The story of Vietnam Veteran John Rambo personifies the whole man-versus-the-world genre. Pitting one lone man against an army of insurmountable odds. Sylvester Stallone portrays a war veteran in Rambo: First Blood who endures prejudice and cruelty and eventually fights back against the whole town who persecutes him for merely being who he is. Eventually it takes an old friend and fellow serviceman, Colonel Samuel Trautman played by Richard Crenna to get Rambo to surrender peacefully but only after he's practically demolished the entire town and incapacitated his attackers.

In Rambo II, we find John Rambo inside a federal prison where Colonel Trautman & the government offer him a chance for a possible pardon if he can prove the non-existence of remaining POWs in Vietnam. Once he does find POWS being tortured, he tries to rescue one of the prisoners but ends up being captured himself and relentlessly tortured while discovering the government unit that hired him would much rather leave him to die a slow death rather than acknowledge his existence or of the POWs. Eventually, Rambo escapes along with a small group of American soldiers and after practically demolishing the whole camp and his pursuers, manages to return to the states to confront the head of the government unit, Marshall Murdock who had ordered the retrieval unit to leave him behind in the first place. After a hail of gunfire, thoroughly ventilating the equipment in his office, Rambo then threatens Murdock that if he finds the rest of the POWs, he would be back.

In Rambo III, things get more personal as John Rambo travels to Afghanistan to rescue Colonel Trautman after hearing news that his dear friend had been captured by Russian forces. With the aid of the local Mujahideen, Rambo manages to save his friend in easily the most action-packed installment of the trilogy.