Rambo 3 | 80's Movie Guide

Taglines: God would have mercy John Rambo won't! Rambo 3 movie synopsis. John Rambo's former Vietnam superior, Colonel Samuel Trautman, has been assigned to lead a mission to help the Mujahedeen rebels who are fighting the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, but the Buddhist Rambo turns down Trautman's request that Rambo help out. When the mission goes belly up and Trautman is kidnapped and tortured by Russian Colonel Zaysen, Rambo launches a rescue effort and allies himself with the Mujahedeen rebels and gets their help in trying to rescue Trautman from Zaysen. Rambo III is a 1988 American action adventure film directed by Peter MacDonald. The film depicts fictional events during the Soviet war in Afghanistan. It is the third film in the Rambo series following First Blood and Rambo: First Blood Part II. It was in turn followed by Rambo in 2008, making it the last film in the series to feature Richard Crenna as Colonel Sam Trautman before his death in 2003. In the film, John Rambo sets out in a dangerous journey at Afghanistan in order to rescue his former military commander and his longtime best friend Col. Trautman from the hands of an extremely powerful and ruthless Soviet military general who's bent on killing both Trautman and Rambo and to conquer Afghanistan for the Soviet armies. About the Story Colonel Sam Trautman visits his old friend and ally John Rambo in Thailand. He explains that he is putting together a mercenary team for a CIA-sponsored mission to supply anti-Soviet fighters in Afghanistan. Despite being shown photos of civilians suffering at the hands of the Soviet military, Rambo refuses to join, as he is tired of fighting. Trautman proceeds anyway and is ambushed by enemy forces near the border, resulting in all of his men being killed. Trautman is captured and sent to a large mountain base to be interrogated by Soviet Colonel Zaysen and his henchman Sergeant Kourov. Embassy official Robert Griggs informs Rambo of Trautman's capture but refuses to approve a rescue mission for fear of drawing the United States into the war. Aware that Trautman will die otherwise, Rambo gets permission to undertake a solo rescue on the condition that he will be disavowed in the event of capture or death. Rambo immediately flies to Peshawar, Pakistan, where he intends to convince arms dealer Mousa Ghani to bring him to Khost, the town closest to the Soviet base where Trautman is held captive. The Mujahideen in the village, led by chieftain Masoud, hesitate to help Rambo free Trautman. Meanwhile, a Soviet informant in Ghani's employ informs the Russians, who send two attack helicopters to destroy the village. Though Rambo manages to destroy one of them with a turret, the rebels refuse to aid him any further. Aided only by Mousa and a young boy named Hamid, Rambo attacks the base and inflicts significant damage before being forced to retreat. Hamid, as well as Rambo, are wounded during the battle and Rambo sends him and Mousa away before resuming his infiltration. Rambo 3 (1988) Directed by: Peter MacDonald Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna, Marc de Jonge, Kurtwood Smith, Spiros Focás, Sasson Gabai, Marcus Gilbert, Alon Aboutboul, Joseph Shiloach Screenplay by: Peter MacDonald Production Design by: Bill Kenney Cinematography by: John Stanier Film Editing by: O. Nicholas Brown, Andrew London, James R. Symons, Edward Warschilka Costume Design by: Richard La Motte Set Decoration by: Giorgio Postiglione, David Varod Art Direction by: Pier Luigi Basile, Alan Cassie, Benjamín Fernández, Adrian Gorton, David Varod Music by: Jerry Goldsmith Distributed by: TriStar Pictures Release Date: May 25, 1988