Just in time for Independence Day, one of the most unabashedly patriotic action movies ever made gets the grand Trailers from Hell treatment as 1985’s Rambo: First Blood Part II becomes the latest recipient of a TFH commentary courtesy of Alan Spencer, the creator of the cult classic action comedy television series Sledge Hammer! and Bullet in the Face.

Whew, that was a mouthful. You can check out the video here below.

Spencer dispenses (sounds like a pair of homonyms) with the traditional facts and trivia typically found on these Trailers from Hell commentaries and instead talks a lot about star Sylvester Stallone and how his subversive sense of humor could have been directly responsible for the absurdist camp value of Rambo. This guy was mentored by the late Marty Feldman and Andy Kaufman and was responsible for two of the best action spoofs of the past three decades, so it’s safe to say that he knows his stuff.

The swaggering, greasy action of First Blood‘s bigger-budgeted follow-up stood in sharp contrast to the downbeat tone of the original and the intensely gory fourth film from 2008, and has caused the film to date faster than even the one where Rambo made the Russians leave Afghanistan just as it was surpassed by real world events. But it still remains a metric ton of loony excitement and the perfect movie for the cheap beer-swilling armchair patriot who worships at the altar of American exceptionalism.

Here’s a more apt description of the film, courtesy of Trailers from Hell’s official website:

Any subtleties or ambiguous notions found in 1982’s “First Blood” are blown up real good in this 1985 sequel. Co-written by Stallone and James Cameron, the second film picks up right where the first left off as Rambo is released from prison in order to rescue a squadron of POWs in Vietnam. Directed by George Cosmatos, the explosion-happy picture benefits from stellar tech credits with TFH guru Mark Goldblatt in the editing bay, an evocative score by Jerry Goldsmith and cinematography from the brilliant Jack Cardiff.

Video

[Source: Indiewire]