Rambo III is a 1988 film directed by Peter MacDonald. The original director Russell Mulcahy was replaced after two weeks of filming MacDonald due to creative differences. 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 Rambo III, the character Masoud, played by Spiros Focás, is a reference to Ahmad Shah Masoud. He was the real life leader of the Afghani resistance against the Russian occupation. After the Russian occupation ended he became the Defence Minister of Afghanistan and later a leader of the resistance against the Taliban regime.
The film was mainly shot in Thailand and Israel. The Afghan market scene was a decorated set in Peshawar, Pakistan, where the scene took place. The film was nearing completion when they were forced to leave Israel and filmed the ending scenes at the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation in Arizona, USA.
For the UK theatrical release of Rambo III, 65 seconds were cut and some later video releases almost tripled the amount of cuts. The original video release had in the end credits: “Dedicated to the brave Mujaheddin fighters”, this was later changed to “Dedicated to the gallant people of Afghanistan.”
At the time of release Rambo III was credited with being the most violent film ever made. It had 221 acts of violence, at least 70 explosions, and over 108 characters killed on-screen. However, the body count of the fourth film in the series, Rambo 4, easily surpassed the kill count, with 236 kills.
The film, although a box office success, was panned by critics and often viewed as a disappointment. Rambo III opened in the US on 25th May 1988 and grossed $53,715,611 in box office taking. Internationally it grossed $135,300,000, giving the film total box office receipts of $189,015,611. At the time of its release, Rambo III was the most expensive film ever made, with a $63 million budget.
The storyline follows John Rambo’s former Vietnam superior, Colonel Samuel Trautman, has been assigned to lead a mission to help the Mujahideen 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.
Film Details
Title
Rambo III
Year of Film
1988
Director
Peter MacDonald
Starring
Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna, Marc de Jonge, Kurtwood Smith, Spiros Focás, Sasson Gabai, Doudi Shoua, Randy Raney, Marcus Gilbert, Alon Aboutboul
Origin of Film
USA
Genre(s) of Film
Action | Adventure | Thriller | War
Box Office
Budget: $63,000,000 (Estimated)
Opening Weekend: $16,745,418 (USA)
Gross: $189,015,611 (Worldwide)
Poster Details
Type of Poster
Quad
Style of Poster
Final
Origin of Poster
UK
Year of Poster
1988
Designer
Unknown
Artist
Renato Casaro
Size (Inches)
40″ x 30″
Single Sided or Double Sided
Single Sided
NSS # / Printer Markings
None
Tagline
The first was for himself.
The second for his country.
This time it’s to save his friend.
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