Rambo: First Blood Part II
By Peter John Gardner
While this is this the second entry in the series, Rambo: First Blood Part II is the movie everyone thinks of when you think of Rambo, whether you've seen it or not. This movie solidified Rambo's place in pop culture as a muscle bound, sweaty guy with a headband and a ginormous fucking machine gun shooting down all of those bad guys. Even President Ronald Reagan was a fan of the movie when it came out, and after the release of American hostages from Palestinian terrorists in 1985, Ronnie was quoted as saying, "After seeing Rambo last night, I know what to do next time this happens." This gave Americans the horrifying mental image of a shirtless Ronald Reagan, covered in sweat, and gunning down foreigners.
Rambo: First Blood Part II is inferior to its predecessor, in my opinion. While First Blood can be viewed as an examination of a veteran suffering from PTSD that is pushed too far; the sequel just takes the physical prowess of the character and places him in a "shoot the bad guys" situation overseas where no one seems to know how to aim their gun properly except for Stallone (otherwise known as 'Stormtrooper Syndrome').
The film starts off with Rambo in a prison camp, paying his dues from the previous movie by banging a sledgehammer against rocks. Rambo's commander from Vietnam finds him here and tells him that there are POWs still in Vietnam and that the American government needs solid proof that they are there. So, who better to send off to find Vietnam POWs than a former POW still suffering from PTSD that nearly blew up an entire fucking town in the previous movie? Never mind sending a specialized, top-secret task force or something. Let's send the loose cannon. At least the film captures the bone headedness of the Reagan administration properly.
Long story short, Rambo goes over there, blows stuff up, kills a bunch of commies, and falls in love. Yes. Rambo falls in love in love with a Vietnamese freedom fighter. I had forgotten all about this silly subplot since the last time I watched this movie.
I'm going to save the anti-war anti-Reagan commentary for the Rambo III (Rambo fights with the Taliban in that one!). Instead, there's a line that Rambo says a few times throughout the film that kinda stuck with me. Rambo justifies his return to enemy territory as being ok because he's "expendable". The government sees him as such, and Rambo thinks of himself that way.
It bothers me when employers see their employees as being "expendable". "So, that guy has been working here for 2 1/2 years? No matter. We need to cut costs for the holidays, and he's making twelve bucks an hour. We'll fire him for the next minor infraction that comes along and hire some schmuck to take his place for eight dollars an hour."
I've always felt that even the most dead end jobs should offer some kind of job security. Executives see only dollars and cents, not the bills that the guy mopping the floor has to pay in order to keep his family afloat. It's a shitty point of view, and I can understand that business is business and that businesses are there to make money, not coddle its employees, but still...employees are human beings. They're not just wind up robots that are there to serve a function. There's a human aspect to it all that gets lost as one climbs higher up the corporate ladder. No one should be seen as expendable, especially not soldiers. Employees for companies should feel safe in their jobs knowing that their boss sees them as a person instead of "$12.50 an hour".
I want to end this piece with a passage from the novelization of the film. No, I didn't read it; I Googled it, but it'll provide a nice leeway into Rambo III when I get to it. This dialogue ensues after Rambo rescues the POWs who have been stuck in prison camp for the past ten years:
"What's it like? In the world?"
Rambo hesitated.
"Well?" Banks asked. "What's the matter?"
"Nothing." Rambo couldn't bring himself to tell them. It would be too much. A sin. "Home? It's just the same," he lied. "The good old U.S. never changed."
"Come on, man. It must have."
"Sure. In a way, I guess. Ronald Reagan's president."
"Ronald . . .? Wait a minute. You don't mean the movie actor."
"Yep." Despite his agony, Rambo had to chuckle. "Death Valley Days himself."
"Well, holy fuck."
"Yeah, I said that many times."
And Rambo couldn't bring himself to tell them that Vietnam was about to change its name to Nicaragua. Or that the sound of John Lennon's 'Give Peace a Chance' had changed to the rattle of sabers.
And maybe that's why Luke Skywalker's light sword was so popular. The clean depiction of war. If you had your head cut off, you got a new one. In the movies. Yeah, John Wayne, Ronald Reagan, and the movies. No, he couldn't tell them about Nicaragua. It would be too much.
