The third entry in the ultra-macho Rambo action movie series finds muscle-bound warrior John Rambo (co-writer and star
Sylvester Stallone) refusing a request from his former Vietnam superior, Green Beret Colonel Trautman (
Richard Crenna). Trautman is to lead a mission to aid the mujahedeen rebels fighting the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, but the Buddhist Rambo turns his friend down. When the mission goes awry and Trautman is subsequently captured and tortured within a prison fortress, Rambo launches a rescue effort of his own, armed with his trademark bow and exploding arrows. Along the way, he allies himself with the freedom fighters and runs afoul of the villainous Russian commander Zaysen (Marc de Jonge). At the time of its release, Rambo III -- released in the same month in 1988 that Russian troops began withdrawing from Afghanistan -- was the most expensive film ever made, at $63 million. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide