5. Rambo: Last Blood (2019) – 26%
Rambo: Last Blood was theatrically released on September 20, 2019, to negative reviews from critics with criticisms aimed at its screenwriting, graphic violence and accusations of racist and xenophobic attitudes towards Mexico, but the action sequences and Stallone’s performances received praise for his return in the lead role. The film grossed $91.5 million worldwide against a production budget of $50 million and print and advertisement costs of $30 million. Ten years later, Stallone finally brings him home with Rambo: Last Blood when he decorates his Arizona homestead with Home Alone (or Death Wish 3, if you will) style traps to protect himself from the Mexican.
4. Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) – 33%
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna, Julia, Nickson, Charles Napier
Directed By: George P. Cosmatos
In the 1985 film Rambo: First Blood Part 2, John returns to Vietnam to take part in a POW reconnaissance mission in exchange for a prison pardon. Once the Soviets intervene only a barrage of gunshots, explosions, and rockets could finish the job. Despite mixed reviews, Rambo: First Blood Part II was a major global blockbuster, with an estimated $150 million sold in the United States, becoming the second highest grossing film at the domestic box office and the third highest grossing film worldwide in 1985. The film earned just $73,000 less than Stallone’s other blockbuster of 1985, Rocky IV. In 2009, Entertainment Weekly ranked the movie number 23 on its list of “The Best Rock-’em, Sock-’em Movies of the Past 25 Years”.
3. Rambo (2008) – 37%
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Julie Benz, Matthew Marsden, Graham Mc Tavish
Directed By: Sylvester Stallone
Stallone took on the triple duty of writer, director and star in 2008’s Rambo. The film is further drawn into the violence and commentary when John, still in Thailand, leads a mission in Burma to rescue Bible-distributing missionaries. Rambo was released in the US by Lionsgate Films and The Weinstein Company on January 25, 2008, and in Germany by Warner Bros. Pictures on February 8 and received mixed reviews, with praise directed at Stallone’s direction and acting, action sequences and score, but criticism for the story, overly graphic violence, and political commentary. It grossed $113.2 million worldwide on a production budget of $47.5 million to $50 million. The film was followed by Rambo: Last Blood, released on September 20, 2019.
2. Rambo III (1988) – 41%
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna, Marc De Jonge, Kurtwood Smith
Directed By: Peter MacDonald
1. First Blood (1982) – 86%
Sylvester Stallone needed rest and entertainment to earn his Hollywood fortune for life. The 1976 Best Picture winner Rocky made the character a symbol of populist inspiration, so Stallone used Rambo as a political creation reflecting American military power and intervention, especially in the first three films. In the 1982 original, Rambo isn’t even mentioned in the title: it’s just First Blood, and Stallone is presented as the central John roaming America, like a disgruntled Vietnam War veteran already chewed up and spat out as
he traverses the city’s sadistic gardens. Little Sheriff (Brian Dennehy). Despite the mediation of former Stallone Colonel Sam Troutman (Richard Crenna), the sheriff’s brutality returns John to his primeval state, applying survival techniques he learned in the jungles of Southeast Asia. The film grossed $125 million worldwide, against a $15 million budget.