John Rambo, the former Green Beret of the United States Army, is incarcerated at a penal labor facility three years after the events in Hope, Washington. His commanding officer from the Vietnam War, Colonel Sam Trautman, greets him. According to Trautman, reports that prisoners of war are still being held in Vietnam are putting pressure on the U.S. government. Rambo's name was proposed because he is familiar with the POW camp, and a solo infiltration mission has been authorized to verify these reports in order to appease the public. In return for a presidential pardon, Rambo consents to accept the mission. Rambo and Trautman arrive in Thailand, where they are met by Ericson, the helicopter pilot, his partner Lifer, and Marshall Murdock, the bureaucrat in charge of the operation. Instead of interacting with enemy personnel or attempting a rescue, he is told to take photographs of a suspected POW camp. Rambo only has faith in Trautman, the only person working on the operation. Rambo's parachute is snagged during his aerial launch. Only knives and a bow and arrow remain after he is forced to cut himself free and abandon the majority of his equipment. They are taken upriver by local river pirates, who are arranged by his designated contact, Vietnamese intelligence agent Co Bao. Rambo arrives at the Vietnamese camp, where Lieutenant Tay and Captain Vinh are in charge. Rambo affirms that POWs are present. He releases prisoners of war. A Vietnamese gunboat closes in, and Rambo, Co., and Banks try to flee, but are betrayed by the river pirates. Using an RPG, Rambo disables the gunboat and eliminates the pirates. Rambo and Banks split off from Co. before they arrive at an extraction point. Trautman spots them on a rescue helicopter with Ericson and Lifer under mortar attack. After Trautman notifies base, Ericson is told to stop the rescue by Murdock. As the crew deserts Rambo and Banks, who are taken prisoner by the Vietnamese, Lifer stops Trautman from intervening. When he returns to base, Trautman confronts Murdock, who admits the mission was a hoax. In order to secure their release, the United States would have had to invest resources or possibly launch another war, so any evidence of prisoners of war would have been disregarded. Rambo discovers at the POW camp that the Soviet military is helping the Vietnamese. Rambo is mistreated and questioned by Soviet liaison Lieutenant Colonel Podovsky and Sergeant Yushin, his right-hand man. He is ordered by Podovsky to broadcast a warning to Murdock against conducting any more rescue operations. When Rambo declines, he is subjected to electric shock torture. When Banks is introduced and threatened with eye-gouging, he gives in. Rambo calls his base using a coded radio frequency, but he also threatens Murdock for betraying him, defeats his captors, and leaves the camp with the assistance of Co, who has infiltrated it. Rambo consents to take Co to the US while they are both evading capture. However, Lieutenant Tay later shoots Co. Cutting a red headband off of her dress and wearing her necklace, Rambo buries a dying Co after promising to remember her. Using guerrilla tactics and weapons, Rambo starts killing the Vietnamese and Russian soldiers. He also uses an explosive-tipped arrow to kill Tay. Rambo climbs aboard the helicopter and throws Yushin to his death after he attacks him from it. Then, he takes control of the helicopter and uses it to bombard the POW camp. He releases POWs, including Banks. Podovsky follows them in a Super Puma attack helicopter after they board the seized helicopter. Rambo uses a rocket launcher to destroy Podovsky's helicopter after feigning a crash to deceive him. Rambo goes back to base with the POWs. Rambo assaults Ericson for leaving him before destroying the mission control room's entire computer system. He demands that other prisoners of war be rescued and threatens Murdock. Rambo rejects Trautman's attempts to persuade him to return to a tranquil life at home, claiming that he wants the nation to take care of its soldiers in the same way that they take care of the nation. When Trautman asks Rambo how he would live, he responds, "day by day," and turns to leave.
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