Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert examine the trend in war movies to make war seem fun to children. Ebert visits a toy store and talks to children about the toys based on the R-rated action movies,
Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) and
Commando (1985). Siskel talks to the Chicago child psychiatrist, Elva Poznanski, about the effect these movies and their portrayal of manly behavior have on children. In one segment, they intercut scenes of "Rambo" with documentary footage of the Vietnam war. They show how 1970s movies, such as
The Deer Hunter (1978) and
Apocalypse Now (1979), depicted war as hell. Siskel shows the audience a particularly appalling product: Rambo Black Flak bubble gum, which is made to look like shrapnel.
—J. Spurlin