The dark-horse box office hit First Blood spawned this even more successful sequel in which Sylvester Stallone , reprising his role as ex-Green Beret loner John Rambo, is extricated from prison by his former superior Colonel Troutman ( Richard Crenna ) for a top-secret operation to bring back POW's still held in Vietnam. Teamed up with a female Viet freedom fighter ( Julia Nickson ), Rambo embarks on a "reconnaissance" mission. A love interest develops in the beautiful young guide; she dies by enemy fire; he seeks revenge. Of course, there are also corrupt American officials behind the mission, and Rambo saves them for last. Over the course of the film, Rambo kills enough communist bad guys to fill the Rose Bowl, using everything from fishing line, to exploding arrowheads, to rocket launchers. Stallone mumbles, grunts and groans his way through this laughable and often insulting film intended to exploit anti-communist fervor at the height of the Reagan years. — Jeremy Beday