Plot

Rambo mounts a one-man mission to rescue his friend Colonel Trautman from the clutches of the formidable invading Soviet forces in Afghanistan.

Weary of the horrors of war, the expert in guerrilla tactics, John Rambo, has settled in exotic Thailand since the suicide rescue mission in Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985). However, John will return to action, when his grizzled mentor, Colonel Sam Trautman, gets trapped behind the enemy lines in Soviet-infested Afghanistan, after a botched attempt to aid the remaining rebel pockets. Now, there's no turning back--and as each minute counts--John must act fast before it's too late. Once more, the government will deny John's existence if the men of the ruthless Soviet Colonel, Zaysen, capture him. But, John shows no mercy, and, this time, he fights for his friend. Can Rambo save the only man who ever stood by him?—Nick Riganas

John Rambo's former Vietnam superior, Colonel Samuel Trautman, has been assigned to lead a mission to help the Mujahedeen rebels who are fighting the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, but the Buddhist Rambo turns down Trautman's request that Rambo help out. When the mission goes belly up and Trautman is kidnapped and tortured by Russian Colonel Zaysen, Rambo launches a rescue effort and allies himself with the Mujahedeen rebels and gets their help in trying to rescue Trautman from Zaysen.—Todd Baldridge

John Rambo, unwilling to accompany old friend Colonel Trautman behind Soviet lines in Afghanistan, ends up going there on an unofficial rescue mission after Trautman is captured. Bullets and bombs fly in all directions as the indestructible Rambo quickly works his way through a large camp of Soviet soldiers.—Rob Hartill

Colonel Samuel R. "Sam" Trautman (Richard Crenna) returns to Thailand to once again enlist the help of Vietnam veteran U.S. Army Green Beret John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) whom has settled in the country since the events of First Blood Part 2. Trautman witnesses Rambo's victory in a stick fighting match (with Rambo donating his winnings to the monks). Rambo is practicing to control his temper and the Buddhist teaching of respect for all living things. He spares his opponent after defeating him. Trautman visits the construction site of the Buddhist temple Rambo is helping to build and asks Rambo to join him on a mission to Afghanistan.

The mission is meant to supply weapons, including FIM-92 Stinger missiles, to Afghan rebels, the Mujahideen, who are fighting the Soviets in the Soviet-Afghan War. Trautman shows him photos of civilians suffering under Soviet military intervention. Trautman says that more than 2 million civilians have been killed in the war with the Soviets. The Soviets have used Chemical weapons to commit mass genocide against the native Afghan tribes. The war has been raging for 9 years and the Afghans are finally able to resist with the help of Stinger missiles. There is one region in particular where the missiles have not yet reached, and the mission is meant to rectify that. The Soviet Commander of that region is brutal and this is why Rambo is needed. Rambo refuses and Trautman chooses to go on his own.

Rambo is not convinced that wars make any difference at all as they never worked before either. Rambo likes the tranquility of the temple. Trautman says that Rambo cannot change his identity of a seasoned soldier. He is made to do war.

While in Afghanistan, Trautman's troops are ambushed by Soviet troops while passing through the mountains at night. The entry to the target region is through a narrow valley surrounded by mountains on both sides. Soviet gunships attack the US convoy and easily destroy it. Trautman is imprisoned in a Soviet base and coerced for information by Colonel Zaysen (Marc De Jonge) and his henchman Kourov (Randy Raney). Zaysen wants complete schedules of the delivery US Stinger missiles into Afghanistan. Trautman taunts Zaysen that all his Soviet military hardware is being defeated by Afghan natives fighting with obsolete weapons, running around on horses.

Rambo learns of the incident from embassy field officer Robert Griggs (Kurtwood Smith) and convinces Griggs to take him through an unofficial operation, despite Grigg's warning that the U.S. government will deny any knowledge of his actions if killed or caught. Rambo immediately flies to Peshawar, Pakistan where he meets up with Mousa Ghanin (Sasson Gabai), a weapons supplier who agrees to take him to Khost, a village deep in the Afghan desert, after Rambo threatens him. Khost is close to the Soviet base where Trautman is kept enslaved. Mousa is skeptical as Rambo plans to infiltrate the Soviet base alone, which Mousa believes is impossible.

The Mujahideen in the village of Khost, led by the village's main leader Masoud (Spiros Focas), are already hesitant to help Rambo in the first place.

The Mujahideen have 10,000 fighters in and around the village and are waiting for weapons to be delivered to them before taking on the Soviets. The village has the only doctor for 500 Kms and Mousa is the only person who delivers medicines to the village. Uri is a defected Russian who knows his way into the Soviet base. Uri explains the layout of the base and its defenses, including the landmines and the watchtowers around the base. Rambo understand the ways in and out of the base from Uri.

Masoud explains that Afghans are brave, but the Soviets are massacring them. He narrates how the Soviets killed 6000 fighters in the next valley and killed the pregnant women and burned their babies as the Soviets wanted to destroy the next generation of Afghans. Masoud says that Afghans are determined to win their land back but will wait for the right time to strike.

The Mujahideen are definitely convinced not to help him when their village is attacked by Soviet helicopters after one of Mousa's shop assistants has informed the Soviets of Rambo's presence. Rambo shows his fighting skills when he mans a 12.7 mm heavy machine gun and uses it to shoot down one Soviet helicopter.

Aided only by Mousa and a young boy named Hamid (Doudi Shoua), Rambo makes his way to the Soviet base and starts his plan to free Trautman. The first attempt is unsuccessful and results not only in Hamid getting shot in the leg, but also in Rambo himself getting wood fragments in the side. After escaping from the base, Rambo tends to Hamid's wounds and sends him and Mousa away to safety, before cauterizing his own wound.

The next day, Rambo returns to the base, after scaling a cliff on the fort's perimeter to avoid detection, just in time to rescue Trautman from being tortured with a flamethrower. After rescuing several other prisoners, Rambo steals a Military Mi-24 helicopter and escapes from the base. However, the helicopter is damaged as it departs and soon crashes, forcing Rambo and Trautman to continue on foot.

After a confrontation in a cave, where Rambo and Trautman eliminate several Soviet Spetsnaz commandos, including Kourov, they are confronted by an entire army of Soviet tanks, headed by Zaysen. Zaysen warns them to drop their weapons and comply to his orders saying that they cannot escape and he wants to take them back alive.

Just as they are about to be overwhelmed by the might of the Soviet Army, the Mujahideen warriors, together with Mousa and Hamid, ride onto the battlefield by the hundreds in a cavalry charge, overwhelming the Soviets. In the ensuing battle, in which both Trautman and John are wounded, Rambo somehow manages to kill Zaysen by driving a tank into the Soviet colonel's helicopter, which he first tried to damage with a Molotov cocktail, handed to him by a man on a horse. Somehow, Rambo survives the explosion and gets out of the tank.

At the end of the battle Rambo and Trautman say goodbye to their Mujahideen friends and leave Afghanistan to go home.