RetroBlasting goes on a mission to deconstruct Rambo: The Force of Freedom! SUBSCRIBE! / retroblasting Facebook: / retroblasting Twitter: / retroblasting #RetroBlasting #Rambo #ForceofFreedom
Michael and Melinda, you're a living encyclopedia of 80s pop culture! How come your videos never showed up in my YT recommendation feed? I love watching them for the blast of nostalgia which is so invigorating! Your research, commentary, analysis, insights and editing are top-notch! Keep up the good work! 👍👍😃 Greetings from France
Yep, they even had a bio/image of him in GIJOE: Order of Battle. He was going to be their boxing trainer. Hasbro even had a prototype of his figure. Stallone just didn't get enough money or whatever for being part of GIJOE. www.yojoe.com/archive/unproduced/rocky.shtml www.yojoe.com/archive/unproduced/rockybalboa.shtml
I LOVED the Rambo movies, so when the cartoon came out, I was all about it. The toys were awesome and I actually had a couple of them. Great review, btw. Makes me wanna revisit it!
Wow, Mrs Melinda on a segment!!! 😁👍 You did a great job. I honestly do not even remember as a kid. I think I would have loved the show if I had known about it.👍
I watched in the 80's and I think it is one of the best cartoon shows. Music from Jerry Goldsmith and Saban & Levy is an added bonus to the series. There were stereotypes in the series... but where they wrong? The last few years have shown us who are the cancer to our planet's peace!
Great job on this! It's hilarious that he's never wearing a shirt, even when doing something like repairing the roof. Looking forward to the next episode.
Melinda crushed it! Great overview of a classic I was in love with. Really shows the ridiculousness of how far the toon series deviated from the movie series to get to our TV
Great review. i was too old for Rambo or GI Joe when they came out in the 80's. I was an older teenager and into the MTV age. This was what my brothers kids were watching. With a grandson i am looking into the Rambo era and I find the Rambo cartoon appropriate for young kids. It's hysterically clean by today's standards but I prefer it over GI Joe which feels more like a toy commercial which it really was. Of course Rambo was pretty much the same thing but I thought they got their business done a little bit better. Harmless fun and my grandson enjoys in 2017. Not a bad endorsement for the product, right?
Only thing I remember from the Rambo cartoon was the one bad guy with the robotic claw reaching into a fish bowl full of pirahnas and smooshing one with his claw.
I remember catching this on the "Sci-Fi Channel", aka "SyFy", back when they used to have a cartoon block in the morning. Nowadays, having seen the first two movies as an adult, it baffles me that Ruby-Spears made Rambo a cartoon. I mean if it made money in movies, may as well give it a Saturday morning cartoon, right? Looking at this cartoon, it doesn't look as bad as other R-Rated movies turned SMCs. I have to say seeing the Rambo character being so calm and cool and committed to his job is an odd concept, but for a cartoon, it kinda works. Also the fact that Rambo and company use real guns (even though they don't kill anyone) is really ballsy. Also that clip of him talking to that kid about drugs is also unique. I still think it's a dumb idea to make Rambo kid-friendly, but it looks harmless enough, even with the sterotypes. Fun video.
Melinda, you and Michael do a great job of being honest in your opinions. Don't back down. You both give us fans and collectors, something to think about.
Melinda, don't feel bad about not knowing this show when it was on the air. It never aired in my hometown market and only learned of it's existence the one time I saw it when watching the afternoon programming in Jacksonville (FL) the summer of 1986. My parents and I were visiting my grandparents and I was in the back bedroom watching a mix of shows I already watched back home plus two that didn't air in my market (Rambo and Jaysee and Wheel Warriors) and playing with my Transformers that I was allowed to bring.
Always great to see another RetroBlasting cartoon analysis video! I honestly never knew that there actually was a Rambo cartoon. Definitely an odd choice of character considering the source material but logical given the Reagan Era love of military, patriotism, etc.
Thanks so much for this review!! I was a big fan of this cartoon. I'm from Argentina and let me say that for kids here there was no actual difference between the movies and the cartoon. That's because here there was never a practical restricition for children to watch "adults" movies like First Blood (called "Rambo 1 and Rambo 2" here). The only thing forbidden to children to watch here are movies with sexual content. Violence is completely allowed (I even was traumatized for years by scenes in Missing in Action 2 and Robocop, both involving head blowing, that I saw when I was only 8). Of course, we kids didn't get the real meaning behind the first movie until we were adults. That's why I'm telling you that, despite the lack of blood and real injuries in the cartoon, we saw no difference between that and the movies. We just wanted to see some action. Thanks again for this awesome review! I really needed this.
We had a VHS of this cartoon at my Dad's video store that collected the first 5 eps, like a lot of shows that went to tape back then. But each ep. is missing the minute or two at the end that would say 'To Be Continued...' As a kid, it was my first exposure to Rambo. When I went to watch the other flicks later, I was hurt with no Kat or Turbo.... I wanted badly for Ripper to jump outta nowhere! Oh well.... I guess I'm one of the few that liked this crazy show.
if not for freedom force, Stallone was working on a contract with hasbro for rocky to be a gi joe (the sculpt was changed slightly and became big bao) there was also a thought of getting rambo in on it, but again due to this cartoon coming out, and rights of likeness or w/e it's called screwed that all over, hasbro signed up sgt slaughter instead.
Well, F yeah for being a female who loves Rambo! Being an 80's kid, I didn't know there was a Rambo cartoon either till years later. How I missed the boat on that, I don't know, 'cause I'm a huge Rambo nut. You rock, Melinda!
The Rambo cartoon that should've existed instead of "The Force of Freedom": An HBO animated series (like Spawn and Spicy City), a three-season show called "David Morrell's Rambo" that is faithfully based on his dark and gritty First Blood I, II & III novels. With Al Pacino voicing a bearded, outbursting, mentally unhinged Rambo.
As a kid I loved the movies, toys, and cartoon. I always thought General Warhawk was inspired by Lt. Col. Podovsky and Sgt. Havoc was inspired by Sgt. Yushin, both from the second film.
Melinda said, that some people must have seen G.I.Joe in a younger age, and Rambo a bit later. Here in the Philippines the two shows were shown right after each other in 1988. ( or was It 87, well... it doesn't matter.) So as a kid I wasn't able to make a remark that it was a cheaper version of G.I.Joe. It was shown on IBC Channel 13 on Fridays at 7pm. The commercial kept on saying "G.I. Joe and Rambo are Back to Back". I thought it was a team up. I was disappointed when it wasn't. But still, I had fun watching it on Saturdays after my friend taped it on Betamax. I never saw it on TV when it was being televised, coz my dad and grandma had other things to watch. :D
As a kid, I have watched this show and yes I have also seen the first blood movie by that time. But being a kid I never understood the anger and PTSD stuff, all I know is that Rambo is the good guy and all the other guys shooting at him are bad guys. That is how black and white I see these things and when I saw the cartoon, I just treated it as the same, Rambo = good guy, all guys shooting at him = bad guy. One of the main reasons why the narrative of the story has little to no affect to me is that I never fully understood English when I was around that age. It's kinda weird now, but back then, American cartoon shows/movies aired in my home country were never dubbed as they do now a days.
I remember watching the cartoon Rambo and thinking "what the heck?" back in the day. I hope it's aged better than GI Joe has. Still love the Joe comics, the show, not so much anymore.
i barely remember this but i did have a couple of the figures. this maybe the first rated r movie to be a cartoon but there was also a robocop and toxic avenger cartoons as well,looks like nothing is off limits.
I think Melinda this goes to prove if you like something you just like it and because of that not despite of that you/me many others can forgive almost anything. Enjoyed your review of the series I thought it insightful and to the point, although a little disappointed you didn't get camouflaged up! ;@) Enjoyed as always. Cheers, Fuzz.
I put the Rambo Cartoon in the same category as The Duke of Hazzard, Teen Wolf, Hulk Hogans Rockin' Wrestling, Alf, Ghostbusters, and every other 80s Cartoon based on popular Movies or TV shows. They all were part of the marketing blitz to sell merchandise for everything under the sun related to those shows. It doesn't mean they were bad cartoons. As I kid I liked most of them, with the exception of the Dukes of Hazzard cartoon, that one was really horrible.
I remember watching it and thinking are they going to do a crossover or produce a toy rambo and the gang joining the likes of joes and cobra. Like matt tracker joining the joes. Because i keep thinking some of the vehicles bear resemblance on all three cartoons
He could have had a robot if he borrowed Rocky’s. “Happy Birthday Paulie” (I know it was technically Paulie’s robot) That would have flipped people out if Rocky showed up on Rambo, voiced by the same guy.
That was awesome, totally forgot about the Rambo Cartoon. I remember there was even a sticker album even, The ones done by a company called Panini. Parts of each episode would be a collectible sticker to place over numbered squares on the album. Surprisingly I had that somewhere but never ever watched the cartoon.
I WILL say that they looked at GI Joe episodes and noted some sequences as a 'What NOT to do' because ACT and other groups were effectively threatening their lives if they didn't compromise.
This used to be quite populair in The Netherlands. In fact i used to watch this show before i even knew that there was a movie. The first time i saw a poster off the movie i thought, o cool they made a real movie from the cartoon 😂
I have the Rambo animated series. , but I wish they were in chronological order. . If Time Warner Brothers archive would just pick it up and do the sit right? I'd be very pleased. They did a very good job with centurions. And go Bots It was both of those series. Or put on seven discs first disc was the miniseries and then the other six were the other 60 episodes.
even if they were going to use the brian dennehy character teasle in the cartoon, teasle's dna would have to be changed from a person who has No sympathy for rambo and bullies him, to someone who helps rambo and trautman , kinda similar to the guy in inspector gadget, the chief that will pass assignment letters to gadget and gadget when at the end of said letter, for laughs to the audience when the letter is about to self destruct, will do just about any method to get rid of the letter but when it explodes it the on coming explosion always gets on the chief, that is exactly what would be hilarious if teasle appeared in a animated rambo, just a police chief that hands letters But always gets pranked for laughs
I have a request ..if its cool could you guys do a review of another stallone movie toy.. over the top ..I came across some at the swapmeet recently and I don't have any great memories from my childhood of them but I recognized them so im sure I own some ..so where they that bad that I erased them from my memory ???????
8:51 yeah I agree i cringe every time I hear someone yell "cobra" or "yo joe" I get it's nostalgia but it's just corny cringy and just cheesy like my brother saying dad jokes at least once a day.
Exactly! Robocop was watered down to sell toys. The Toxic Crusader as well. It's not shocking or surprising. Nearly every 80s movie was adapted into a cartoon... no record scratch or forced shock necessary.
Childern can't understand the complexity of the original movies. I saw First Blood when I was quite young, and it brought me to a new low; seeing as there was no real outlet for this soldier to find his way. The cartoon had to lighten the mood to relate to children. Overall, it was better as an adult franchise.
I watched this cartoon back when it aired originally, and I did see the movies too, and I rented the last blood movie from a Redbox kiosk, and I did watch that also💁🏻♂.
The world isn't the carefully curated place everyone thinks it is. Civilization is fragile it doesn't take much for chaos to take hold. I don't see the problem in people feeling like they're a part of the country they live in.
I find it interesting when things not meant for kids for kids this was an interesting look at the Rambo cartoon if you can could you please look at the robocop cartoon and toyline
The Rambo cartoon was way better than G. I. Joe. Hope you'll do one on Galoob's The A-Team figures. And yes, both the Yo, Joe AND Cobra battle cries were ridiculous! And White Dragon was really Snake-Eyes' Rambo counterpart.
Mel nice lookback and cant wait for Pt 2. I have to admit this is one I was waiting for a while. I'll try to explain why this holds a special place for me. I think you really have to be fully familiar with the orignal story, especially the novel and I'm glad you included it, you can't look at the cartoon/toyline without including David Morell's novel. Actually I still own my pb copy and am wondering if either you or Mike read the book. My dad served in Vietnam and I've heard all my life about how these men who were lucky enough to come home got treated like shit by the country they fought for and anyone disrespectful enough to bad mouth them around me is asking for my fist through their skull. When the movie First Blood and others like The Park Is Mine, came out it made people in the early 80s finally realize what dicks they'd been to our fathers, brothers, and sons. After the 2nd Rambo film came out and the cartoon began, I agree w/ Mel about the merchandiseing bandwagon and although there were weak points about the series I think for something aimed at kids, but there has to be a tradeoff from what we saw in the movies and kids could see. Its funny I never picked up on the comparisons of GI Joe & Rambo, but its' clear they're there. Now granted they never mentioned any of the events in FB or Pt 2 but I dont think the writers could , but on the other side I think they were able to show Rambo come to some sort of peace.What I mean is character wise in the book/movie Rambo had PTSD and I think in Rambo FB Pt2 there were still signs of it, and even though the govt asked him to help he cared more about the POWs. Then in the 3rd he only cared about Col Trautman. I think part of the problem the cartoon had was the toy line which I know you'l talk about, but the figures were pricer than GI Joes, which was cause they were on the 12" scale. If they'd been on a smaller scale and more afforadable I think kids would bought more, but then we'd have a real problem with getting them mixed up w/ Joes, kinda like The Corps. (Which wouldnt be a bad show for you guys to do) Mel made a lot of great points of why this was a good cartoon with a rough starting point. I cant think of any other R rated movies that launched into a toy & cartoon line except Robocop. The real life weapons, the cultural terrorists & factions, and using the music from the movies helped maintain a real solid feel more so than GI JOE. Now I'm not dissing GI JOE, but Rambohad a bit more for me on a personal level because of my Dad. I am wondering one thing and maybe Mel & Mike can touch this/do a video, did the Rambo toy line help to kill the proposed Rocky Balboa GI Joe figure. In 1986 A deal was being struck that Rocky was going to be made a specialist trainer for the JOes, where they could handle hand-to-hand combat Rocky was to train them how to fight wars. In Marvel Comics Battle of the Order Rocky was included, and a prototype was created, but the deal died somewhere.
Thats right I forgot, Morrell was teaching college during Vietnam, and saw the students protesting the war and how they treated the soliders coming home, and felt he had to say something on their behalf. Here's a bit fun trivia; Morell picked the names for Rambo & Trautman from the song "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" and from the name Uncle Sam. I wasnt much into GI Joe but understand Hama's writing was amazing, I'm betting his time in the service had to do with it. Can't wait for Pt 2 and if you havent read First Blood, I'd recomend getting a pb copy. I'd be interested in your thoughts Mel.If you want to borrow mine let me know. I can hold your MASK Collection as collateral. ROFL LOL I was thinking about your comments re: how Rambo's character changed, and being an author I can see that, and naturally they had to for a cartoon. But when it came to the movies I disagree with what you said between first & third. Rambo still had the PTSD/Shell-Shock, and didnt trust the govt obviously, and didnt care about them, he fought for the people. The first time Rambo fought for himself, the second time he fought for his brothers, the third time he fought for his only friend. If there is one thing I learned, the govt and the people are two different entities.
***** Oh and Mel one other point I just caught, at the beginning, you said boys were getting play knives. Yeah after the 2nd movie there was an explosion of knockoff toy combat sets in KMart, Woolworths, K Bee Toys, Child World, and other places too, They came w/ M-16, bandanas, other pieces, the office Rambo sets had a bow w/ arrows and a case for explosive arrow heads. But those were for all kids, we teenagers went for the real, combat, survival knives, which had survival kits in the handles with a compass in the butt of the handle. They were everywhere andcould do real damage. Dealers were selling them everywhere, most wouldnt sell without parents permissions, but I remember a number would sell at flea markets and such, which is where I got mine. That is until my Mom found it then the shit hit the fan. lol
Lol screw the element of surprise....how about when they switched to Cobra lalalalala!! when Serpentor took over...i hated that even as a kid i thought that was dumb ;p
Even as kids we knew it was a cheap imitation of the real thing and would not watch it. Idk what some parents were thinking but as a kid i got to see them all, Friday the 13ths, evil dead 2, rambo, predator, conan the barbarian, return of the living dead, all the cool R rated movies. I even had one of those cheap hollow handle stainless steel rambo knives and i was allowed free roam and was the terror of the apartment complex.
It doesn't shock me that Rambo gets a lot of flack as a TV series: it caused a huge stink when the toys and cartoons came along. Growing up in Vermont with no cable, the show was simply not syndicated there, though broadcast TV in Vermont was extremely limited. (Robocop was later picked up as a weekend series, however.) And besides the obvious military comparison, I think that Rambo gets dismissed because, quite frankly, Ruby-Spears was left scrambling when a bunch of their staff writers ended up writing for G.I. Joe and cementing the success of that series. Centurions (which pre-dates Rambo) even saw one of those writers (Ted Pederson) poached from Joe to become that show's story editor. Worse yet, since the lead character was cleaned up so blatantly for kid's TV (whereas G.I. Joe represented a newfound level of freedom for its writers), it gets looked down upon for frankly poor reasons.
1 more thing for the 80s his muscles where not that big as a kid i want it heman muscles not his he needed more gear as an adult im even bigger than he was in the movie cool video by the way i love ur horror movies u did last time u should make another thanks for the happiness of ur videos
