10 Movie Sequels WAY Crazier Than The Original
7. Rambo: First Blood Part II
The original Rambo film, First Blood, is an outstanding action thriller in which a PTSD-afflicted Vietnam War vet, John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone), finds himself on the wrong side of a sleepy town's antagonistic sheriff (Brian Dennehy).
Though it's certainly gut-wrenchingly suspenseful and packed with action, Rambo only actually kills a single person throughout First Blood, and the tone is surprisingly thoughtful, focused on the mistreatment of war vets in the U.S., topped by a genuinely brilliant Sylvester Stallone performance.
Yet the sequels made it incredibly easy to forget that First Blood actually had something to say, because from its immediate sequel onwards it devolved into the very parade of carnage the first film seemed to be rallying against.
In Rambo: First Blood Part II, the anti-war sentiment is tossed out the window in favour of a brutal action-fest where Rambo fights to rescue POWs in Vietnam.
The result is a film in which Rambo kills 58 people compared to the original's one - and even that one was accidental.
It couldn't fly more hilariously in the face of the first film's consideration of violence's traumatic effects, and though fun as a dumb popcorn flick, it's arguably crazier in a lot of the wrong ways.