10 Movies Every Action Fan Needs To See

Given his track record, Rambo hardly seems like the kind of character you’d trust with a sensitive mission, but it’s really a set-up, a plot to fool Joe Public into believing there aren’t any POWs in the Far East (and thus save money searching for them). When our Herculean hero discovers this, he feels a tad let down, so he kills some eighty or more people, rescues a helicopter load of American soldiers, and arrives back at base to shoot up the Army’s computers.

It may have set the standard for over-the-top, wildly jingoistic, in-yer-face action movies, but First Blood Part II is also pretty good whiz-bang escapism, with snappier pacing and better action than you’d expect. Along with Rocky IV, it dominated the global box office back in 1985, with only Back To The Future making more money.

The film gave Stallone enough clout to make Rambo III for a then unheard of $58 million, but the money didn’t help; of all the Rambo films, Part III is the most bloated.