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"John Rambo" redirects here. For the 2008 film of the same name, see Rambo (film).

Rambo is a saga of popular action films starring Sylvester Stallone, based on the characters created by David Morrell in his novel First Blood. The films are: First Blood (1982), Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), and Rambo III (1988). A fourth film, simply entitled Rambo, will be released on January 25th, 2008. The films focus on a troubled Vietnam War veteran, John James Rambo, who is greatly skilled in all aspects of survival, weaponary, martial arts and guerrilla warfare.

In popular culture, the name has become an eponym for a tactic of military aggression or, alternatively, a person demonstrating heroism through extreme violence, especially when outnumbered.

Contents 1 Character 2 Animated series 3 Video games 4 Controversy 5 Music 6 Trivia 7 References 8 External links 9 See also

The fictional character of John Rambo was born on December 19, 1948 in Bowie, Arizona. Little is known of Rambo's childhood except he was born to a Native American (Navaho) mother and a father of German descent. He joined the United States Army on August 6, 1966, shortly after graduating from high school. Rambo was deployed to South Vietnam in September. He returned to the U.S. in 1967 and began training in the Special Forces (Green Berets) at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. In late 1969, Rambo was re-deployed to Vietnam. In November 1971, Rambo was captured by North Vietnamese forces near the Chinese-Vietnamese border. At the POW camp, Rambo was tortured along with other American POWs. Rambo escaped captivity in May 1972, but was then re-deployed. Rambo was discharged on September 17, 1973. Upon his return to the U.S., Rambo discovered that many American civilians hated the returning soldiers, and he himself was subject to humiliation and embarrassment by having antiwar hippies throw garbage at him and calling him "baby killer". His experiences in Vietnam resulted in an extreme case of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

During his Vietnam era service, Rambo was awarded the Vietnam Campaign Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, the Prisoner of War Medal, four Purple Hearts, four Bronze Stars (for Valor), two Silver Stars, the Distinguished Service Cross, and the Medal of Honor.

About eight years later, Rambo has difficulty adjusting to civilian life (presumably after losing a job in valet parking for unsatisfactory performance) and wanders the country as a drifter. He has traveled to Washington in search of an army buddy of his from the Special Forces, only to find, upon arrival in the town of Hope, that his friend, Delmore Barry, had died from cancer some time prior due to exposure to Agent Orange. The fact that he is scruffy and long-haired indicates he is not welcome in the town. Rambo disobeys the town's sheriff's order to stay away from Hope, believing such banishment to be a violation of his freedom of movement, and is promptly charged for vagrancy and subject to harassment from the deputies. The harassment triggers Rambo's awful memories of his mistreatment at the hands of the Vietnamese when he was a prisoner of war, and his mind regresses into thinking he is once again fighting in combat. Rambo fights his way out of the sheriff's department with his bare hands and makes his way into the wilderness. A manhunt ensues. The sheriff and his deputies are no match for Rambo in the forest where he uses the thick flora to his advantage, and it is not long before the Washington State Police and about 200 members of the Washington National Guard are called in to assist.

At this point, Colonel Samuel Trautman, Rambo's former commanding officer of his special forces unit, arrives in Hope. Trautman warns that continuing the manhunt is dangerous to the authorities, as Rambo is too experienced to be captured easily in the wilderness where he thrives. Instead, Trautman recommends giving Rambo time to return to his senses by allowing him to be by himself in the Pacific Northwest back country, after which he will presumably drift to Seattle and apply for a job at a car wash (like he did after returning home from Vietnam), at which point he could be arrested without incident. However, the authorities reject Trautman's recommendation and continue the manhunt, and Rambo's subsequent rampage culminates in the destruction of the sheriff's office and most the town's main street. In the town of Hope, Trautman finally confronts Rambo face to face, and ultimately convinces his former soldier to surrender to the authorities. In the afterstory of the timeline between the first and second films, Rambo is convicted at a court-martial and remanded to a military prison where heavy duty labor is the norm. Despite being a convict, the rigid routine and discipline of prison life provides Rambo with some stability, as it reminds him of his past in the military and its own rigid hierarchy.

In the second installment of the series, Rambo is tasked by Col. Trautman to return to Vietnam to search for American POWs remaining in Vietnamese captivity. Murdock, the one in charge of the mission, is portrayed as a corrupt military figure who does not want to expose the truth. Rambo is ordered to take photographs of a Vietnamese military base to prove to the American public there are no more POWs in Vietnam, although it is evident throughout the film that Murdock knows all along that there are. Rambo is sent to a part of the jungle where Murdock received confirmation that no POWs were being held at the time. However, it turns out that there is a POW camp where Rambo is dropped, because POWs are moved around from one location to another, and by sheer coincidence, were being held in the same location that Rambo was sent.

Rambo then acts on his own initiative and starts a one man rescue mission against all odds. After returning with POWs , Rambo becomes enraged at how the United States government has ignored the existence of surviving soldiers being held captive. For his actions in Vietnam, Rambo is granted a presidential pardon and remains in Thailand to reside.

The third film opens as Rambo is stick fighting as a way of raising funds for monks in Thailand. He has taken up residence near the monastery and also helps them renovate their buildings. He has become a peaceful person as he has blocked out his personal memories of the Vietnam War. He no longer wants anything to do with that as his time is over, his war is over. Trautman tries to convince Rambo but fails. After Rambo is notified that Trautman's squad is missing and presumed dead, Rambo leaves his peaceful life and once again embarks in a deadly quest to rescue a comrade. He travels to Afghanistan and reassembles his famous explosive throwing bow and begins a mission to save his only friend.

• Rambo: The Force of Freedom

• Rambo / Rambo II – based on Rambo II. Released for: Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Commodore 64, DOS, Master System, MSX, NES, and ZX Spectrum.

• Rambo III – Released for: Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Arcades, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, MSX, Master System, Sega Genesis, and ZX Spectrum.

• Rambo On Fire – Released for: Mobile phones

The Rambo movies are often praised for their themes of the individual's struggle to regain acceptance in society, and the ethical limit of retaliation against the unjust state; these themes are often obscured by the violence of the pictures, though they were all financially successful. The tone of the first film is also different from the other two pictures which are more violent in comparison. Rambo: First Blood Part II and Rambo III are the most frequent targets for criticism. According to the Guinness Book of Records, Rambo III even broke a record as the most violent film ever made with 221 acts of violence and over 108 deaths. Ironically, First Blood only had one confirmed death (an accident), and three possible deaths.

The films received further criticism when, in August 1987, Michael Ryan killed sixteen people and injured fifteen more before killing himself in Hungerford, Berkshire in what came to be known as the Hungerford massacre. Witnesses' claims that Ryan had been dressed like Rambo led to the British tabloid media stating that Ryan was mimicking scenes from the film First Blood. However, it was later discovered that he had never seen the film - which has been the case in many apparent copycat incidents.

The original scores for all three films were composed and conducted by Jerry Goldsmith. The music from the second film was performed by the National Philharmonic Orchestra and the music from the third by the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra. Goldsmith's main theme for Rambo was the basis for the end title song "It's A Long Road," performed by Dan Hill, part of the "First Blood" soundtrack.

The music for the first film is harsher and more dissonant than that for the sequels, as is keeping with the tone of the film. As such, it bears more of a resemblance to Goldsmith's output of the 60s and 70s than it does most of his work in the 80s. The first film's score does use electronics but is primarily orchestral while the sequel scores incorporate heavier use of electronics. The second film's score is the most popular, being that it is the most exciting. The music in the third film is an extension of the style used in the second, but with a few new themes. Both sequels feature new themes for Rambo that are based on elements found in the original "It's a Long Road" theme, which is also heard in its original form in each film as well.

• Jerry Goldsmith on Rambo (listen)

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• Hot Shots! Part Deux parodies the Rambo movies, as does the movie UHF.
• John Rambo appears in the alternate history novel Back in the USSA training the communist soldiers of Vietnam.
• According to the author of First Blood, David Morell, the name Rambo originates from the "Rambo Apple" [1], which is named after Peter Rambo who 1639 emigrated from Sweden to New Sweden.
• Soldat has a game type called "Rambomatch" in which players attempt to kill each other with a single-shot bow and arrow.
• In the film Lord of War, a character asks for "the gun of Rambo", referring to the M60. Yuri responds with "Did you want the gun from part one, two, or three?"
• In the film Gremlins 2, brief footage of Rambo: First Blood Part II can be seen on a TV. Gizmo is later seen acting like Rambo.

• First Blood at the Internet Movie Database
• Rambo: First Blood Part II at the Internet Movie Database
• Rambo III at the Internet Movie Database
• John Rambo at the Internet Movie Database
• {fr} John RAMBO sur le site Stallone.biz

• The Intruder (1986 film), An Indonesian film based on Rambo.

Rambo
Films	First Blood · Rambo: First Blood Part II · Rambo III · Rambo
Television	Rambo and the Forces of Freedom
Video games	Rambo · Rambo II · Rambo III · Rambo on Fire
Novel	First Blood