Episode #803: Rambo: First Blood Part II
Added 2025-06-03 04:00:06 +0000 UTC“He’s the walking dead!” - Eric on contemporary Sly’s look
On this week’s episode, the Summer Blockbuster Extravaganza launches into month two by celebrating the Totally Cool Awesome 80s! First up, we’re talking about the stupidly-titled Rambo: First Blood Part II! How funny is it that this movie pulls a complete 180 on the philosophy of the first film? How great is Sly’s hair in this one? Couldn’t they have had a few more action scenes with Martin Kove? How wild is it that Predator completely ripped off the Rambo covered in mud bit? And why didn’t Murdock get a rockin’ death in this? PLUS: Fellow veterans, Bebop and Rocksteady meet John Rambo!
Rambo: First Blood Part II stars Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna, Charles Napier, Steven Berkoff, Julia Nickson, George Cheung, and Martin Kove as Ericson; directed by George P. Cosmatos.
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Original cover art by Felipe Sobreiro.
Comments
Rambo: old blood
Jan
2025-08-11 16:09:52 +0000 UTCLate but: Marlon Brando in the freshman is a parodying themself example.
Vincent Mollica
2025-06-08 21:19:43 +0000 UTCAnother one of the movies about rescuing MIA/POWs from Vietnam that is oddly forgotten is Uncommon Valor starring Gene Hackman, Patrick Swayze, Robert Stack, Fred Ward, and Tex Cobb. It's also nuts but would make an awesome episode. (Subtle hint.)
Kemper
2025-06-07 13:59:09 +0000 UTCThey let Sam Raimi cook and I was 100% there for it. Yes they did Wanda dirty but I had a very good time with it.
Frank Grimes
2025-06-07 01:52:08 +0000 UTCDoctor Strange 2 > most MCU
Clint Rivas
2025-06-06 20:17:49 +0000 UTCI know we still have some eps to go before the break, but I'm saying it now - The Roger Corman/Russ Meyer 'Cycle Whore Girl' extended riff may be a season best in terms of particular jokes
Todd B
2025-06-05 20:46:53 +0000 UTCI am surprised the Rambo NES game wasn't mentioned at all here. It's a fever dream retelling of this movie where Rambo is stabbing bats and stuff like Zelda II. Not like the awesome Sega Master System Rambo where we are shooting people and helicopters with flame arrows. Now THAT is a game to set your watch to.
Eric Gerbeck
2025-06-05 13:23:43 +0000 UTCI've said this before but you guys are on a truly great run of episodes atm. I had no particular interest in this movie as an episode but was dying laughing throughout. "He looks like ze sleepy tea bear!"
Isaac Coleman
2025-06-05 12:53:03 +0000 UTC"It's the same actor, I don't know if it's supposed to be the same person"
Smaug
2025-06-05 12:48:31 +0000 UTCR Lee Ermey? Not sure if it counts if he is just playing various people called "Sarge" rather than a named dude.
Graeme Hill
2025-06-05 10:29:15 +0000 UTCHorror kill counts might be more acceptable since they tend to be smaller and easier to count. Trying to do an action movie like this where you'd have to account for non-stop gunfire and explosions is where it gets ridiculous.
profondo robbo
2025-06-05 09:04:09 +0000 UTCCobra >>>> First Blood: Part II
Z
2025-06-04 23:38:28 +0000 UTCRegarding Andrew's dig at the kill count: I always was under the impression that Chelsea Rebecca was a real human woman. Jury might still be out on James being a grown adult. Speaking of which, are we finally getting into Tha Hood in October with Dead Meat?
RonnieSoak
2025-06-04 22:45:25 +0000 UTCYa know I thought about that yesterday! Totally correct - Steve
We Hate Movies
2025-06-04 21:07:18 +0000 UTCAs a man with an O at the end of his last name (Sicilian, not Cherokee), the pronunciation in that movie better be Non-nas, not No-nas.
jribs
2025-06-04 19:40:06 +0000 UTCFantastic as always. I kinda prefer the third movie simply because it has the decency to be utterly stupid as hell AND gives some decent action throughout before the third act. Also really want you guys to cover Staying Alive. Its one of my favorite bad movies. Just a perfect storm of WTF.
Ed Harris
2025-06-04 18:38:59 +0000 UTCI also have AMC+ for my Mad Men rewatch! I have the dvd set too but sometimes I want to watch it on my phone, the epitome of laziness!
Jaime Lee Ezell
2025-06-04 14:05:26 +0000 UTCMy God, please clip Steve signing some Crucial Taunt as Sly 😂🤣😂
Dennis Stack
2025-06-04 13:47:13 +0000 UTCIs this Vaughn trying to once again polish his rep?
Matthew Lloyd
2025-06-04 10:37:11 +0000 UTCThe tracks were in the wrong order. This issue has been fixed, please delete and redownload.
We Hate Movies
2025-06-04 10:03:01 +0000 UTCOnly movie I've ever watched while listening to this podcast for the last 7 years that was so void of any substance that I decided to listen to the podcast while I was watching it. Definitely improved the experience.
Ray
2025-06-04 07:20:04 +0000 UTCApart from the echo everyone seems out of sync, lots of dead silence and talk8ng iver each other.
Matthew Lloyd
2025-06-04 07:01:00 +0000 UTCDoes Wesley Snipe's cameo on What We Do in the Shadows count as a parody of a character they played? Probably.
CharlesGrodin'sToupee
2025-06-04 05:01:04 +0000 UTCWhat's really wild to me is that this has the same cinematographer as The Red Shoes, Black Narcissus, and A Matter of Life and Death.
profondo robbo
2025-06-04 03:39:18 +0000 UTCFun fact: Rambo First Blood Part II cinematographer Jack Cardiff directed a film called The Girl on a Motorcycle.
profondo robbo
2025-06-04 03:37:48 +0000 UTCIt's funny you mentioned bebop and rock steady sense there was a villain in tmnt 2012 called "the hammer" who was a mob enforcer in a mech suit who's voice actor did a sly impression.
Mark D Myers
2025-06-04 01:40:10 +0000 UTCAnswer for Steve! Maybe someone else mentioned him in the thread but John Hurt plays (basically) Kane in SPACEBALLS (it's just a little short scene tho)
Felipe Sobreiro
2025-06-03 22:06:24 +0000 UTCAlso wanted to share I worked on Nonnas! The cast is cursed (Drea de Matteo eep) , making you forget about Vince Vaughn's less than stellar "Italian American accent". The restaurant at the focus of the film is run by a family friend and can confirm, the food is worth the long commute. Slight film but well worth the Nonnas watch party.
Gino Volpe
2025-06-03 21:08:37 +0000 UTCDelete and re-download the episode. We fixed that issue this morning. Apologies for the inconvenience and mess up!
We Hate Movies
2025-06-03 20:08:06 +0000 UTCand he thought Springfield was kinda better than the sweat shop
Matthew Mariner
2025-06-03 19:47:28 +0000 UTCam I nuts? It feels like these and echo in this episode. At first I thought I was just TOO high. But I turned it off, didn't hear the echo, restarted it, and boom, echo.
Matthew Mariner
2025-06-03 19:40:39 +0000 UTC👏 to Steve for the "IT HASN'T BEEN RECOVERED YET?!?!?!" drop
Rose Esposito
2025-06-03 18:45:26 +0000 UTCI was hearing it too. Maybe something with the overlapping tracks
Shawn Marek
2025-06-03 17:15:19 +0000 UTCRoger Moore in Cannonball Run doing Bond and Robert Patrick in Wayne’s World doing the T1000.
Richard Buttry
2025-06-03 17:06:59 +0000 UTCStallone on The Specialist was sexualized more than Sharon Stone and I still have so many questions.
Tala Hobballah
2025-06-03 16:39:25 +0000 UTCRemember only you can vote with your "hate heart" and not your "love heart"
DMAC
2025-06-03 16:06:28 +0000 UTCLets not forget the Simpsons episode where the real Seymore Skinner was a POW then sent to a Chinese sweatshop.
Matthew Lloyd
2025-06-03 15:49:16 +0000 UTCListening in the car this morning , I found it was a minor annoyance at best.
Ryan Dull
2025-06-03 15:49:13 +0000 UTCJon Voight has been the most outspoken out of Stallone and Gibson on his support for Trump. For years!
Tala Hobballah
2025-06-03 15:29:24 +0000 UTCWhat causes the echo to happen before someone speaks? I can hear what's being said faintly before it comes through on the more audible audio.
Brian Manley
2025-06-03 15:13:23 +0000 UTCAm I the only one that didn’t find the echo that bad?
RJ Cunningham
2025-06-03 15:06:37 +0000 UTCPeacock premium does the whole pause for commercial break as well. I noticed it when watching one of WHM Harry Potter commentaries
Kevin Lynch
2025-06-03 14:59:02 +0000 UTCWilliam Shatner parodies Capt. Kirk in Airplane 2
Kevin Lynch
2025-06-03 14:56:22 +0000 UTCDom Deluise in Rambo would have been tremendous, especially the triumphant DUN DUN DUNNNNNN!!! (Also, Stallone DIRECTED Staying Alive. Hoooo-wee.)
MarkNM
2025-06-03 14:26:04 +0000 UTCAlso in that same movie Paul Gleason plays the principal from 'Breakfast Club' again. I'm sure there are more examples during the 'Spoof Wars' of the late 90s and early 2000s, but I kinda checked out on it after NATM.
johnny stocker
2025-06-03 14:06:45 +0000 UTCI really want Motorcycle Girl From Village to be a thing! If they made 3 Sister Streetfighter movies we can get 1 Motorcycle Girl!
James C Harris
2025-06-03 13:07:13 +0000 UTCBill Pullman played Henry Hale on both The Village and Scary Movie 4
Michael Daniels
2025-06-03 11:59:46 +0000 UTCWay too high for that audio. Lol.
Adam
2025-06-03 11:26:05 +0000 UTCThank God I thought my earbuds were fucked
Paterick Caddery
2025-06-03 10:54:17 +0000 UTCUPDATE: The new file is uploaded and should be good to go. If you already had the original file downloaded, please delete it off your device. Not sure how long it will take places like Apple Podcasts or Pocket Casts to update their feeds, but it's right now available on the Patreon platform and Patreon app for listening. Again, sorry for the flub! - Andrew ORIGINAL MESSAGE: We apologize for the error in the edit and are working on a fix NOW. Thank you for your patience and bringing this to our attention. - Eric
We Hate Movies
2025-06-03 10:37:23 +0000 UTCMeanwhile, in 1985, Arnold was busy playing John Matrix and you know he was smoking the world's biggest cigar and laughing his Alpine tits off at Stallone
Eren Keskin
2025-06-03 10:22:02 +0000 UTCOh good I thought it was just me. The audio goes wonky
MVD
2025-06-03 09:21:49 +0000 UTCThe audio is clear for most of it. Around 40 minutes it fixes itself, but I get it
Dylan
2025-06-03 08:18:28 +0000 UTCAlarum is the middle English word that later became alarm, and its root is thought to be the Italian expression "all'arme" meaning "to arms", i.e., a call to arms. So it sort of makes sense as a title for the movie.
Emil Svensson
2025-06-03 08:17:48 +0000 UTCGeorge Lazenby did this too as “JB” in The Return of the Man From U.N.C.L.E. TV movie.
Craig
2025-06-03 08:16:38 +0000 UTCThe Tombstone episode of the What Went Wrong podcast is an eye-opener. The film turned out amazing considering.
Craig
2025-06-03 08:12:30 +0000 UTCAudio on this is definitely wonky for a good 20 minutes. Danny Trejo cameoed as Machete in Spy Kids nearly a decade before the film of the same name was released
Dylan
2025-06-03 07:01:32 +0000 UTCI literally can't listen to this with the echo effect. Can someone let me know if a fixed version gets uploaded?
Calvin Lindfors
2025-06-03 06:57:05 +0000 UTCI actually do have an example of an actor playing a parody of a character they previously played. Ron Lester played Billy Bob in (previous episode) Varsity Blues. He played a version of the same character in Not Another Teen Movie, but the name was changed to Reggie Ray. Yes, I own that movie on standard def DEE VEE DEE.
Busiris
2025-06-03 06:28:34 +0000 UTCCan I be a prisoner of war dad?
Graham Trainor
2025-06-03 05:58:29 +0000 UTCDidn’t realize you guys are already in the UK recording this in a cave.
Brendan Klein
2025-06-03 05:54:52 +0000 UTCHey, Guys! Allegedly on TOMBSTONE, Kurt Russell replaced George P. Cosmatos, who replaced writer Kevin Jarre -- who was making his directorial debut. Disney was so unhappy with both Cosmatos' & Jarre's footage -- the cast was happy with Russell stepping in and he happily agreed to go uncredited to not cause a scene with the DGA. The rest is history. For Andrew, you got to me & I caved: weeks after seeing THE ACCOUNTANT 2 and after the last WHM ON-SCREEN LIVE, I cheerfully broke down & got the Airstream trailer popcorn bucket. It was the very last one at my neighborhood AMC. Thanks for tilting me into the purchase 😎 Take care, guys!
Cody Downs
2025-06-03 05:39:53 +0000 UTCMarlon Brando kinda parodied the godfather in the freshman.
Luke Gordnier
2025-06-03 05:38:52 +0000 UTCAccording to imdb rambo 1 takes place in 1981 According to Rambo 2, Rambo is born 1947, making him 34 y old in 1981 so he’s 38 in rambo 2? Did Rambo return from Vietnam in 1981? Or earlier? How old is Rambo supposed to be? And Trautman?? I’m saying these movies don’t make sense
Jan
2025-06-03 05:16:46 +0000 UTCNow you've got me remembering all of these mediocre comedies from the '80's.....Roger Moore is BLATANTLY parodying his Bond character (to the point where it apparently really pissed off EON) in the first Cannonball Run movie. 😉 Damn yet ANOTHER one: Bruce Willis' cameo in Loaded Weapon One parodies John McClane. 😉
Geoff Gershon
2025-06-03 05:14:12 +0000 UTCAbout the self-parody stuff.....you could make a strong case that Cary Elwes in Hot Shots Uno is pretty much parodying his Russ Wheeler antagonist from Days of Thunder just the year before - they're pretty much the same performance. :) Oh and SHATNER is definitely parodying his Captain Kirk persona in Airplane II....he's hysterical in that movie. 😆
Geoff Gershon
2025-06-03 05:10:36 +0000 UTCThis is cacophonous to listen to.
Daniel A. Barron
2025-06-03 04:56:41 +0000 UTCMartin sheen in Hot Shots Part Deux and Bruce Willis in Loaded Weapon. But all of those are just cameos.
Ryan Horn
2025-06-03 04:54:31 +0000 UTCRobert Patrick does T-1000 in Waynes World & the Last Action Hero.
Jan
2025-06-03 04:41:07 +0000 UTCAnybody else getting a weird echo starting at 21:42-39:00? First I thought it was my headphones but then I can hear it on every app.
Brandon Ford
2025-06-03 04:32:56 +0000 UTCAudio is messed up on this. Getting background noise of conversation before or after it's in the main audio.
Jason Martin
2025-06-03 04:31:55 +0000 UTCI watched Punisher: Warzone on PlutoTV when they did it on the show a while back and had the same experience Steve had with the fade-to-black in this movie. I was confounded you guys weren't making fun of the editing up and down in that movie and only just had the same realization Steve did.
Taco6N 13
2025-06-03 04:31:06 +0000 UTC
