to an arrow. He shoots a Spetnaz soldier it. Rambo remains lit blue for about a second after the arrow is shot. When the Spetnaz soldier is shot with the arrow, nothing is lit blue. After a second or two, the entire scene is lit up blue. It is obviously an external lighting source being used.

Quotes:

[after barely escaping the explosion of a fuel bomb dropped by a helicopter]
Colonel Trautman: That was close John. How are you?
Rambo: Well done.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Sentinel (2006)

Soundtrack:

IT IS OUR DESTINY

Ignore the idiotic critics

I don't really understand what the disappointment is all about? This movie falls under the genre of action and thats what it delivers from top to bottom. Were people perhaps expecting a drama? And people can also tell me how often do you get to see the Russians and spetsnaz special forces in realistic action? Sure they were vilified, mowed down easily by Rambo, mostly missed him but as the evil villains, they were highly effective in that role. Don't get me wrong, I've nothing but admiration for the Russian military. The main villain (Russian commander) was also a freaking brilliant actor. The movie did'nt use real Russian helicopter gunships, (they used French ones modified instead) but they were still effective. All in all, this is an utterly brilliant and unique film and I give it 10 stars. Best in the Rambo series.