Rambo is a 2008 American war action film directed and co-written by Sylvester Stallone, based on the character John Rambo created by author David Morrell for his novel First Blood. A sequel to Rambo III (1988), it is the fourth installment in the Rambo film series and co-stars Julie Benz, Paul Schulze, Matthew Marsden, Graham McTavish, Rey Gallegos, Tim Kang, Jake La Botz, Maung Maung Khin, and Ken Howard. The film is dedicated to the memory of Richard Crenna, who died in 2003. Crenna had played Colonel Sam Trautman in the previous films. In the film, Rambo leads a group of mercenaries into Burma to rescue Christian missionaries, who have been kidnapped by a local infantry unit.