Rambo III

Colonel Sam Trautman and the CIA track down John Rambo in Thailand, hoping to enlist him in a dangerous mission to supply rebel forces in Afghanistan fighting against the Russians. Initially, Rambo refuses to go. Other than competitive stick fighting for money, Rambo has mostly left violence behind. But after Trautman gets captured, Rambo goes to Afghanistan and joins up with the Mujahideen (yes, that Mujahideen) to fight the Russians and rescue Trautman. Rambo III is basically a rehashed version of Rambo: First Blood Part II. It feels very formulaic, it’s a little too quippy at times and, if you’ve read the summary above, you may have noticed that the movie’s politics have aged like milk left out in the desert sun. That said, the action set pieces are all well done and the movie moves at a decent pace. I didn’t hate it as much as I thought I might on this recent viewing and, spoiler alert for a future review, it’s definitely not the worst entry in the series.

Rating: 63%

(Image from Wikipedia)

Red Heat

East meets West when a Russian Police Captain travels to Chicago to extradite a Soviet drug smuggler. After his prisoner escapes, the stoic Captain Danko is paired with Chicago’s least finest, Detective Ridzik. Much like Walter Hill’s 48 Hrs., Red Heat is a buddy cop story featuring two leads who can barely stand one another. Unfortunately for Red Heat, neither Schwarzenegger nor Belushi have the comedic chops of Eddie Murphy. Still, the movie moves at a brisk pace, and the action set pieces all work well. The supporting cast includes performances from Peter Boyle, Laurence Fishburne and Gina Gershon.

Rating: 64%

(Image from Wikipedia)

Red Dawn

The Cold War gets hot in Red Dawn. When the Soviets invade, a small band of plucky teens take to the woods and form the Wolverines. A guerilla fighting force hell-bent on taking back their country. Starring Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen, C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson, Jennifer Grey, Powers Boothe and Harry Dean Stanton. Red Dawn is not a subtle movie in any way. It's over the top explosions and gunfights from beginning to end. And while some might choose to see Red Dawn as nationalistic Cold War propaganda, I choose to see Red Dawn as a simplistic 80s gem.

Rating: 76%

(Image from Wikipedia)

WarGames

David Lightman's quest to get a sneak peek at some upcoming computer games puts him on the FBI's most wanted list after he accidentally engages with a military supercomputer. With a ticking clock counting down to armageddon, David must find the system's creator in order to prevent global thermonuclear war. WarGames is a Cold War-era action adventure sci-fi romp that gets more and more out of date with each passing year. What keeps WarGames watchable all these years later is its cast, with Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy oozing charm while being backed up by a bevy of recognizable character actors. Come for the five inch floppy disks, stay for the endless rows of blinking lights.

Rating: 75%

(Image from Wikipedia)

Fun Fact: Matthew Broderick's hacker buddies were played by Maury Chaykin and Eddie Deezen. Eddie Deezen was also in Critters 2: The Main Course.