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Rambo: First Blood Part II
Movie

Rambo: First Blood Part II

1985 • Unknown

Woke Score
1.4
out of 10

Plot

John Rambo is released from prison by the government for a top-secret covert mission to the last place on Earth he'd want to return - the jungles of Vietnam.

Overall Series Review

John Rambo is sent on a covert mission to Vietnam to locate American POWs, only to be betrayed by the civilian American government official in charge, Marshall Murdock, who wants to bury the POW issue. Rambo defies orders to rescue the prisoners, confronting both the malevolent Soviet and Vietnamese communist forces, and the corrupt politicians of his own country. The narrative is a fantasy of American military redemption, focusing on the competence and moral clarity of the soldier against the duplicity of bureaucrats and foreign enemies. It is a quintessential 1980s action film that champions traditional, rugged masculinity and the honor of the fighting man.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics1/10

Characters are judged entirely on their moral and tactical competence; Rambo is the quintessential white male action hero whose individual merit surpasses all bureaucracy. The main villain is a white American bureaucrat, Marshall Murdock, demonstrating that evil is not based on race but on corruption and lack of character. The non-white enemies are villains in a geopolitical conflict, not based on race theory. The narrative champions the traditional soldier.

Oikophobia2/10

The film does not engage in civilizational self-hatred. It directs hostility toward corrupt American government officials who betray the nation's soldiers, but Rambo's entire mission is an act of extreme loyalty, gratitude, and defense of his fellow countrymen (the POWs). Rambo acts as the institutional shield against the chaos created by the faithless political class, ultimately striving to restore national honor.

Feminism1/10

The main female character, Co Bao, is a capable intelligence agent who helps Rambo. She is explicitly positioned in a heterosexual, complementary relationship with Rambo, with plans to marry and start a life in America. Her death serves to motivate the male hero's vengeance, and Rambo himself is portrayed as an idealized, hyper-masculine figure, establishing a clear complementary gender dynamic.

LGBTQ+1/10

The film maintains a normative structure, centered on a traditional male-female pairing between Rambo and Co Bao. There is no presence of alternative sexual ideologies, centering of non-heterosexual identities, or any discussion of gender theory. Sexuality remains a private, non-political element of the main relationship.

Anti-Theism2/10

Religion is a minor element, only appearing when Co Bao explains her Buddha necklace is for good luck. The core conflict is political and military (Capitalism/Individualism versus Communism/Tyranny), not a lecture against traditional religion. Faith is not a central theme, but the concept of Objective Truth (doing the right thing and rescuing the POWs) drives the hero's moral imperative against the moral relativism of the treacherous politician Murdock.