Rambo: First Blood Part II (also known as Rambo II or First Blood II)  is a 1985 american action film, directed by George P. Cosmatos and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the sequel to the 1982 box-office success film First Blood, and the second installment in the Rambo film series. The two other films are Rambo III (1988) and Rambo (2008) .

Picking up where the first film left, in this second film, Colonel Samuel Trautman (Richard Crenna) offers Rambo his freedom if Rambo will return to Vietnam to search for American prisoners of war remaining in Vietnamese captivity. The film was shot entirely on location in Mexico. The waterfall explosion scene was shot in Acapulco, Guerrero. Producers considered that Rambo would have a partner in the rescue mission of war prisoners. So the producers wanted John Travolta to play Rambo’s partner, but Stallone declined the idea. Lee Marvin (who was considered to play Colonel Trautman in the first film) was offered the role of Marshall Murdock, but declined, leading to the role being played by Charles Napier.

Despite negative reviews, Rambo II was a major worldwide box office success, with an estimated 42 million tickets sold in the US. It has become the most recognized and memorable installment in the series, having inspired countless rip-offs, parodies, video games, and imitations.

Sylvester Stallone  (born July 6, 1946) is an American actor, screenwriter, producer, and director. He is well known for his Hollywood action roles, particularly boxer Rocky Balboa, the character of the Rocky series’, soldier John Rambo from the four Rambo films, and Barney Ross in the three The Expendables films. He wrote or co-wrote most of the 14 films in all three franchises, and directed many of the films.

On March 24, 1975, Stallone saw the Muhammad Ali–Chuck Wepner fight. That night Stallone went home, and after three days and 20 straight hours, he had written the script for Rocky. Stallone subsequently denied that Wepner provided any inspiration for it. A possible inspiration for the film may have been Rocky Graziano‘s autobiography Somebody Up There Likes Me, and the movie of the same name starring Paul Newman.  Stallone attempted to sell the script to many studios, with the intention of playing the lead role himself. Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff interested and offered Stallone $350,000 for the rights, but had their own casting ideas for the lead role, including Robert Redford and Burt Reynolds. But Stallone refused to sell the script unless he played the lead character and eventually, after a substantial budget cut to compromise, it was agreed he could be the star.

The film was directed by John G. Avildsen and  grossed $5 million during its opening weekend and eventually reached $117 million at the North American box office. Rocky was nominated for ten Academy Awards, including Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay nominations for Stallone. The film went on to win the Academy Awards for Best Picture,Best Directing and Best Film Editing.

In 1979 he wrote, directed and starred in Rocky II, which also became a box-office success, grossing US$200 million.

In 1981 he starred alongside Michael Caine in John Huston’s Escape to Victory, a sports drama in which he plays a prisoner of war involved in a Nazi propaganda football game.