Adapted from David Morell’s popular novel First Blood, the Rambo franchise has now become the most popular and iconic action series of all time. Sylvester Stallone’s excellent depiction of the muscle-headed war veteran Rambo fits the movie very well and is highly celebrated.
In the movies, we follow Rambo, a war-hardened veteran and the only survivor of his unit of the Green Berets. As a wanderer and war veteran, Rambo is severely mistreated and heavily underestimated. So whenever there is any maltreatment of Rambo or innocent people around him, Rambo will power his way through any evil.
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If the word Rambo is said, the image of a ripped Sylvester Stalone flashes in anyone’s memory which goes to how iconic the character of Rambo has become. With enough energetic fights to take you on a thrill ride, these movies are ideal for an action movie binge.
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All 5 Rambo Movies in Order (Chronologically or by Release Date)
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First Blood
Streaming On: Can be rented from – Apple TV, YouTube, Amazon Video
Director: Ted Kotcheff
Writers: David Morrell, Michael Kozoll, William Sackheim
Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna, Brian Dennehy, Don MacKay, Jack Starrett, Chris Mulkey, Bill McKinney, John McLiam, Alf Humphreys, David Caruso, David L. Crowley, Michael Talbott, Patrick Stack
Genre: Action, Adventure, Thriller
Starting off this bombastic adventure is First Blood. Adapted directly from David Morell’s book of the same name, Sylvester Stallone takes the task of portraying Rambo. In the movie, we follow Rambo a Vietnam War veteran who gets mistreated by the sheriff in the town of Hope. When the sheriff takes the torture too far, Rambo goes on a rampage.
After offering condolence to his comrade who passed away due to cancer, John J. Rambo, a war veteran reaches Washington. The Sheriff of Washington Teasle, warns Rambo that he hates drifters (unemployed wanderers) and heads off. Rambo ignores the warning and heads into the city.
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Enraged, Teasle arrests Rambo and starts torturing him with the help of Chief Deputy Galt. The torture starts triggering flashbacks of Rambo getting tortured in the Vietnam War, so Rambo breaks out of the police station and escapes to the woods on a bike.
This results in a full-blown chase to find Rambo. Teasle defies Galt and starts shooting Rambo from their helicopter. In self-defense, Rambo throws a rock which causes the helicopter to lose balance momentarily. Galt loses his balance too and falls to his death.
Rambo tries to surrender admitting that Galt’s death was an accident, but the officers try to shoot him, making him flee. Teasle learns that Rambo is a war-hardened veteran but he swears revenge on him.
After non-lethally subduing the officers, Rambo holds Teasel hostage using a knife and warns him to back off. Rambo’s mentor Colonel Sam tries to negotiate with Rambo but he refuses citing that Teasel drew the “first blood”.
After being stuck in a mine, Rambo is able to find an army base and steals an M60 machine gun. Using the gun, Rambo rampages through the city. He spots Teasle on a roof and shoots at him, causing Teasle to fall.
Going in for the kill, Rambo is confronted by Sam who reminds Rambo that he is the last surviving from his squad, and if he kills Teasle, Rambo will be killed. After venting about the horrors of war, Rambo surrenders and turns himself in.
Introducing its viewers to the iconic character of Rambo, First Blood is a fun action-packed movie that is sure to keep its viewers on the edge of their seats all throughout the movie. Many iconic lines like “In town, you’re the law, out here it’s me.”
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Rambo: First Blood Part II
Streaming On: Can be rented from – Apple TV, YouTube, Amazon Video
Director: George P. Cosmatos
Writer: David Morrell, Kevin Jarre, Sylvester Stallone
Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna, Steven Berkoff, Julia Nickson, Martin Kove, Charles Napier, George Cheung, William Ghent, Voyo Goric, Dana Lee, Andy Wood, Steve Williams
Genres: Action, Adventure, Thriller
Following in the footsteps of its predecessor, Rambo: First Blood Part II increases the action and raises the stakes with a hostage situation. In the movie, we follow Rambo as he takes on a mission to save some POWs from an enemy base camp. Rambo senses something sinister when the POW he saved returns back to the enemy’s camp.
Three years after the event of the past movie, the Vietnam War has ended and the US residents are growing worried about some prisoners of war in Vietnam’s custody. Rambo agrees on a solo mission in exchange for a pardon.
Rambo is instructed to take photos of the POWs and not to save them, as that would be done afterward. While parachuting, Rambo’s parachute gets stuck in a tree, and he has to cut himself free, losing most of his equipment in the process.
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Receiving orders from Co Bao, Rambo infiltrates the camp and spots the POWs. Against orders, Rambo saves a prisoner tied to a cross-post. Rambo successfully dodges the Vietnamese attacks and rushes Co and the POW to the extraction point and drops them there while he heads back.
When the bureaucrat Marshal Murdock, comes to know that Rambo saved a POW, he holds Col. Sam Trautman at gunpoint to about the mission, and Trautman reluctantly agrees.
Murdock reveals that the government never intended to save any POWs and would have destroyed any evidence. To keep him hushed, Murdock removes Trautman from the mission.
Rambo understands that the Vietnamese are being assisted by the Soviets and is interrogated by Col. Podovsky and Seargent Yushin. The two start torturing Rambo when he refuses to send a radio message.
When the POW Rambo rescued is brought back and threatened with torture, Rambo loses his patience and overpowers his captors. Rambo decides to take Co to the US but during their escape, Co is shot dead. Enraged, Rambo kills the soldiers and Buries Co in Mud.
After surviving a barrel bomb, Rambo climbs aboard Yushin’s helicopter and throws him out. Using the helicopter, Rambo destroys the camp and rescues all the POWs. When Podovsky damages the helicopter using a gunship, Rambo blows him up using an RPG.
After returning to the base, Trautman tries to convince Rambo to return but he refuses to until all the POWs are saved.
Bringing over what the audience loved in the first movie, Rambo II increases the tension by putting Rambo in an unfair hostage situation. The movie is brimming with well-choreographed energetic action sequences that make the movie feel heavy and impactful.
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Rambo IIIs
Streaming On: Can be rented from – Apple TV, YouTube, Amazon Video
Director: Peter MacDonald
Writers: Sylvester Stallone, Sheldon Lettich, David Morrell
Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna, Kurtwood Smith, Spiros Fokas, Sasson Gabai, Alon Abutbul, Doudi Shoua, Randy Raney, Marcus Gilbert, Masoud Assadollahi, Yosef Shiloach, Marc de Jonge, Shaby Ben-Aroya
Genres: Action, Adventure, Thriller
Continuing the adrenaline-fueled action, Rambo III raises the stakes as someone close to Rambo gets kidnapped. In it, we follow a retired Rambo who has given up on fighting. Refusing to join Col. Trautman on a Dangerous mission, Rambo undertakes a solo rescue mission when Col. Trautman gets kidnapped.
Settling down in Thailand, Rambo started working as a construction worker in a Monastery. Col. Trautman tries to recruit Rambo for a CIA mission to protect the Mujahideen from the Afghan Army. Rambo refuses saying that he is tired of fighting.
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Trautman proceeds anyway but his team is ambushed and killed, while Trautman is held hostage by Soviet Col. Zaysen and Seargent Kurov. Embassy official Griggs informs Rambo about Trautman’s kidnapping. Rambo undertakes a solo rescue mission.
In Peshawar, Rambo decides to take the help of Mousa Ghani, an arms dealer, to bring him close to where Trauman is held. Due to an informant, the Soviets send two heavy artillery helicopters. Rambo destroys one of the helicopters and with the help of Mousa and Hamid, a young boy, is able to cause massive damage to their base before retreating.
Rambo invades the base and successfully rescues Trautman and other prisoners. Rambo hijacks a helicopter and tries to escape, but the helicopter gets damaged and crashes. Zayzen sends Kurov with Spetnaz commandos to kill Rambo, but they are all overpowered and killed.
Rambo and Trautman make their way to the Pakistan border, but Zayzen’s forces surround them. Rambo hijacks a tank and destroys all of Zayzen’s forces. After the battle, Rambo and Trautman thank the Mujahideen and leave.
Setting its eyes on the Soviet-Afgan wars, Rambo III focuses on Rambo’s previous combat experience and his personal relationship with his mentor Col, Trautman. The movie continues to deliver on the action front while upping the quality of the story.
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Rambo
Streaming On: Peacock Premium
Director: Sylvester Stallone
Writers: Art Monterastelli, David Morrell, Sylvester Stallone
Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Ken Howard, Julie Benz, Paul Schulze, Jake La Botz, Graham McTavish, Matthew Marsden, Tim Kang, Rey Gallegos, Maung Maung Khin, Supakorn Kitsuwon, Aung Aay Noi, Sornram Patchimtasanakarn
Genre: Action, Adventure, Thriller
Released 20 years after the previous entry into the franchise, Rambo (2008) breathes new life into the franchise. In the movie, we follow Rambo as he discovers the wrongdoing of Major Pa Tee Tint during the Saffron Revolution, he decides to help a team of mercenaries in saving the innocent.
During the Saffron Revolution in Burma, Major Pa Tee Tint has been reading and destroying villages. His soldiers are rampaging in the villages, killing anyone in sight. Missionary Doctor, Michael Burnett tries to hire Rambo for a humanitarian mission, but Rambo initially refuses.
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Arriving at night, the missionaries arrive at a village but are attacked by Tint’s forces. The missionary’s pastor informs Rambo to guide a team of 5 mercenaries on a rescue mission. Rambo guides the mercenaries to the drop-off and offers to help, but their leader, Lewis, refuses.
While the mercenaries are surveying the area, Tint’s soldiers arrive and start tormenting their prisoners. Rambo arrives and kills the soldiers using a Bow and Arrow. Rambo decides to join the mercenaries on their mission.
The next day, Rambo lures a section of Tint’s army over a dormant bomb which he detonates using a claymore. Tint’s army captures the missionaries except for Rambo. When they are about to be executed, Rambo launches a surprise attack using a jeep with an attached machine gun.
A group of natives join in on the fight and help Rambo win. Inspired, Rambo decides to go meet his father in the US.
Picking up 20 years after the last movie, Sylvester Stallone gives a stellar performance as Rambo even 20 years after he last played the role. The movie maintains the air of a grand rescue mission being handled by a one-man army while providing some hidden callbacks to the previous installments.
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Rambo: Last Blood
Streaming On: Hulu
Director: Adrian Grünberg
Writers: Dan Gordon, Sylvester Stallone, Matthew Cirulnick
Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Paz Vega, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, Yvette Monreal, Sheila Shah, Genie Kim, Marco de la O, Joaquín Cosío, Óscar Jaenada, Fenessa Pineda, Pascacio Lopez, Rick Zingale, Adriana Barraza, Manuel Uriza, Mirka Prieto, Jessica Madsen
Genre: Action, Adventure, Thriller
The final installment in the franchise, Rambo: Last Blood ends the franchise with a heavily emotional turn to the story. In the movie, we follow a retired Rambo who lives with Maria and her granddaughter Gabriela. When Gabriela is kidnapped and drugged by the Mexican cartel, Rambo swears revenge.
11 years after the events of Burma, Rambo lives in Bowie at his deceased father’s ranch which he manages with the help of Maria and her granddaughter Gabriela. Gabriela comes to know through Gizelle, that her deadbeat father is in Mexico.
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Gabriela secretly travels to Mexico and meets up with Gizelle to search for her father’s apartment. There she asks her father, Manuel, why he left her. Manuel replies that he never cared. Dejected, Gizelle takes Gabriella to a bar where she is drugged and kidnapped by the Mexican cartel.
Worried by her absence, Rambo hurries to Mexico where he interrogates Manuel and Gizelle. Gizelle takes Rambo to the bar while a woman, Carmel Delgado tails them. At the bar, Rambo confronts El Flaco.
Later, Rambo is beaten by the Mexican cartel led by Hugo and Victor. Finding a photo of Gabriela in his wallet, they promise to treat Gabriela worse. Carmen takes Rambo home and helps him heal. Carmen reveals that she is a journalist who was investigating Hugo and Victor as they kidnapped her sister.
Rambo rescues Gabriela who is heavily drugged. On the way to the hospital, Gabriela dies of an overdose. Enraged, Rambo asks Carmen for help, who initially refuses but later gives him Vicotor’s location.
Rambo raids Victor’s house, killing everyone and decapitating Victor. Hugo tries to raid Rambo’s ranch, but all of his men fall for traps that Rambo set up. Rambo uses his signature Bowie knife to rip Hugo’s heart out. The movie ends with a sad weakened Rambo sitting on his father’s porch.
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Finishing off the franchise with a bang, Rambo: Last Blood takes its viewers on an emotional rollercoaster. The movie takes a sentimental approach to the character of Rambo showing its viewers all the problems that he has faced. The movie ends with a montage of the iconic action sequences from the previous installments which is a nice finishing touch.
Conclusion
So these were all the Rambo movies arranged in order of their release date. With unmatched action quality, an energetic fight sequence, and a main character that anyone can get behind the Rambo movies were bound to be a success.
While the action and fight in the movies take the spotlight, the story being told feels very grand and preaches the morals of never giving up and finishing what you started. So if you are looking for a grand fights-packed movie franchise to satisfy your action itch, the Rambo movies might be the right pick for you.
Rambo Movies According To IMDb Ratings
- First Blood (1982) – 7.7 By 263K Votes
- Rambo (2008) – 7.0 By 238K Votes
- Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) – 6.5 By 176K Votes
- Rambo: Last Blood (2019) – 6.1 By 104K Votes
- Rambo III (1988) – 5.8 By 136K Votes
Rambo Movies According To Box Office Collection
- Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) – $300 Million
- Rambo III (1988) – $189 Million
- First Blood (1982) – $125 Million
- Rambo (2008) – $113 Million
- Rambo: Last Blood (2019) – $91 Million
FAQs
Release order. The Rambo movies follow linear storytelling so the correct watch order for these movies is the release order which goes as follows – 1. First Blood (1982), 2. Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), 3. Rambo III (1988), 4. Rambo (2008), 5. Rambo: Last Blood (2019)
No. Since the movie features a big amount of violence, bodily harm, sexual assault, and vulgar language, the Rambo movies are not safe for kids to watch.
Not Necessary. After watching the first movie, you can jump around from movie to movie in the franchise as they are barely connected to each other.
Not likely. Though Sylvester Stallone has expressed interest in a sixth installment to the Rambo franchise, Adrian Grünberg the director of Rambo: Last Blood has expressed no interest in a sequel as Last Blood “closes the loop”. So the future of the Rambo franchise is up in the air, at the moment.
