Why America Needs Rambo Now More Than Ever

With John Rambo having already served two tours of duty in Vietnam —once in combat shown in flashbacks in First Blood and once to free POWs in Rambo II— the setting for 1988’s hyper-violent Rambo III remained in Asia, but shifted to the north and to the west to the rough terrain of Afghanistan. Despite this geographical move, we’re quick to learn that while you can take Rambo out of ‘Nam, but you can never take the ‘Nam out of Rambo.

Rambo III opens with a ripped (of course) Rambo living in Thailand. He’s retired now (from…Rambo’ing?), is stickfighting for money and living in a monastery. Is he good at stickfighting? (Of course.) After tightening his bandana (of course), Rambo defeats his opponent (of course). With crazed look on his face, Rambo seems close to killing his opponent but instead helps him up after the fight. He’s just that kind of guy (of course). Unbeknownst to him, his old friend Colonel Sam Trautman (Richard Crenna) and two other US military men are observing the fight and witnessing the crowd shout “Rambo! Rambo!” They go to see Rambo at his monastery, then proceed to fill him in on the horrors being perpetrated by the Soviets against the people of Afghanistan. Trautman is going in to help arm the Afghanis and wants Rambo to go with him. But his war, says Rambo with a faraway look in his eye, is over. Rambo walks away but Trautman follows and reminds Rambo that while the war out there is over, the war inside Rambo rages on.

No, really, he said that.

With the release of Rambo III on Netflix this month, it’s impossible not to wistfully revisit a simpler time and place, the America of the 1980s. It is a land before High Definition, before IMAX, where the many explosions of movies like Rambo look like they’re happening in a backyard somewhere … but the audience was still wowed by them. Sylvester Stallone has two expressions, determined and resigned, but really two is all he needs. Our enemies were obvious: the bad guys are Russian, always Russian —rarely played by Russians, though— and their attempts at the language always strike native Russian speakers like myself as similar to the time Joey tried to speak French on Friends.

Being Soviet-born and moving to America in the 1980s was complicated. My family were refugees to the United States. The official definition of “refugee” is that you’re forced to leave your country of origin. You’re not just an immigrant, someone in search of a better, maybe easier, life; a refugee is on the run from something, escaping, with no chance of return. There’s no mixed feelings for a refugee like me watching a movie like Rambo III and not just because the Russians are portrayed as comically evil and about to torture Col. Trautman with fire before Rambo busts in to save him. Russians were the enemy, in a very real way, even if the portrayal of them in movies can go a little overboard.

Rambo is the all-American hero. You root for him because, really, how could you NOT root for him? He’s the idealized version of bravery, his courage is endless. He’s a fighting machine but conflicted about it. Much, like Col. Trautman might point out with a knowing look, like America itself.

What’s wild about watching a movie like Rambo III, first released almost 30 years ago, is how little the situation of the world has changed. As I write this, there seems to be a genuine possibility for America to get into yet another proxy war with Russia — this time in Syria. It might be off-the-radar, like so many of the US-Soviet scuffles were, and if caught modern-day Rambo will have to be disavowed by the U.S government as usual. But here we are again, figuring out which “Poorly armed, poorly equipped Freedom Fighters” to support.

Stallone has been tossing around the idea of making a fifth Rambo film for years and is quoted as debating whether the movie should take place in the U.S or abroad. Rambo: Syria seems like an obvious choice.

The film is one of the most widely watched on Netflix, and easily one of the most violent. There are explosions every few minutes, multiple helicopter crashes, and constant gunfire. It’s not a great movie. The acting is questionable, the plot convoluted, and yet Rambo III remains immensely watchable. It could just be that Tina Turner was wrong and we do need another hero. We need John Rambo to help us all.

[Watch Rambo III on Netflix]

@Karol is a freelance writer in Brooklyn. She enjoys only about 5% of movies she sees but 100% of Love & Hip Hop episodes.