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Released
1988 · FILM

Rambo III

A reclusive, battle-scarred warrior is forced to return to the front lines when his old friend is captured behind enemy lines in a brutal war-torn land.

“The first was for himself. The second was for his country. This time is for his friend.”

Directed by
Peter Macdonald, Andy Armstrong
Written by
David Morrell, Sylvester Stallone
Rated
BBFC · 18
Runtime
102 min
ActionAdventureThriller

Synopsis

Rambo has endured the physical and emotional scars of combat, gradually finding a sense of inner peace while living in a monastery. When his friend and mentor, Colonel Trautman, requests his assistance on a classified mission in Afghanistan, Rambo initially refuses. However, he is forced to reconsider when Trautman is taken captive.

Credits

Actors
Editor
Production Designer
Director of Photography
Writers
Directors

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How many hands made this film

The scale of the collaboration

A crew of 183+ credited

Why a floor?

This is a minimum, not a total. We only count the credits we’ve captured so far, and coverage is uneven — a blockbuster might show a few hundred names while another of the same size shows a couple dozen. The real crews all ran into the thousands. The number here only grows as full credits are enriched — so we frame it as a floor, never a headcount.

Craft leads on file

Edited by O Nicholas BrownShot by John StanierScored by Jerry GoldsmithDesigned by Bill KenneySound by Frederick J BrownCostumes by Richard La MotteStunts by Vic ArmstrongVFX by William Mesa

Box Office

1988 · Box office

✅ Made its money back — grossed 3.0× its budget

Why 2.5×?

Cinemas keep roughly half of every ticket sold, and a wide release’s marketing often costs about as much again as the film — so a movie needs to gross around 2.5× its production budget just to break even theatrically. It’s a rule of thumb, not the studio’s ledger (home video and streaming come later).

Worldwide gross

$189.0M

Budget$63.0M
Worldwide gross$189.0M
break-even (2.5×)

US & Canada: $53.7M — 28% of worldwide · International: $135.3M (72%)

Opening weekend: $4.5M — 8% of its US run. It had legs — it kept earning long after opening weekend.

Opening week (7-day): $4.5M — 8% of its US & Canada run.

Peak 2,562 theaters

Full synopsis

Versions & cuts

  • 1988, heavily cut, VHS· 87 min · 1988

Also known as

  • Rambo 3de
  • Rambo 3fr
  • (English)Rambo III
  • (French)Rambo III
  • (Bulgarian)Рамбо III
Release dates around the world5 countries · show
  • United StatesMay 25, 1988
  • CanadaJun 5, 1988
  • JapanJun 11, 1988
  • AustraliaJun 23, 1988
  • MexicoJun 24, 1988

Companies

ProductionCarolco Pictures

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