Saturday, January 26, 2008

Rambo


Briefly: Rambo is living in Thailand where he is hired by a group of missionaries to transport them up the river into Burma. Tragedy strikes. Rambo is then contracted to lead a group of mercenaries up the river to save the missionaries.

I saw First Blood the day it opened in 1982. Ever since, I have been a fan of the Rambo character. Now, the fictional superhero returns after twenty years of absence (since 1988,when we last saw him killing Soviets in Afghanistan in Rambo III).

This installment is low on plot (not very much plot was needed,anyway) and big on mayhem. Also, the characters are not given time to develop. This would normally spell doom for a more artistically presented work, but in this case it really isn't a problem. The only character that matters is John Rambo, and he's already been developed quite thoroughly in First Blood. The rest are merely props in the short story line.
Once the story gets moving, and it doesn't take too long, the crescendo of violence begins. More blood,limbs and intestines fly through the air in this chapter than the three previous films combined. I loved every minute of it.

View the trailer here.

An observation: It appears Sylvester Stallone is attempting to write the final chapters in his two biggest character creations. We've already seen the completion of the Rocky series (and Rocky Balboa was a well done film) with nowhere else to take it. Now it looks like he may be doing the same with John Rambo, bringing him around full circle,returning him 'home' after coming to self-realization with just who/what he is. Although the ending does leave some room for taking the character back up again later, I suspect this is the last we will see of him, though I sincerely hope not.

All in all, worth the price of admission. On a downside, all those who bought the DVD trilogy collection will now have to shell out for the fourilogy collection coming soon to a Wal*Mart near you.

11 comments:

Guitarman said...

What movie was it where he (Rambo)is tied to a bed frame that has electrical current being pulsed into it. He then gets away and leads a ton of pursuers out into a dry reed field. They're down wind and he torches them. Classic revenge mahem, I loved it!

Gino said...

that was 'Rambo:First Blood II'

Rising Rainbow said...

I heard a review on the radio that much the same as you. They loved it.

Tracy said...

I'm a little concerned on this one. The Rocky Balboa film really did reestablish his underdog status and humanize him again...I was hoping they'd do the same thing...make another First Blood.

Maybe he goes back to kill Bin Laden because he makes fun of the Americans that helped him fight the Soviets and so he heads into the hills all mercenary like to get revenge...I'm calling my agent.

Mercy Now said...

I saw it & it was to my expectation, plot was expected but the action was awesome, blowing up of bad guys heads...He did a good job of making the enemy as bad as they can get...unfortunately, things like that still occur today, esp in Africa.

Bike Bubba said...

Funny that you talk about a blood & guts movie right after talking about organ donations.....don'cha think that spilling 'em all in Burma might make them less transplantable?

Anonymous said...

I heard they had to hire a stunt double to reload his clips because the damned carpal-tunnel was acting up. That, and he had to ask his attackers to get closer so that he could see them better through his bi-focals...

Gino said...

rising rainbow:i do a lot of movie reviews here and i usually enjoy most of them. the next wave of euro flix is due soon, and i cant wait.

tracy: he gets humanized a bit. but i wont spoil the ending.

mercy:sly said he took the atrocities from the UN records. this stuff really is happening there.

bike bubba: another reason to allow a market for spare parts, dont ya think?

robi: what are you, some kinda pinko scum? rambo doesnt need help reloading or stunt doubles. that was just more lies spread by pravda.

Kristopher said...

I just saw it today. My biggest thought the whole time Rambow was blowing stuff up was, "Why don't we do this along the border?"

Anonymous said...

Gino - I wouldn`t say I was a pinko, more like a mauve or a shade of light salmon...

As far as the movie, I think I`m going to ignore my better judgement and go see it. I`ve never seen a walker with a Ma Deuce mounted on it before...

Gino said...

ignore your better judgement, and heed my better-than-your's judgement and enjoy the show.