MovieChat Forums > Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) Discussion > who saw this in cinemas back in 85?

who saw this in cinemas back in 85?

posted 5 years ago by bozo_500 (13104)
10 replies | jump to latest

I couldn't as was too young (was rated 15) but desperately wanted to. I specifically remember this poster everywhere on billboards and cinemas at the time
https://bigscreenautographs.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Untitslxsssssssed-1.jpg?v=1639767174

remember something about me maybe trying to go in anyway but didn't want to risk the embarrassment of being turned away..so chickened out.(besides my dad would never have gone with me to it anyway.. but seem to recall me saying maybe I could try going in on my own but was just too young to be taken seriously)

I didn't get around to seeing it until about a decade later when bought it on VHS along with the other 2 Rambos Id never seen either (idk why it took so long for me to catch up with them.. think there may have been something about First Blood being banned in uk for a while due to a shooting..and as a result don't think any Rambo were shown on TV for years longer than usual..and didn't rent them as by then I guess I wasn't that desperate to see the Rambos when there were all other recent movies to rent)

[–] NotoriousRio (12927) 4 years ago

Yeah, I was too young at the time but got in anyway, it was great! Then I had a pirate (A bad copy) and then on VHS in one of those rental boxes that was a little bigger than the normal VHS boxes! Kids at school would talk about that movie all summer.

I think First Blood was banned on TV but not on VHS, you could still rent it.

[–] Artisan (3464) 4 years ago

I was even younger about 11 or 12 and my dad took me anyway.

[–] bozo_500 (13104) 3 years ago

In US you can do that but UK you have to be 15 (or look it) even if you were with dad. I didnt get into a 15 until T2

[–] MovieChatUser497 (18943) 3 years ago

I never understood why this was rated R, the violence is pretty cartoony and is pretty much on the level of Star Wars.

[–] moviechatterer (15583) 3 years ago

not me , my friend asked if i'd cover his paper round for him , and then they all fucked off and watched it without me .
twats.

[–] millsey72 (10243) 3 months ago

Those were the days when you could go to a theater and not have to worry about getting Covid. Now its just too dangerous

[–] Tam87 (1173) 3 months ago

It's hard to believe that Rambo II was the second biggest movie of 1985 (only behind the cultural phenomenon of Back to the Future). I wonder how an action film got that big?

What's interesting is that action fans of today generally rate this film far behind the likes of Die Hard and T2, but action fans in the 80s went in droves to see this.

[–] bozo_500 (13104) 3 months ago

It made 300m ww in 85 (as did Rocky 4) which is about 900m adjusted (BTTF did 388m in 85)

Die Hard actually wasn't all that successful when it came out in 88 (143m ) but obviously went on to be on a phenomenon spawning countless 'Die Hard on a ..' type movies and the 3rd film was biggest movie of its year (beating Batman Forever and Goldeneye) and even the dud 4th and 5th films did big box office, and its still obsessed over today (xmas). T2 was an instant iconic movie did 520m (1.2b now) and is still regarded as one of the greatest ever sf/action films of all time and one of the best sequels (maybe the best), wheres as yeah Rambo II doesn't seem to get much attention these days but at the time is was like T2

[–] Tam87 (1173) 3 months ago

Rambo II's legacy was the influence it had on subsequent films. Action fans of today may rate it far behind Die Hard and T2, but it was the first big budget all-action movie that really changed how these type of films were made.

First Blood was the trailblazer for the genre, it blew a hole in the action stratosphere, so now action films started to pick up pace and move away from the lumbering 70s flicks. But Rambo II heralded action films getting much bigger in scale with bigger budgets, bigger set pieces and even the characters getting larger than life. The ending of this film, with two gunships having an aerial wild west stand off, is a good example of this.

This is probably why audiences went crazy for it in 85 - they hadn't seen anything like it before, not with that kind of intensity.

As an action movie fan from my earliest memories, I'll always have a soft spot for Rambo, as that was the first action film I saw. Is there better action films? Maybe. But Rambo always feels different when I rewatch it. It has something extra.

[–] moviechatterer (15583) 3 months ago

I didnt, a so called friend asked if I'd cover his paper route while he and some other guys fucked off to the cinema to see it! :(