Personal Response
I feel that the main aim of the movie was to show what life was like for veterans after the war. I do not see any hidden messages other than raising awareness about their situation. Nobody was able to see their trauma or how hard it was to come back to the real world after losing the war. People showed little to no respect.
My most memorable quotes were, “We’re not hunting him, he’s hunting us,” showing that one of the officers finally recognized Rambo’s abilities and the kind of game they were involved in. Then, when Rambo said, “In town you’re the law, in here, it’s me.” This was very powerful. He did not really do anything that deserved prison, yet the officers abused their power. When Rambo had the chance to take revenge, he did not kill them, but he made it clear who was in charge. Then he took a little bit of revenge and flipped the whole city upside down, and this was very cool to see.
Talking about Sylvester Stallone’s acting, I think he did a really good job portraying what PTSD looks like for veterans. He showed it through his flat expression, his silence, and his inability to connect with others, which kept getting him in trouble. At the end, he became very vulnerable, shed some tears, and showed us how hard life is in general for men who are expected to be tough all the time. As he said, in Vietnam he had it all, but back in the United States he has nothing. That vulnerability was a key point in the film.