MovieChat Forums > Rambo III (1988) Discussion > Why is it that lead charectors develop s...

Why is it that lead charectors develop senses of humors in sequels?

posted 17 years ago by drtoni70
19 replies | jump to latest

The more sequels a movie has, the bigger sense of humor the lead charector develops.

Look at Freddy Kruger
Arnold as the Terminator
Batman (and pretty much the entire city of Gotham)
Spiderman

Rambo from Rambo III is one of the worst examples. A stone cold Vietnam vet, hardened from war and suffering from post traumatic stress disorder...he cracked a couple of one liners in First Blood part II, but he and Troutman belonged in a sitcom in Rambo III.

From the looks of the deleted scenes, it seems like they intended Rambo to be a regular Jerry Seinfeld originally. Thankfully a lot of the really bad jokes ended up on the cutting room floor.

made the movie:
Russian guy: "Who is this"
Rambo: "Your worst nighmare" (one of the coolest lines ever)

got cut:
Russian guy: "Who is this"
Rambo: "A lost tourist"

I kind of didn't mind the humor in Rambo III, but I'm glad they made the cuts that the did. I took Rambo III for what it was...a cheezy yet fun action flick.

[–] cord-74 17 years ago

You got it completely wrong. The point of the consequent films about Rambo was to show the change of his psyche. He was no longer suffering from the PTS. The humour in R3 was symbolically extremely important AND inspirational in the development of the character. It would not work at all if it tried AGAIN to be as serious.

[–] drtoni70 17 years ago

Yea, I was thinking that to...but I think youre giving Stallone and who ever else wrote Rambo III way too much credit.

Maybe they did write in the humor to show how Rambo found self peace and lightened up...but I also think they just wanted to throw in typical action movie one liners. Bessides, Rambo's new look on life doesn't explain why Tautman is George Costanza to Rambo's Jerry Seinfeld.

Also, Rambo was more no-nonsense and badass than ever in Rambo (IV)and it worked out great. Granted, a lot could have happened between the events of Rambo III and Rambo 2008 to make him that way.

[–] brightmidnight71 16 years ago

Actually, maybe this is how they always were. We never got to really see them interact much before. There's the last scene in First Blood...which is a little tense for banter....there's the beginning of Part II, which was also tense and mostly prep for the mission....they talk at the end...and that' passionate speech time....

Then, there's Trautman's arrival at the begnning of Rambo III, which is official then meaningful...

If you think about it...the two of them being in a combat situation again is probably the most natural thing in the world for them.

"When you're pushed, killing's as easy as breathing."

[–] koffeenkreame41-1 9 years ago

Actually, maybe this is how they always were. We never got to really see them interact much before. There's the last scene in First Blood...which is a little tense for banter....there's the beginning of Part II, which was also tense and mostly prep for the mission....they talk at the end...and that' passionate speech time....

Then, there's Trautman's arrival at the begnning of Rambo III, which is official then meaningful...

If you think about it...the two of them being in a combat situation again is probably the most natural thing in the world for them.

This. I actually liked their back and forth, it's not like they just were cracking jokes left and right, they had two or three of them. I liked seeing them interact that way, showed how they interacted together, really showed their bond as friends.

"I'm the ultimate badass,you do NOT wanna f-ck wit me!"Hudson,Aliens😬

[–] oliverfennell 15 years ago

Agree with the OP. The humour was misplaced and the film at times strayed dangerously close to "buddy movie" territory. Add in the sidekicks and the absurdly comic violence and I'm REALLY glad there wasn't a further sequel in the following 2-3 years. It would have been Rambo and Trautman together from the start, wisecracking all the way, or maybe Rambo with a young "protege", delivering one-liners with the kills a la Arnie. It would have been terrible. Thank God they waited long enough for Rambo 4 to reassess the appropriate tone for the films and the character. Even if you accept an inevitable ramping up of the action and lessening of the "message" as any franchise goes on, I don't accept that there's any room or excuse for levity in Rambo.

[–] LightningLad 13 years ago

It seemed like in the eightes, the first sequel would be darker, then the third would be a comedy. By eighties standards RIII is still pretty grim.

For instance, Police Academy 2 is dark and disturbing. Haha, okay, bad example. But I'm thinking of Empire and Temple of Doom.

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Reason is a pursuit, not a conclusion.

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] 13 years ago

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[–] AGood 12 years ago

I think the worst example to prove your point is Lethal Weapon.

Riggs was suicidal and depressed

Murtaugh was old, past it and depressed.

By Lethal Weapon 4 they were a couple of clowns laughing and joking all the time.

Flipside the police psychologist in Lethal Weapon 1 was serious, professional and on the ball.

By Lethal Weapon 3/4 that same Psychologist came across as stupid and ineffectual. So this means both of them somehow made some miraculous recovery all on their own.

[–] MartyScorsey 12 years ago

Lethal Weapon somehow carries it off though...perhaps because comedy was always an element in the series and the proportion of it just depended on what stage of their lives the characters were at.

With Rambo III, I think Sly felt the pressure of competing with Arnold's 'guns and puns' formula. By Rambo 4, he returned to the irony-free tone of part 2.

======================

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[–] Times_Up 12 years ago

I recently read on another thread that a poster considered this movie to basically be Sly's Commando. I've never looked at it that way, but it may make sense. I may enjoy it a bit more next time. A double feature with Cobra would help .

[–] phillipsdan83 11 years ago

Even in LETHAL WEAPON, there was plenty of buddy humor, and by the end of that film Riggs is already on his way to healing. Rambo was NEVER, in either of the previous films, a joke machine. I understand Stallone was rewriting the script as the movie was being shot, and I'll bet he and Crenna improvised a lot of the banter. Either that, or Stallone was trying to be Schwarzenegger, who always regarded the vast majority of his action films as ridiculous anyway and played them for laughs.

[–] CapitanJusticia 11 years ago

Spiderman has always had a sense of hummor. That's the way he's written in the comics.

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] Doc110894 11 years ago

Rambo is pretty funny in this.

[–] dannyvazmon1 10 years ago

Just because your suffering from PTSD does not mean you're void of all sense of humor. I know plenty of guys with multiple tours in Iraq/Afghanistan suffering from PTSD who have a heck of a sense of humor. Having said that, Rambo had absolutely no sense of humor in Rambo III. I only remember him saying one semi-funny line in the entire movie, which was the "It turns blue" line he gave to the Afghani guy. Not sure what the OP is talking about.

[–] shadowangel-599-184270 10 years ago

Rambo already had the one-liners in the first movie. The first movie already feels like a comedy compared to the original book from David Morrell where John Rambo is a cold-blooded killing machine who wouldn't know what Mercy is even with a dictionary.

Also i think americans always need to get some uplifting comedy in movies about war. They have that big vietnam trauma (OMG! we lost! the greatest country in the world got it's ass kicked by peasants!") and they also need to be shielded from the horrors of war (CNN and FoxNews do a good job at that today and can be seen as continuation to the "Blue Light" scene, just even dumber)