The scene, of course, is the opening of Rambo: First Blood Part II, the moment of relative quiet before we meet our hero, John Rambo, Sylvester Stallone’s Vietnam veteran with the empty gaze and body like vacuum-packed beef. Rambo is one of the prisoners, but he is taken to one side to talk to an army colonel – an old friend, or the closest thing he has to one – who has appeared by the fence with an offer. If he returns to south-east Asia on a mission to search for American prisoners of war, he will be pardoned, easy as you like. It’s a shot at salvation, even though it involves a return to his personal hell.