Rambo: First Blood Part II

Rambo: First Blood Part II Theatrical Poster Country United States Directed by George P. Cosmatos Release Date 1985 Language English Vietnamese Studio Anabasis N.V. Distributor TriStar Pictures Main Cast Character Actor John Rambo Sylvester Stallone Colonel Sam Trautman Richard Crenna Marshall Murdock Charles Napier Lt. Col. Podovsky Steven Berkoff Co Bao Julia Nickson Ericson Martin Kove Banks Andy Wood Lt. Tay George Cheung

Rambo: First Blood Part II is the 1985 sequel to 1982's First Blood. Sylvester Stallone returns as John Rambo, the former Green Beret who is given the opportunity for a Presidential pardon if he accepts a mission to confirm the existence of American POW's captured during the Vietnam War. The film proved to be a massive blockbuster and launched the character of Rambo into the popular culture. Directed by George P. Cosmatos and co-written by James Cameron and Stallone, the film also starred Richard Crenna, Charles Napier, Julia Nickson and Steven Berkoff and would be followed by three sequels: 1988's Rambo III, 2008's Rambo and 2019's Rambo: Last Blood.

The following weapons were used in the film Rambo: First Blood Part II:

WARNING! THIS PAGE CONTAINS SPOILERS!

Handguns

Zastava M57

Seen as the sidearms of all the Vietnamese officers is the Zastava M57, the Yugoslav copy of the Soviet Tokarev TT-33, which was in short supply at the time. The Chinese Norinco Type 54 would be more accurate for them to use for the film, which would be noted by a frame mounted safety switch (which these all lack).

Yugoslav M57 - 7.62x25mm.

A Vietnamese soldier points his Yugoslav M57 at Co Bao.

Tay with his M57 drawn.

Captain Kinh (Dana Lee) holds the M57 at Rambo.

Captain Kinh (Dana Lee) fires his M57 at Rambo.

A pirate sneaks onto the ship via the roof with his pistol in hand before being gunned down by Co Bao's AKM.

A Vietnamese officer fires his M57 at Co Bao.

After unloading his AKM on him to no avail, Tay takes out and fires his M57 at Rambo.

After trying to escape, Tay (George Cheung) decides to turn around and fire one last shot from his M57 at Rambo.

SIG-Sauer P226

CIA operator Lifer (Andy Wood) pulls out a SIG-Sauer P226 pistol and holds it to Colonel Trautman (Richard Crenna) when he tries to stop the chopper from leaving Rambo. It is noted as a P226 by its double stack creases on the frame. The P226 was a brand-new pistol on the US firearms market in 1984-85, when the film was made, so it is likely that Rambo: First Blood Part II is the very first movie to feature this gun (it was previously stated on IMFDb's RoboCop page that RoboCop was likely the first movie to feature a P226). It should also be noted that the P226 was competing for the spot as the official handgun of the US military (the whole reason it was designed). Although it lost the spot, it caught on with many government agencies and is still used by some some units in the army today, making this a relatively accurate appearance.

SIG-Sauer P226 - 9x19mm.

"Don't be a hero..." Lifer the door gunner points his P226 at Trautman.

Lifer the door gunner with his P226 fixed on Trautman. Note that unlike most SIGs in movies, the exposed top of the barrel does not appear to have been filed down, indicating that the weapon is not converted to blank-fire. The curious absence of this modification suggests that the pistol is a prototype or early production weapon that was loaned to the movie's armorers by SIGArms, which makes sense because the P226 was not available on the civilian market at the time of filming.

M1911A1

One of the Vietnamese pirates on the gun boat has an M1911A1 pistol in his holster and puts his hand on it when Rambo and Co Bao enter the boat.

Colt M1911A1 - .45 ACP

A Vietnamese pirate with an M1911A1 in his holster.

Submachine Guns

Heckler & Koch HK94A3 (mocked-up as MP5A3)

The weapon issued to John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) by his CIA controllers is a "faux" Heckler & Koch MP5A3, actually a 'chopped-and-converted' Heckler & Koch HK94A3 standing in for the MP5A3. He loses the weapon when he is forced to cut away his equipment when his parachute rigging gets caught up during insertion. When he is first seen loading it up, it is fitted with a 3x scope, but when he prepares for the drop, it appears to have been removed. Note that the HK94 in the film features the "slimline" handguard, rather than the more commonly seen "tropical" handguard.

The "Fake MP5", the Heckler & Koch HK94A3 Converted to full auto fire, shortened barrel and added third firing position on trigger pack - 9x19mm. This version was used in many films during the 1980s and 1990s. This weapon features the "tropical" (wide) forearm.

Actual Heckler & Koch MP5A3 with original "slimline" forearm - 9x19mm, shown for comparison (Note barrel lugs, polymer lower reciever and paddle mag release).

Rambo loads 9x19mm rounds into the magazine, which are clearly fired dummy rounds.

Rambo loads the "MP5A3" (Actually a HK94A3 with barrel cut down), which is fitted with a 3x scope.

Rambo looks through the scope of the H&K.

Rambo prepares for the drop with the H&K in hand.

Rambo tightly grasps his HK94A3 (you can clearly see the lack of a barrel lug in this picture, identifying it as an HK94).

Ingram MAC-10

When Co Bao (Julia Nickson-Soul) disguises herself as a prostitute to save Rambo, she uses a MAC-10 with a mock-suppressor to fend off the Vietnamese troops.

MAC-10 9x19mm with silencer

Co Bao searches for Rambo with her MAC-10 fitted with a mock suppressor in hand.

Co Bao fires her MAC-10 as she and Rambo escape.

Assault Rifles

AKM

After his insertion back into Vietnam, Rambo meets up with indigenous agent Co Bao (Julia Nickson-Soul) who is armed with an AKM. Rambo later picks up a few AKMs throughout the film to dispatch several Vietnamese and Soviet soldiers. Vietnamese and Soviet soldiers are widely seen armed with AKMs as well. As in most Hollywood movies, the AKMs in the film are all Egyptian Maadi ARM copies of the original Soviet AKM (much like in Red Dawn). By the time of the film's setting, the Soviet military was using the AK-74, not the anachronistic AKM.

Maadi AKM - 7.62x39mm similar to those seen in the movie.

Co Bao (Julia Nickson-Soul) armed with her AKM as she guides Rambo.

A corrupt Vietnamese river pirate steals Co Bao's AKM and holds it like any low-paid extra would.

Co Bao fires her AKM through the boat roof.

Rambo drops his extremely muddy AKM when the Vietnamese close in on him (this is, incidentally, the same AKM on display in Planet Hollywood, the restaurant chain owned by Stallone, Schwarzenegger and Willis ... still with the same "Vietnamese" paddy-field mud all over it).

Soviet soldiers lined up armed with several AK variants, mainly AKM rifles.

Rambo fires an AKM when he escapes the Vietnamese POW camp; note how the muzzle brake is clearly doing what it is supposed to do.

Capt. Tay (George Cheung) fires his AKM at Co Bao while still keeping his sinister "bad guy" face.

Rambo returns fire with his AKM.

A Soviet soldier armed with an AKM searches for Rambo.

Another Soviet soldier with an AKM.

A close up on the muzzle of a Vietnamese soldier's AKM while they search for Rambo in a field.

Capt. Tay fires his AKM at Rambo.

Poly Tech Legend AK-47

One of the Soviet soldiers is seen with a genuine AK-47, likely a Poly Tech Legend AK-47 rifle, although this may have to be confirmed due to sketchy time era.

Poly Tech Legend AK-47

A Soviet soldier searches for Rambo armed with a possible Poly Tech Legend AK-47.

M16A1

Some of the Vietnamese pirates guarding the boat and docks are seen armed with M16A1 rifles.

M16A1 - 5.56x45mm

A Vietnamese pirate is seen armed with an M16A1 rifle while guarding the boat.

Vietnamese pirates on the gunboat bow with M16A1s.

A Vietnamese pirate tries to fire his M16A1 at Rambo.

M16A1 w/ A2 hand guards

A Vietnamese river pirate can be seen with an M16A1 fitted with A2 hand guards on the boat docks.

M16A1 w/ A2 hand guards - 5.56x45mm.

A Vietnamese river pirate is armed with an M16A1 w/ A2 hand guards.

MGC M16 Replica

The M16 rifle next to the RPG-7 stored in the boat is in reality an MGC M16 replica rifle.

MGC M16 replica rifle.

An MGC M16 replica seen next to the RPG-7 in the boat compartment.

Valmet M78/83

A Vietnamese pirate is seen armed with an Valmet M78/83 rifle in a tree. The M78/83 differs from the original M78 in that the clubfoot "RPK-style" butt-stock was replaced with a factory Dragunov-style thumb-hole stock. These were seen unaltered in the films Commando and Predator. At least one Vietnamese soldier is seen with one of these when chasing Rambo later on in the film.

Valmet M78/83S with Mauser Mark X Electro-Point 4x40 scope (converted to full-auto) - 7.62x51mm NATO

A Vietnamese lookout guard armed with a Valmet M78/83.

Heckler & Koch HK93A2

A Vietnamese river pirate is seen armed with an Heckler & Koch HK93A2 rifle while watching from a tree. It is far more likely to be an HK93 over an HK33 because Stembridge gun rentals had many in stock at the time and they were easier to acquire over the selective fire HK33 variant.

Heckler & Koch HK93 - 5.56x45mm

A Vietnamese river pirate on guard with an HK93.

Shotguns

Remington 870

A Vietnamese pirate can be seen wielding a Remington 870 shotgun with a wooden for-end, extended magazine tube, and folding stock. Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) fires a few rounds at the pirates with the shotgun.

Remington 870 w/ folding stock and extended mag tube - 12 gauge

A Vietnamese pirate holds a folding stock 870 at Rambo.

Rambo fires the 870 at the pirates.

Close up on the ejection port of the 870.

MGC Remington Model 31 Replica

The prison guards who oversee Rambo at the beginning of the film are armed with what appear to be Remington Model 31 shotguns. These appear to be replica shotguns.

MGC replica of the Remington Model 31 shotgun

The prison guard, (played by Tony Munafo who would go on to serve as associate producer on several of Sylvester Stallones movies including Rambo III), with the shotgun as he summons Rambo.

The prison guard on the right with the shotgun as Rambo meets Trautman.

Machine Guns

M60E3

The M60E3 is the main weapon wielded by John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) in the film. It is first seen being fired by a Soviet door gunner after their UH-1 dropped napalm on the waterfall where Rambo was fleeing. When using the machine gun, Rambo wraps the ammo belt around his left forearm in order to ensure a proper feed. When Rambo lands the chopper at the CIA base, he picks up the M60E3 machine gun from the chopper door and empties it in the command center to destroy all the high tech equipment and scare Marshall Murdock (Charles Napier). The use of the E3 model is peculiar because it was not introduced until the 1980s, making it unlikely that this machine gun was a holdover from the Vietnam War. A notable continuity goof is that the gun has a full-length barrel when first seen, but has a cut-down barrel when Rambo wields it.

M60E3 - 7.62x51mm NATO‎

A Soviet door gunner fires an M60E3 on a submerged Rambo. The gun later changes into a short barrel version in a continuity error.

Rambo pulls the M60E3 off the chopper door.

Rambo fires the M60E3 like a real action hero, one handed! Note the pintle mounting still attached to the base of the M60.

Note the obvious blank adapter in the muzzle of the M60E3.

Rambo covers the escaping POWs with the M60E3.

Rambo wraps the belt of 7.62x51mm NATO rounds around his arm.

Rambo fires the M60E3 at the surveillance equipment in the command center.

Close up on the action of the M60E3. Note bottle necked blank shell in mid-flight.

The floor of the base becomes littered with belt links and bottle neck blank shells. (you'd think they'd toss some real brass on the floor for realism).

Rambo vents his frustration by emptying the M60E3.

Another close up of the M60E3 reveals the serial number is "1259233" if someone ever wanted to find it in an armory.

M60 machine gun

CIA operator Banks (Andy Wood) mans the M60 machine gun with the bipod removed door-mounted on the Huey sent to pick up Rambo. He is seen providing covering fire with it in the rescue mission to retrieve Rambo.

M60 machine gun - 7.62x51mm NATO

Banks readies the M60 on the Huey.

Firing the M60 at the Vietnamese soldiers pursuing Rambo.

Dual Browning M3 anti-aircraft

An opposing Vietnamese gunboat begins to blow apart the gunboat Rambo is on with dual mounted Browning M3 anti-aircraft .50 caliber guns, noted by their perforated barrel shrouds.

Single Browning M3 anti-aircraft gun with classic spade grips - .50 BMG

A Vietnamese boat gunner opens up with a dual Browning M3 - .50 caliber.

Another shot of the Dual M3s.

DShK (mocked up M60D)

When Rambo and the POWs escape the camp in their captured UH-1, Lt. Col. Podovsky (Steven Berkoff) chases them down in his Mil Mi-24 Hind-D (which in reality was the modified French Aerospatiale Puma first seen in Red Dawn). The door gunners on his Hind begin firing at Rambo with their M60D machine guns mocked up with semi-similar muzzle brakes and spade grips to resemble the aircraft model DShK heavy machine gun

M60D machine gun - 7.62x51mm NATO.

DShK - 12.7x109mm.

The Soviet door-gunner fires the mocked-up M60D during the helicopter chase.

The Soviet door-gunner is taken out by UH-1's minigun. Note the spade grips and M60D body when the door gunner is killed.

GE M134 Minigun

Mounted on the right side of the UH-1 is a GE M134 minigun which is electrically fired by Rambo at the controls when he strafes the POW camp and is then manned by one of the POWs, who manages to kill a Soviet Hind door gunner with it.

General Electrics M134 Mini-Gun - 7.62x51mm NATO

Rambo electronically fires the minigun over the Vietnamese camp.

Another shot of the minigun devastating the camp.

A POW fires the minigun at the Soviet "Hind" (actually an Aérospatiale Puma dressed in Soviet markings).

Another shot of the POW firing at the Soviet "Hind". It should be noted that the real-life Hind's Achilles' heel was the tail boom having poor armor protection, so a burst from the Minigun into the tail boom could likely have taken the Hind down.

Other Weapons

RPG-7 (Mockup)

Rambo disposes of an enemy boat by pulling what is supposed to be an RPG-7 (which appears like the armorers of Red Dawn, who did this film, brought it with them from that film, albeit more convincingly dressed up) out from under a compartment in the gun boat. In promotional material for the film such as the poster above, the RPG-7 is shown with a PGO-7 scope, yet only has iron sights in the film.

RPG-7 - 40mm

The Gunboat Captain (Dana Lee) shows Rambo a RPG-7 (mockup) hidden in a compartment.

The warhead is clearly Soviet-marked with a 1943 date and a 7.62 mark which is strange to be place on a 70mm rocket warhead. Marking on RPG warhead in translate: "Cartridges 7,62mm 1943 year". Apparently, a props person just copied a label from a 7.62mm cartridge box (either 39 or 54R) and put it on the warhead figuring no one would notice.

Rambo retrieves the RPG-7 as the boat is riddled with enemy fire.

Rambo flips up the iron sights on the mockup RPG-7.

Close-up on the trigger of the RPG-7 before Rambo fires it.

M72 LAW

When Rambo crashes his chopper, Podovsky's Hind flies over to confirm the crash. Rambo plays dead until the Hind is in range, then fires (with the safety on) an M72 LAW launcher through the windshield and blows them up. It should be noted that the powerful back blast of the LAW would have likely killed or wounded all the POWs in the back of the chopper.

M72 LAW - 66mm

‎

Rambo readies the M72 LAW.

The shot of Rambo pulling the trigger on the RPG-7 at the pirates earlier in the movie is hilariously reused to show him fire the LAW, despite the entirely different shape and mechanism.

Rambo fires the LAW through the hole in the windshield and takes out the "Hind".

Rambo's Survival Knife

While not a gun, we let Rambo's knife stay because, well, he's Rambo and his knife completes him. Like in the original First Blood, Knife-smith Jimmy Lile was asked by Stallone to design a knife for the movie.

Rambo II Survival Knife

Rambo holds his knife to Co Bao when he first meets her.

Rambo scratches the boat floor with his knife.

Rambo uses his knife's slotted saw teeth to cut a barbed wire fence in the Vietnamese camp.

Rambo with his knife at the ready as he recons the POW camp.

Yushin (Vojo Goric) sears Rambo with his heated knife.

"Mission..."

"...Accomplished."

Hoyt Archery Rambo compound

Another non-firearm Rambo gets away with, his Hoyt Archery compound bow which has been well know as the "Torque Bow" because of the high explosive arrow tips he looses from it. The explosive tips are actually Razorback 5 arrow tips with their protective cover on, which was handpainted with gold paint in order to make them resemble a mini warhead.

Rambo's Hoyt Archery "Torque Bow".

Rambo examines his Torque tips before dropping into Vietnam.

Rambo screws a razor tip onto his arrow.

Rambo screws a Torque tip on his arrow.

Rambo shooting his Torque bow.

Rambo shooting his Torque bow.

Rambo shooting his Torque bow.

M67 "Baseball" grenade

When escaping the Vietnamese camp, Rambo grabs a bag of M67 "Baseball" Grenades and uses them against the soldiers.

M67 Baseball Grenade.

M67 Grenades ready for Rambo to use. They are clearly inert and have their drilled bottoms plugged.

M29 81mm Mortar

When Rambo, Co Bao, and the POW run through the rice paddy field, Vietnamese soldiers drop 81mm M29 Mortars across the field at them but don't score a hit.

M29 Mortar - 81mm

Vietnamese soldiers fire M29 81mm Mortars.

Trivia Specials

Soviet uniforms

The Soviet uniforms are American-style 'Duck Hunter' fatigues (dyed blue to resemble Soviet uniforms). Also - due to service patches Soviet soldiers are meant to be from VDV (Airborne troops corps), but they incorrectly wear black berets (the VDV uses blue-colored berets). Also the VDV shoulder patches are not 'trimmed' prior to sewing onto the sleeves.

"Faux" Mil Mi-24 "Hind" Gunship

The "Mi-24 Hind" seen in the film is in reality an Aérospatiale Puma originally modified for the 1984 movie Red Dawn, although the fake Hind-A-style front end seen in Red Dawn has been removed (primarily because it hindered pilot vision, rendered the aircraft difficult to fly and was at risk of being torn off in violent maneuvers). However, the added wings and rocket pods were maintained, since they were sturdy modifications and did not adversely affect the aerodynamics of the helicopter.

Silouette of the "Hind". This helicopter was an Aerospatiale Puma originally modified for the movie Red Dawn.

The Hind's underbelly is seen.

The Hind flies over the destroyed POW camp.

The Hind as seen from the UH-1. The mock front ends built for Red Dawn were removed (primarily because they hindered pilot vision and rendered the aircraft difficult to fly.)

Sideview of the Hind.

UH-1 "Huey"

The helicopter flown by the Soviets as well as Rambo appears to be a late model Bell UH-1 Huey. In the context of the film, this was most likely supposed to be a South Vietnamese leftover from the war (due to the VPA making use of former ARVN weapons and vehicles after the Fall of Saigon in 1975) on loan to the Soviets. However, this particular model appears to be one that was not introduced until after the war. The Huey in the film is armed with an M60E3 door gun, an M134 minigun, and dual rocket pods.