John Rambo, a Vietnam War veteran, travels to the town of Hope, Washington to visit an old comrade, but learns that his friend has died from cancer caused by Agent Orange. The local sheriff, Will Teasle, mocks Rambo for his appearance and drives him out of town. Rambo tries to return to Hope and is arrested for vagrancy, resisting arrest, and possessing a concealed knife. The officers at the police station try to shave Rambo with a straight razor, triggering his flashbacks of torture in Vietnam.
Rambo fights his way out of the station and flees into the woods, where he is pursued by a search party led by Teasle and the sadistic chief deputy Art Galt. Rambo throws a rock at Galt's helicopter, causing him to fall to his death. The officers shoot at Rambo, forcing him to retreat further into the woods. Rambo non-lethally overpowers the deputies using booby traps and his bare hands. He holds a knife to Teasle's throat, threatening to "give him a war he won't believe" if he doesn't give up the pursuit. Rambo's mentor and former commanding officer, Colonel Sam Trautman, advises that Rambo be allowed to surrender peacefully later, but Teasle refuses.
Rambo returns to town and causes damage, including blowing up a gas station and shooting out the town's power. Teasle and Rambo engage in a gunfight that ends with Teasle being shot and falling through a skylight. Trautman appears and reminds Rambo that he is the last survivor of his unit of Green Berets, causing Rambo to surrender and be taken into federal custody. Teasle is taken to an ambulance.
In "Rambo: First Blood," John Rambo, a former US Army Green Beret who has been imprisoned at a penal labor facility, is offered a pardon in exchange for undertaking a solo infiltration mission to confirm reports that US prisoners of war (POWs) have been left in enemy custody in Vietnam. Upon arriving in Thailand, Rambo is reinstated into the US Army and told to take pictures of a suspected POW camp, but not to attempt to rescue any POWs or engage any enemy personnel. He is promised that a better-equipped extraction team will retrieve any POWs after his return. Rambo is dropped into Vietnam, where he meets a Vietnamese intelligence agent named Co Bao, who helps him reach the suspected POW camp.
Once there, Rambo finds several POWs and frees one of them against orders, but they are discovered by Vietnamese troops and betrayed by local river pirates. Rambo kills the pirates and destroys the gunboat with an RPG, and the POW and Co swim to safety. Rambo and the POW are captured and returned to the camp, where Rambo is tortured with electric shocks until he agrees to broadcast a message to the US warning against further POW rescue missions. Co infiltrates the camp disguised as a prostitute and helps Rambo escape, but she is killed in an attack.
Rambo goes on a rampage, killing many Soviet and Vietnamese soldiers, and ultimately fights and defeats the Soviet liaison and his helicopter pilot in hand-to-hand combat. He then escapes into the jungle and is rescued by a helicopter sent by Col. Trautman
In "Rambo III," John Rambo has settled in a Thai monastery and is helping with construction work when Colonel Sam Trautman visits and asks him to join a mercenary team for a CIA-sponsored mission to supply the Mujahideen in Afghanistan. Rambo initially refuses, but when Trautman is captured by the Soviet Army, Rambo gets permission to undertake a solo rescue mission.
He travels to Pakistan and convinces arms dealer Mousa Ghani to help him reach Khost, the town closest to the Soviet base where Trautman is being held. With the help of Ghani and a young boy named Hamid, Rambo attacks the base and frees Trautman, along with several other prisoners. They hijack a helicopter to escape, but it crashes and they are pursued by Soviet forces.
After a series of battles, Rambo and Trautman are aided by the Mujahideen and eventually make their way to the Pakistani border, where they say goodbye to the Mujahideen and leave Afghanistan.
The story follows John Rambo, a Vietnam War veteran living in Thailand, who is recruited by a group of missionaries to take them up the Salween River into Burma on a humanitarian mission. Along the way, the group is attacked by Major Pa Tee Tint, an officer in the Burmese army who is known for committing atrocities against civilians. Sarah, one of the missionaries, is taken prisoner along with others, and the pastor of the group hires a team of mercenaries to rescue them. Rambo, who has become familiar with the area, joins the rescue mission and helps to free the hostages from Tint's camp. Tint and his soldiers pursue the group and a battle ensues, with Rambo leading the charge and ultimately defeating Tint's forces. In the aftermath, Rambo returns to the United States.
In the latest installment of the Rambo series, John Rambo lives on a horse ranch in Arizona with his friend Maria and her granddaughter Gabriela. Gabriela goes to Mexico to find her biological father, Manuel, but is kidnapped by a cartel. Maria informs Rambo of Gabriela's disappearance and he travels to Mexico to rescue her.
Along the way, he meets Carmen, an independent journalist who has been investigating the cartel. Rambo eventually finds Gabriela and brings her back to the ranch, but she dies from a forced overdose of heroin. In retaliation, Rambo returns to Mexico to kill the leaders of the cartel, including Victor and Hugo. The movie ends with Rambo sitting on the porch of his father's house, vowing to continue fighting and keep the memories of his loved ones alive. During the credits, flashbacks to scenes from all five movies in the franchise are shown.