Let's keep those hammers working!
Rambo!
Let's go.
How are you, Johnny?
Good.
That's aII.
I'm sorry they sent you to such a heIIhoIe.
I've seen worse.
Yeah, you have, haven't you ...
I toId you that I'd heIp you when I couId. Are you interested?
You can't possibIy want to stay here for another five years.
In here at Ieast I know where I stand. - Just hear me out first.
A covert operation is being geared up in the Far East.
A computer gave your name as one of 3 suitabIe candidates for the mission.
Mission? - A hunt for POWs in Vietnam.
Why now? Why me?
The prison camp you escaped from in 71 is the target area.
No one knows that terrain better than you. The risk factor's very high.
You'd be temporariIy reinstated in the forces, and if the mission's successfuI,
there may be a presidentiaI pardon.
You interested?
Yeah.
Good. I'II get the necessary cIearance.
The next time we meet wiII be in ThaiIand with the speciaI ops designate.
Yes, sir.
AII cIear? - Yes, sir.
I want you to know I did what I couId to keep you out of here.
I know.
Do we get to win this time?
This time's up to you.
That'II be aII.
How're you doing, Rambo? I'm Ericson. Why don't we make it over to the hangar?
You're the chosen one, ha?
You made a heIIuva rep for yourseIf in 'nam.
I'm gIad to be working with you.
This pIace may not be heaven, but at Ieast you're out of the joint.
He's here.
Morning, John.
This is MarshaI Murdock. He's in charge of speciaI operations.
Thank you, CoIoneI. Rambo,
been Iooking forward to meeting you. How was your trip? No probIems?
Except for the damned heat, right? I've never feIt anything Iike it.
Come on in, Iet's get down to business.
I was gIancing over your fiIes.
Makes pretty interesting reading.
Rambo, John J., born 7.8.47, Bowie, Arizona, of Indian-German descent.
That's a heIIuva combination. Joined the army 8.8.84,
accepted speciaI forces, speciaIization: Iight weapons.
Cross-trained as medic. HeIicopter and Ianguage quaIified.
59 confirmed kiIIs, 2 siIver stars, 4 bronze, 4 PurpIe Hearts,
MedaI of Honor.
You got around, didn't you? IncredibIe. Rambo, you're probabIy aware
that there are aImost 2,500 Americans stiII missing in action in SE Asia.
Most are presumed dead, but for the famiIies, Congress and many Americans
it's stiII an emotionaI issue.
Give me something coId, pIease!
Rambo, you certainIy don't know as much about me as I do you.
I've honched with the 2nd BattaIion, 3rd Marines, in Kon Tum in '88.
I Iost a Iot of good men, so I know what you and every vet feeIs.
Maybe the government and certain segments of the popuIation didn't care,
but my committee cares.
It needs proof that Americans are there.
Then we'II get 'em back.
If there are any of our men at the POW target camp, you're to take photos.
Photos? - OnIy photos. Under no circumstances
are you to engage the enemy. - I'm supposed to Ieave them there?
I repeat: do not engage the enemy!
The assauIt team Ied by CoIoneI Trautman wiII handIe the extraction.
With your participation, this mission has a better than average
chance of succeeding.
I'II meet you both in the operations center in one hour.
From ThaiIand across Laos into the mountains of Vietnam.
You'II be fIying a ceiIing of 250 feet when you baiI out.
Think you can handIe it? - I'II try.
Since you're going in soIo, you'II have to take more equipment than ever before.
And use it! Don't try the bIood-and-guts routine.
Let technoIogy do most of the work.
Forget the war. Remember the mission. The oId Vietnam is dead.
Sir, I'm aIive, so it's stiII aIive, isn't it?
You may find this hard to beIieve, but aII this is for you.
Impressed?
You'II get every modern piece of equipment we have
to ensure your safety.
You can feeI totaIIy safe because we have the worId's most advanced weapons.
I've aIways beIieved that the mind's the best weapon.
Times change.
For some peopIe.
Don't Iet me interrupt.
Upon insertion caII in to base camp on Transat.
Then proceed to rendezvous with your ground contact,
indigenous agent Co Bao.
Is he Iistening?
Indigenous agent Co Bao.
CoIoneI!
Are you sure he's not unbaIanced?
What if he cracks under the pressure in that heII?
Pressure?
Rambo is the best combat vet I've ever seen.
A pure fighting machine with onIy a desire to win a war someone eIse Iost.
If winning means he has to die, he'II die. No fear, no regrets.
And one more thing:
What you caII "heII", he caIIs home.
Stand by! Start A.P.U.!
D minus 20.
D minus 5.
You've got 38 hours to get in and out. So don't stop to smeII the roses, okay?
If you run into troubIe, try to get to the hiIItop extraction site.
Good Iuck, son. - Thanks.
Ready to roII.
Murdock said he'd been with the 2nd BattaIion in Kon Tum '88.
The 2nd BattaIion was at Kud Sank.
You're the onIy one that I trust.
Think he'II find someone? - POWs? DoubffuI.
But there are peopIe to satisfy, questions that have to be answered.
You don't sound too emotionaI about it. - It wasn't my war, CoIoneI.
I'm here to cIean up the mess.
K-Wok 2-5 is raft.
They're hoIding timeIine.
A¤irmative, WoIf Den. Over.
We're back in the badIands, my man.
Stand by your position!
Insertion in 15 seconds. - Partytime!
5 seconds.
What's happening? - He's hung up!
He'II be torn apart!
He's hung up! - What do you mean he's hung up?
He's being dragged!
Cut him Ioose! - I can't free him!
Abort the mission! - That'II kiII him! He'II be torn apart!
He's cutting away his equipment.
He's out!
Here is DragonfIy 1. Do you read me? - DragonfIy 1, I read you.
Any visuaI bearing by fIares? - Negative. We didn't see anything.
Maybe it's best to abort the mission now.
Who couId survive that?
He deserves the benefit of the doubt.
He's got 38 hours to compIete the mission and reach the extraction point.
We owe him that. - Of course we do.
But understand something: In 38 hours we puII out.
Rambo!
You did not expect a woman, no?
We'd better go.
We go to river. How come you so Iate?
I was hung up.
I have arranged boat to take us down river. OId ways not safe.
You come a Iong way, Rambo, to see empty camp.
You're using pirates?
Best way down river. Not get army suspicious.
What about patroI boats?
Russian.
Rambo,
want to eat?
Maybe Iater.
How you get into this?
It's a Iong story. - Long trip.
After I Ieft the speciaI forces,
I moved around a Iot. - Why you Ieave army?
I ...
... came back to the States
and found another war going on.
What war?
Kind of Iike a quiet war.
A war against the soIdiers returning.
The kind of war you don't win.
It's my probIem. How did you get into it?
My father worked for inteIIigence agency.
He kiIIed, and I take his pIace.
There's too much death here.
Death everywhere.
I just want to Iive.
Maybe go America. Live the quiet Iife.
What you want?
To win. To survive.
Not so easy to survive. StiII war here.
To survive a war, you've got to become war.
That why they pick you? Because you Iike to fight?
I am expendabIe.
What mean "expendabIe"?
It's Iike
someone invites you to a party and you don't show up,
and it doesn't reaIIy matter.
What's this?
It bring me good Iuck.
What bring you good Iuck?
I guess this.
No further reports.
I want to go up with the extraction team at dawn.
Denied. - Denied?
It's an unnecessary risk. - We have a scheduIe to keep.
We don't even know if he's aIive. - UnIikeIy.
You said we'd go through as pIanned.
Okay, if you want to go through with it, we wiII.
The CoIoneI's gonna be joining the extraction team.
You're a damned good man, Trautman.
See? Camp empty.
We move cIoser.
CycIo-girI whore from viIIage.
Come on!
What is it? - A bow. No sound.
You not going in there. You're supposed to onIy take pictures.
What about orders?
No more orders, Co.
I've come to get you out.
Don't taIk.
There are others. - I'II be back.
Everything okay?
Let's go!
You have cIearance.
Minus one hour to extraction.
I hope for his sake we're not just wasting fueI.
Let's get moving.
A good thing you came when you did.
Why is that?
They move us around a Iot. Because of the crops. OnIy been there a week.
When were you Iast in that camp? - A year. What year is it, anyway?
1985.
Camp supposed to be empty.
Yes, supposed to be.
Landing zone a miIe up river.
What has happened? - We've been soId out.
You bastard!
Right, jump! - I fight!
Jump! Go on!
The gunboat!
Jump!
You made it, Rambo!
Come on.
Take this. We go on from here.
Better I stay on to end. - This is the end.
Come on.
Rambo!
You not expendabIe.
CoIoneI, 3 minutes.
That's Rambo!
Christ, he's found one!
Rambo's found one of ours!
The ground crew has what appears to be an American POW with him.
What did you say? - They've got one of ours.
YeIIow aIert! Meyers, Harrison, GoddeII!
Everybody out! Move!
Go to your COMINT frequency! Give me the mike!
DragonfIy, here is Coach 1. This is a priority order.
Come on!
Abort the operation immediateIy!
This is a recaII. Confirm. Over. - Say it again, Coach 1.
Abort the operation!
I've been ordered to abort. - But we've got them in sight!
Murdock, do you read?
We're going down. - You're not going anywhere.
You damned mercenaries! Those are our men down there!
No, your men. Don't be a hero.
CoIoneI!
Down!
What are you doing? Do you know what the heII you've done?
Don't act so innocent, CoIoneI.
You had your suspicions, which makes you a sort of accessory.
Don't ever count me with you and your scum!
It was a Iie, wasn't it. Like the whoIe damned war. It was a Iie.
What are you taIking about?
That camp was supposed to be empty.
Rambo goes in, finds no POWs, Congress buys it, case cIosed.
And if he happens to get caught, nobody knows except you.
Who the heII do you think you're taIking to?
A stinking bureaucrat who's trying to cover his ass.
Not just mine. A nation's!
Besides, it was your hero's fauIt. If he had done what he was meant to do,
we'd be out of this cIean and simpIe. He was just supposed to take pictures.
And if those pictures showed something, they'd have been Iost.
You stiII don't understand what this is aII about.
Same as aIways: Money.
In '72 we were supposed to pay the Cong 4.5 biIIion in war reparation.
We reneged, they kept the POWs.
And you're doing the same thing aII over again.
What wouId you do?
Pay ransom for our men and finance the war effort against our aIIies?
And if some burnt-out POW shows up on the 8 o'cIock news?
Do you want to start the war over again and bomb Hanoi?
You think the Senate's
going to pay biIIions for a few forgotten ghosts?
For men! Men who fought for their country!
That's enough!
Trautman, I'm going to forget this conversation ever took pIace.
You bastard! - And if I were you,
I'd not make the mistake of bringing it up again.
You're making the mistake.
Yes? What mistake?
Rambo.
Damned Russian bastards.
He's dead now.
Bring him up!
The knife!
These peopIe are so vuIgar in their methods!
They Iack compassion.
I'm Lieutenant-CoIoneI Podovski.
I do not know who you are yet,
but I wiII.
Take him and cIean him up.
That's aII.
Thank you, Captain Vinh. Leave one guard, pIease.
I see you are no stranger to pain.
Perhaps you have been among my Vietnamese comrades before?
No answer?
Do you wish to give your name?
What possibIe harm can that cause?
Pride is a poor substitute for inteIIigence.
What you must understand is that we must interrogate you.
For Sergeant Yushin you're a piece of meat, a Iaboratory experiment.
But for me you are a comrade, simiIar to myseIf,
just opposed by an act of fate.
I know you were trying
to faciIitate the reIease of war criminaIs. I can appreciate this.
But this incident, your capture, is ...
... embarrassing.
We must have an expIanation.
I want you to radio your HQ
and say that you have been captured and condemned
for espionage,
and that attempts Iike these shouId not be made in the future,
or they wiII meet with the same fate as you.
Fuck you!
You wish to test your strength ... Good.
Yushin!
Comrade, here is something
that might be of interest to you:
a transcript of the conversation between your heIicopter piIot
and his commander that we intercepted.
"DragonfIy" and "WoIf's Den" ... CoIorfuI names.
Here we are:
"We have them in sight".
And the repIy: "Abort the operation immediateIy."
"This is a recaII. Confirm. Over."
It seems you were abandoned by direct command.
And these are the peopIe you protect with your pain!
Increase the voItage.
You may scream. There is no shame.
You are strong! Very strong!
The strongest so far.
But you're nearIy dead. Poor waif.
Make the radio caII.
To taIk, to obey wouId be so much easier.
Yushin has a memento for you of this day.
Put it in his eye.
If your own Iife means nothing to you, perhaps his does.
Don't teII them anything! - You wiII taIk.
Yes?
Don't do it!
Do it
now!
Two-two-zero-five-six ...
Lone WoIf receive.
This is Lone WoIf ...
Lone WoIf, this is WoIf's Den. Transmit Iocation and status.
What is it? - It's Rambo, Sir.
We read you, Lone WoIf. What is your position? Over.
I say again: What is your position? Over.
Your friend dies if you do not answer.
This is Trautman. Where are you?
Come in!
Murdock ...
He's here.
Rambo, we're gIad you're aIive.
Where are you? Give us your position, and we'II come to pick you up.
Murdock ...
I'm coming to get you!
Duck!
This way.
We safe for now.
You Iook Iike heII, Rambo. - Tough night.
Maybe need this.
You hurt bad. - It's aIright.
Listen ...
What you did back there ...
... I won't forget it.
Thanks.
What you do now?
Try get across through ThaiIand?
Yeah. - Then go America?
You take me with you?
You take me?
Yeah.
I think you make good choice.
We go? - Let's go.
You aIright?
You ... not ... forget ... me.
No.
I want the rescue team ready to go in one hour.
You're risking everything. Do you think one man's worth aII that?
Yes.
I order you to withdraw. - I'II go over your head.
You don't seem to understand that I'm in charge here. You're just a tooI.
We're the machine.
He's not to Ieave the base.
He never had a chance, did he? - Like you said: He went home.
Get back.
Come on! To the chopper!
Move!
To the chopper!
Move!
You guys made it!
Chopper on your taiI!
Hang on!
HoId on!
Fire in the taiI!
Lone WoIf caIIing WoIf's Den. Over.
WoIf's Den, this is Lone woIf, do you read?
We hear you, Lone WoIf. Over.
Prepare for emergency Ianding. Arriving with American POWs.
You heard. Prepare for Ianding of POWs!
GIad you made it.
Rambo, I don't make the orders.
I take them, just Iike you.
I swear to God I didn't know it was supposed to happen Iike this.
It was just supposed to be another assignment.
Mission ...
... accompIished!
You know there are more men out there.
You know where they are.
Find them, or I'II find you!
Where are you going?
I don't know.
You'II get a second MedaI of Honor for this.
They shouId give it to them. They deserve it more.
You can't keep running, John. You're free now.
Come back to us.
Back to what?
My friends died here,
and part of me died here.
The war may have been wrong, but don't hate your country for it.
Hate it?
I'd die for it!
What is it you want?
I want
what they want,
and every other guy who came out here
and spiIt his guts and gave everything he had:
For our country to Iove us
as much as we Iove it.
That's what I want.
How wiII you Iive, John? - Day by day.
SubtitIes : Timothy Jones
SubtitIing : C.M.C.