History Franchise / Rambo

* PressXToNotDie: The ''Rambo'' arcade LightGunGame features sequences where you must press the Start button at the correct times to succeed, or swiftly "click" on marked spots on the screen à la fellow Sega game ''VideoGame/GHOSTSquad'' to fistfight a villain. ''Rambo: The Video Game'' also includes traditional Quick Time Events, as well as a notorious "[[SkillScoresAndPerks perk]]" that disables them entirely.

** Rambo career in Vietnam bears uncanny resemblance to one of a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_L._Howard Green Beret Robert Howard]] that was nominated for the Medal of Honor three times over a 13-month period. Unlike Rambo, however, Howard stayed in service and became a Colonel himself.

** While Rambo's ability to fly Huey in second movie is completely plausible, his use of a Mi-24 and T-72 (he had no prior knowledge on vehicle' internal layout, startup procedurecs etc) is definitely not.

* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: The reason Rambo does anything, really.

* ''VideoGame/{{Paladins}} (2022)

* ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsColdWar'' and ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare2019 Call of Duty: Warzone]]'' (2020)

* AwesomeMcCoolname: Say it out loud: John. RAMBO. This name oozes pure testosterone and has been widely adapted as a synonym for raging badass. It also helps that in Japanese (乱暴, ''rambou'') it means ''[[MeaningfulName violent, rough, lawless.]]''. The character was named after a breed of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rambo_apple apple]] which was, in turn, named after a Swedish-American immigrant.

[[AC:Crossover game]]

The films in the series are:

* ''[[Film/RamboIV Rambo]]'' (2008)
* ''[[Film/RamboLastBlood Rambo: Last Blood]]'' (2019)

Prior to ''Rambo'', however, a cute and heartwarming spin-off of sorts was created in 2008 by British director Creator/GarthJennings called ''Film/SonOfRambow''. The film details the misadventures of two boys in 1982 who tried to remake ''First Blood'' with a bulky VHS-Camera and the vibrant imagination of ten year olds. Creator/SylvesterStallone himself is said to have loved the film.

Both the films and the character have enjoyed massive success and popularity, and - alongside the ''Rocky'' series - catapulted Stallone to the position of a major action hero and film star. After the release of the first three ''Rambo'' films, Morrell went on to write the novelizations of the first two ''Rambo'' sequels because he wanted to include characterization that he felt wasn't in said sequels. There was also [[AnimatedAdaptation a 1986 animated TV series]] called ''WesternAnimation/RamboTheForceOfFreedom'' that lasted 65 episodes and spawned a line of toys; [[ComicBookAdaptation a few comic books starring the character]]; soundtrack albums for all the films (but not the animated series, which mainly tracked in Music/JerryGoldsmith's score for the second one); and many video games including the [[VideoGame/{{Rambo}} NES version of ''Rambo'']] and the Sega Master System versions of ''Rambo: First Blood Part II'' (a dolled-up version of a Japanese title, ''Ashura'', that was an InNameOnly installment, but did contain an impressive chiptune rendition of the "First Blood" theme that played over its title screen) and ''Rambo III''. Sega also released an arcade light gun "Rambo" game back in 2008, and it is perhaps a distillation of what makes the Rambo franchise awesome, [[SoundtrackDissonance though, bizarrely, had a rap soundtrack]]. There was also ''Rambo: The Video Game'', a rail shooter based on the first 3 movies of the series. It was released on the PC, Xbox 360, and the Playstation 3 in February 2014. A trailer can be seen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNK7hTmrD04 here]]. In October 2020, Rambo was announced to become a [[DownloadableContent downloadable]] GuestFighter in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11''.

''Rambo'' works with their own pages:
[[index]]
* ''WesternAnimation/RamboTheForceOfFreedom'': animated series
* ''VideoGame/{{Rambo}}'': NES game
[[/index]]

A Main/ForeignRemake of the original movie starring Indian film actor, martial artist and stunt performer Tiger Shroff is currently in development.

!!Provides Examples Of:

[[folder:The five movies:]]

[[folder:Across Other Media]]

* KnifeNut: Rambo's serrated-edge hunting knives have become iconic of the series.

** Rambo becomes invulnerable.

* FirstInstallmentWins: ''Rambo: First Blood Part II" is seen as the best Stallone-based game on the Master System, being a highly competent top-down shooter (similar to ''VideoGame/IkariWarriors'' on the NES), compared to ''Rocky'' (a rather lackluster boxing title) and the later ''Rambo III'' (which was a decent Light Phaser game in its own right, that said).

* DolledUpInstallment[=/=]SpiritualSuccessor: ''Rambo: The Video Game'' is arguably one to Teyon's previous {{Light Gun Game}}s, ''Heavy Fire''.

Both the films and the character have enjoyed massive success and popularity, and - alongside the ''Rocky'' series - catapulted Stallone to the position of a major action hero and film star. After the release of the first three ''Rambo'' films, Morrell went on to write the novelizations of the first two ''Rambo'' sequels because he wanted to include characterization that he felt wasn't in said sequels. There was also [[AnimatedAdaptation a 1986 animated TV series]] called ''WesternAnimation/RamboTheForceOfFreedom'' that lasted 65 episodes and spawned a line of toys; [[ComicBookAdaptation a few comic books starring the character]]; soundtrack albums for all the films (but not the animated series, which mainly tracked in Music/JerryGoldsmith's score for the second one); and many video games including the [[VideoGame/{{Rambo}} NES version of ''Rambo'']] and the Sega Master System versions of ''Rambo: First Blood Part II'' and ''Rambo III''. Sega also released an arcade light gun "Rambo" game back in 2008, and it is perhaps a distillation of what makes the Rambo franchise awesome, [[SoundtrackDissonance though, bizarrely, had a rap soundtrack]]. There was also ''Rambo: The Video Game'', a rail shooter based on the first 3 movies of the series. It was released on the PC, Xbox 360, and the Playstation 3 in February 2014. A trailer can be seen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNK7hTmrD04 here]]. In October 2020, Rambo was announced to become a [[DownloadableContent downloadable]] GuestFighter in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11''.

* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: The cops of the first film and the Viet Cong and DirtyCommunists of the second film. Averted in the third and fourth films, as the accuracy of the villains are such that Rambo gets shot at ''least'' once.
* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: Frequently used on Rambo: by the police in the first movie, the Cong in the second, etc.

* {{Flanderization}}: John Rambo killed precisely one guy in the first film, which was completely accidental and a KarmicDeath. Galt, the guy who was killed, had repeatedly gone out of his way to antagonise Rambo, defy orders not to shoot at him and had attempted to murder him in cold blood several times. From II onward however, Rambo was a badass who made mountains of bodies out of practically everyone in his way.
** It should be noted that Rambo was intending to kill the law enforcement that had him surrounded, and it took Colonel Trautman yelling at him to get him to stand down. Rambo had been doing his best prior to that point to repress his killer instincts, and try not to kill any of those police men. It was only when Teasle kept antagonizing him that he finally took the war to him and tried to kill him, [[RevengeBeforeReason rather than using that time to escape]], with the natural consequences being that his duel with the Sheriff attracted a lot of police attention. If not for Trautman then Rambo would have fought those police too, even if it meant his death potentially. The later films are simply showing what Rambo is like when he is holding nothing back.
** The third film also demonstrates the lengths Rambo goes to to control and channel his violent impulses into constructive results. At the start, he's fighting in highly lucrative (and violent) prize fights...and giving the proceeds to the monks he lives among.

* BloodierAndGorier: All of the sequels, but Part 4 really ups the blood and body count.

* VilerNewVillain: Constantly. First movie: Overzealous and prejudiced town sheriff. Second: Cruel Soviet officer, torturing Rambo and calling [=POWs=] "war criminals". Third: Unhinged and sociopathic Soviet officer, that actually enjoys torture and killing civilians with no remorse. Fourth: Cowardly and sadistic Burmese officer, that commits numerous atrocities against Karen people, and uses his spare time for exercising in depraved pedophilia. Fifth: Mexican human trafficker who kidnaps and drugs young girls to pay off a profit.

* SlidingScaleOfAntagonistVileness: Each BigBad in a succeeding installment is shown to be more vile than the last, with the first film's [[StarterVillain Teasle]] being the [[AntiVillain least terrible]] and the fourth film's [[KnightOfCerebus Tint being the most]].

* VilerNewVillain: Constantly. First movie: Overzealous and prejudiced town sheriff. Second: Cruel Soviet officer, torturing Rambo and calling [=POWs=] "war criminals". Third: Unhinged and sociopathic Soviet officer, that actually enjoys torture and killing civilians with no remorse. Fourth: Cowardly and sadistic Burmese officer, that commits numerous atrocities against Karen people, and uses his spare time for exercising in depraved pedophilia.