Rambo III

S. Army Green Beret John Rambo has settled in a Thai Buddhist monastery, helping with construction work and competing in krabi–krabong matches in Bangkok , donating his winnings. His old friend and ally Colonel Sam Trautman visits and explains that he is putting together a mercenary team for a CIA -sponsored mission to supply the Mujahideen and other tribes as they fight the Soviet Army in Afghanistan. Despite being shown photos of civilians suffering at the hands of the Soviets, Rambo refuses to join, as he is tired of fighting.

Trautman proceeds but is ambushed at the border by Soviet forces, who kill his team and capture him. Trautman is sent to a large mountain base to be interrogated by Soviet Colonel Alexei Zaysen and his henchman Sergeant Kourov. S. into the war.

Aware that Trautman will die otherwise, Rambo receives permission to undertake a solo rescue on the condition that he will be disavowed in the event of capture or execution. Rambo flies to Peshawar , Pakistan, where he convinces arms dealer Mousa Ghani to bring him to Khost , the town closest to the Soviet base where Trautman is held captive. The Mujahideen in the village, led by chieftain Masoud, hesitate to help Rambo free Trautman. Meanwhile, a Soviet informant in Ghani's employ alerts the Soviets, who send two attack helicopters to destroy the village.

Although Rambo destroys one of them with a DShK heavy machine gun, the rebels decline to cooperate with him any further. Aided only by Mousa and a young boy named Hamid, Rambo attacks the base and inflicts significant damage before being forced to retreat. Rambo and Hamid are wounded during the battle, and Rambo sends him and Mousa away before resuming his infiltration. Evading base security, Rambo reaches and frees Trautman before he can be tortured with a flamethrower .

He and Trautman rescue several other prisoners and hijack a helicopter to escape the base, but it is damaged during takeoff and crashes, forcing the escapees to flee on foot. An attack helicopter pursues Rambo and Trautman to a nearby cave, where Rambo destroys it with an explosive arrow. A furious Zaysen sends Spetsnaz commandos under Kourov to kill them, but they are routed and killed. An injured Kourov fights Rambo in hand-to-hand combat , but is overpowered and killed as well.

Rambo and Trautman make their way to the Pakistani border but are intercepted by Zaysen and his mechanized infantry . Suddenly, Masoud's Mujahideen forces, including Mousa and Hamid, arrive to rescue them in a massive cavalry charge . In the midst of the battle, Rambo hijacks a tank and fights Zaysen's Mi-24 Hind-D , culminating in a head-on charge as both unleash their vehicles' weaponry on each other; Rambo survives by destroying the Hind-D with his tank's main gun before it can ram him, after killing Zaysen with the tank's machine gun. After the battle, Rambo and Trautman bid farewell to the Mujahideen and leave Afghanistan.