This article is a detailed summary on all of John Rambo's actions during Rambo.
Life in Thailand
Rambo in the rain, trying to cleanse his soul.
After a long career as a Green Beret and later a Mercenary, Vietnam War veteran John Rambo has retreated to Thailand where he lives a relatively peaceful life as a hermit. Rambo, due in no small part to the horrifying ordeals he has seen or done in his lifetime, has become an athiest and a hermit, catching snakes for a local snake farm as a job. He also taxis people down the Salween River on his longboat for extra money. Rambo will also fish with his bow and give the fish he catches to local Buddhist Monks. Rambo has become very angry and burned-out over the years and has completely lost his faith in humanity.
Changing what is
Rambo is spotted while feeding his snakes by some missionaries from the Christ Church of Colorado. Their leader, Michael Burnett, asks Rambo to take them downriver, into war-torn Burma. Rambo declines, rudely leaving the group, telling them that they're "not goona change anything". Rambo leaves and begins forging a new propeller for his boat, only to be approached by a young, naive schoolteacher and one of the missionaries, Sarah Miller, who tries to persuade Rambo to take them downriver, but to no avail. Rambo rebuffs her and leaves. Later that night, Rambo is sitting out in the rain in a symbolic attempt to try and cleanse himself when he is visited again by Sarah. Rambo tries to tell her that he can't help her out, but she tells Rambo that what they're doing is necessary. When Rambo tells her to live her live because she has a good one, Sarah tells him that she is not wasting her life by trying to save the lives of others. Rambo is so encouraged by Sarah's passionate words that he agrees to take them downriver at no charge. Sarah would later be the only missionary to talk to Rambo, and although the unpersonable Rambo doesn't want to talk, he does tell Sarah that it is because of her that they are going into Burma.
River Pirates
Rambo tells Sarah she won't change anything.
Later that night, they are attacked by a group of Tatmadaw river pirates, who attempt to rape Sarah. Rambo tries to negotiate, but the pirates will have none of it. Rambo is finally forced to draw his war-era GI Colt M1911A1 .45 pistol and shoot all of the pirates to death. This horrifies the missionaries, and Michael shouts at Rambo, asking why he did it. Rambo grabs Michael by the throat and tells him that they would have raped Sarah at least fifty times before cutting all their heads off. Rambo then attempts to turn the boat around, Sarah tells Rambo that they can't turn around, and Rambo reluctantly takes them into Burma. After they dock at Burma, Michael tells Rambo that he intends to report him for the murder of the pirates, which disgusts Rambo, as he did it for them. Sarah thanks Rambo and gives him her cross necklace, before leaving into Burma.
War's in your blood
Rambo forges his machete.
Rambo returns back home, on the way dousing the River Pirate boat in boat fuel and lighting it on fire with his wartime Zippo lighter, destroying it. At this point, Rambo is revealed to be suffering from traumatic nightmares reflecting all of the people he has killed over the years. Rambo wakes up, thinking that he hears the voice of his friend, Sam Trautman, but it is only a one Reverand Arthur Marsh, who informs Rambo that the missionaries were to have returned two weeks ago, but have since gone missing, and Marsh requests that Rambo transport a group of mercenaries downriver and lead them to where he dropped them off, so they can rescue the missionaries. Rambo agrees to leave as soon as possible and then transports the missionaries down the river to Burma.
Live for nothing or die for something
Coming soon
The rescue mission
Coming soon
Claymore bombing
Rambo runs from the explosion.
Rambo spots an unexploded British "Grand Slam" bomb from World War II and asks Schoolboy for the Claymore. Schoolboy tosses it to him and Rambo rips off a piece of Sarah Miller's blouse. Rambo runs off to the bomb's location and strings up the Claymore with a trip wire underneath the bomb. He places the piece of Sarah's shirt on it and covers the equipment with leaves before fleeing. The Tatmadaw arrive and the dogs sniff out the piece of Sarah's shirt. The Tatmadaw think that someone is hiding under the leaves and brush them away, pulling the trip wire in the process. This sets off the Claymore, which detonates the six thousand pounds of explosive in the "Grand Slam" bomb in the process, killing at least eight soldiers in a gigantic explosion.
Machine gun massacre
The machine gunner fails to notice Rambo sneaking up behind him...
It looks like the mercenaries and the missioanaries are goners, but Rambo sneaks up stealthily behind the gunner of a vehicle-mounted Browning M2 Aircraft heavy machine gun before decapitating him with his mini-machete and commandeers the machine gun with a heat shield and muzzle brake mounted on the back of a vehicle, using it to blow the driver of the Jeep to bloody shreds and then kill almost everyone in Tint's battalion. He continues to fire for nearly six minutes, and it's a wonder that the barrel doesn't melt, as the intense heat from such a high fluctuation of gases from the cartridges would require frequent barrel changing. By attacking the soldiers, the rest of the army is distracted and the mercenaries escape and get weapons. Rambo fires the gun empty, and during this time gets shot in the shoulder. Rambo cries out in pain but as the Karen Rebels arrive and he realizes that a truck full of arriving soldiers is approaching. Rambo gets back up, ignores the pain and reloads the machine gun with another belt of .50 BMG links, cocking it and using the machine gun to blast the truck to pieces, slaughtering the soldiers. Rambo then turns the machine gun on a Tatmadaw river patrol boat, which is using both a flamethrower and a machine
Rambo prepares to mulch the battalion from the hill.
gun to fire on the civillians from the shore. Rambo uses the remainder of the bullets to destroy the boat, punching huge holes through the metal walls of the cabin and blowing through the sailor's chests. After Schoolboy helps Rambo by shooting the last machine gunner in the head with a Barrett M82 sniper rifle, Rambo stops firing and sees Major Tint trying to run from his defeat. Rambo jumps off the truck and then kills Tint with his machete by means of disembowelment.
Rambo Goes Home
Rambo sees his father's rusted mailbox.
Encouraged by Sarah's words, Rambo decides to go back to his hometown back in America, Bowie, Arizona. Walking along a lonely, rural highway on a hot summer day, he finally comes across his father's rusted mailbox at his horse farm. Rambo looks back at the road, hesitant to proceed, but then keeps walking, having finally moved on with his life and at peace with himself.