Rambo

[GhostPoet]

Let's face it...film snobs are going to rip this film apart. But that's fine...their opinions are not really important.

I for one know I will love this movie.

 

[Nivek]

I really expect the 300 Factor for Rambo. If people say it kicks a$$, they will come.

So far, most fans are concerned if it kicks a$$, and most fans who have seen it love it and confirm it does kick the a$$. Thats all I need.

 

[Warhammer]

I'm not even concerned if this movie is a good one. I just want to see some action.

Btw, Nivek, where is your avvy from? I keep thinking it is Smallville Brainiac.

 

[ROBOCOP CPU001]

the fact that there is RAMBO in the title.

I'm there.

 

[Milkman95]

Saw it, give it a 7.

Details later.

 

[Dark Donnie]

Saw it, give it a 7.

Details later.

 

[Nivek]

Btw, Nivek, where is your avvy from? I keep thinking it is Smallville Brainiac.

It's a skull mask I make.

 

[Iron_Stark]

ouch, critics are already ripping this movie

Screw them, I'm still going to watch this movie.

 

[Hunter Rider]

 

[Mr. Crumb]

Great pic! Why cant they make a movie together!?!?! They will eventually regret it if they dont.

Anyways, excited for Rambo today!!! I am going to stay clear from any reviews, esp those from critics whom we already know will hate the film due to the brutal violence.

Even if this movie sucks...to see the legend Rambo back on the big screen again....brings a tear to my eye. Love it!!! Go RAMBO!!!

 

[KenK]

Julie Benz looks great as a brunette. She's smiling a little too hard in that pic, though. Dial it back a lil', honey!

 

[CrypticOne]

I just got back from the Rambo Marathon at my theatre. It was surreal watching all four films back to back. What a great crowd, all the die-hards and everyone loving each and every film. I've never enjoyed Rambo III more than tonight.

As for Rambo... Sweet Jesus. It is literally the most horrifically gory/brutal action flick I have ever seen. Stunning in the sheer number of atrocities shown, and almost a numbing experience. The pomp and flash of Parts 2 and 3 is gone, and instead we get a gritty, visceral experience that is almost brilliant in the sheer insanity of it. I loved it for that very reason. Stallone didn't go half way here. He has made a film that is going to be HATED by many people who simply can't handle what he shows. However, he delivers exactly what he has promised and it is a terrific experience.

It really, in a sense, immerses the viewer into the type of horrors that have shaped Rambo, so that we can feel his faithlessness in humanity and numbness. There will be many action movies more prominently released this year, but none will have the staggering impact that Rambo does. Jesus. It makes Saving Private Ryan seem like Surf's Up.

Wow! I can't wait to see this tonight.

 

[GhostPoet]

After reading Episode29's review...oh man...I am even more psyched to see this!!!!! It may become my favorite action film in past years.

 

[Batty Belfry]

I'm going out to see this at 4 pm. I can't wait.

 

[Furious Styles]

I question the sexuality of any man who doesn't like Rambo: First Blood Part II

J/K!

Although Rambo II and III are over-the-top and focus little on character development and are thin on plot, the films aren't anywhere as bad as people make them out to be. They're great action-adventure films. I gladly welcome John-Rambo-IV-Into The Serpent's Eye-Pearl Of The Cobra

 

[GhostPoet]

Actually, II was my favorite. Followed EXTREMELY closely by I.

 

[The Kid]

I liked III most because it just elevates rambo to mythic status. Well this movie makes rambo a true myth . He's some kind of beast or something unnatural that's observing mankind... holy hell wait till you see the part on the boat when he gets slightly pissed...

Definitely not perfect but a damn good experience in the end. Lots of dead bodies.

 

[Advanced Dark]

Early tracking suggests 15-18 million for Rambo with Spartan's at #1 spot. I can't believe it'll make less than 20 million. I doubt it. Hell I figured more than 30 for sure.

 

[The Guardian]

HI GUYS, I JUST GOT BACK FROM SEEING THE MOVIE AND ALL I CAN SAY IS DAAAAAAAAMMMMMNNNNN!!! THIS THING IS BRUTAL AND I MEAN BRUTAL, DO NOT, I REPEAT DO NOT TAKE SMALL CHILDREN TO SEE THIS OR THEY'LL BE TRAUMATIZED FOR LIFE!!! THE MOVIE IS EXCELLENT, SLY TALKED ABOUT HOW HE WANTED TO BRING A REAL SENSE OF THE GENOCIDE THAT'S HAPPENING AS WE SPEAK IN BURMA AND MY OPINION, HE SUCCEEDED SPECTACULARLY!!! THE MOVIE SHOWS HOW JOHN HAS LOST HIS FAITH IN HUMANITY AND AS A RESULT HE'S BECOME MORE OF A FORCE OF NATURE THAN EVER BEFORE!!! RAMBO HAS THE LOOK OF A WAR VETERAN WHO'S ENTIRE REASON FOR EXISTING HAS BECOME LOST IN THE WARRIOR HE'S BECOME!!! THIS FILM SHOWS HOW HE BEGINS TO HAVE FAITH AGAIN AND HOW HE FINALLY COMES TO ACCEPT WHAT HE'S ALWAYS KNOWN, THAT HE CAN'T ESCAPE HIS PAST BUT HE CAN CONQUER IT!!! THE MOVIE IS A TOUR DE FORCE INTO A WORLD THAT THANKFULLY FEW PEOPLE SEE AND TOO MANY IGNORE!!! SLY DOES AN AMAZING JOB OF BRINGING AWARENESS TO THE PLIGHT OF THE BURMESE PEOPLE AND ALSO IN GIVING US A WINDOW INTO THEIR WORLD!!! I ACTUALLY CRIED AFTER THE BATTLE WAS OVER, THE BRUTALITY OF IT, THE LOOKS IN THE EYES OF THOSE WHO SURVIVED, SAID IT ALL, 10/10!!!

 

[Road Warrior]

HI GUYS, I JUST GOT BACK FROM SEEING THE MOVIE AND ALL I CAN SAY IS DAAAAAAAAMMMMMNNNNN!!! THIS THING IS BRUTAL AND I MEAN BRUTAL, DO NOT, I REPEAT DO NOT TAKE SMALL CHILDREN TO SEE THIS OR THEY'LL BE TRAUMATIZED FOR LIFE!!! THE MOVIE IS EXCELLENT, SLY TALKED ABOUT HOW HE WANTED TO BRING A REAL SENSE OF THE GENOCIDE THAT'S HAPPENING AS WE SPEAK IN BURMA AND MY OPINION, HE SUCCEEDED SPECTACULARLY!!! THE MOVIE SHOWS HOW JOHN HAS LOST HIS FAITH IN HUMANITY AND AS A RESULT HE'S BECOME MORE OF A FORCE OF NATURE THAN EVER BEFORE!!! RAMBO HAS THE LOOK OF A WAR VETERAN WHO'S ENTIRE REASON FOR EXISTING HAS BECOME LOST IN THE WARRIOR HE'S BECOME!!! THIS FILM SHOWS HOW HE BEGINS TO HAVE FAITH AGAIN AND HOW HE FINALLY COMES TO ACCEPT WHAT HE'S ALWAYS KNOWN, THAT HE CAN'T ESCAPE HIS PAST BUT HE CAN CONQUER IT!!! THE MOVIE IS A TOUR DE FORCE INTO A WORLD THAT THANKFULLY FEW PEOPLE SEE AND TOO MANY IGNORE!!! SLY DOES AN AMAZING JOB OF BRINGING AWARENESS TO THE PLIGHT OF THE BURMESE PEOPLE AND ALSO IN GIVING US A WINDOW INTO THEIR WORLD!!! I ACTUALLY CRIED AFTER THE BATTLE WAS OVER, THE BRUTALITY OF IT, THE LOOKS IN THE EYES OF THOSE WHO SURVIVED, SAID IT ALL, 10/10!!!

I'm not a fan of the Rambo franchise. I'm more of a Rocky guy. I thought First Blood was a good movie, but the sequels didn't do it for me. However, I have to say that this movie has peaked my interest. I'm working tonight and this weekend, but maybe I'll see this during one of the after hours screenings.

 

[Episode29]

Here's my full review from my blog:

How does one review a movie like Rambo? It is a blood-soaked, brutal exercise in pain, sadism, and aggression without a hint of irony. To say that it does it better than almost any action film I've seen is almost beside the point. It takes the violent stakes set by First Blood Part II and Rambo III and decapitates them with Panzer tank shells. So, let's start with a look at the Rambo legacy, as it were.

I was fortunate enough to attend the 7+ hour Rambo Marathon at the Scotiabank theatre in lovely downtown Vancouver yesterday evening, where I revisited the entire saga. It's curious the way the series started, with the sad and dare I say gentle, First Blood. With its meagre kill count of 1, First Blood was a psychological study is thriller trappings. Sure there are some explosions and gun-fights, but ultimately it is a study in one tormented man's personal demons and inability to fit into human society. It's almost comical how Rambo: First Blood Part II takes him to Vietnam and has him wipeout an entire generation of Viet-Cong. It seemingly goes against everything the first film was saying, and embraces the type of gloss that the age of excess demanded. Rambo III is so far over the top that it becomes a droll study in overkill. A fun one, to be sure, but so far removed from its humble beginnings that it's bizarre. After reviewing them, however, it is important to note that they are all consistently enjoyable films with nicely understated work by Stallone, and brilliant technical efficiency. So, how does the newest film fit into the established world of John Rambo?

Well, Rambo is, without any doubt, the goriest and stomach-churning of them all. It also, however, restores the sadness so well exemplified in the series' first entry. John Rambo is a man constantly in pain whose only ability is to stop evil through sheer, relentless savagery. He's the anti-John McClane. No sneaking around air-shafts for this guy.

Rambo opens with news reel footage of the human rights atrocities in Burma, where the Karen Christians have been systematically slaughtered over the last sixty year (The longest civil war in history!). This real-life touch is both staggering and problematic. The previous Rambo sequels, while making use of current political situations, were always in some sort of heightened reality. This opening grounds the film in the real. We then witness the horrific massacre of a tribe of villagers by the Burmese military, and it is stunning. Director Stallone lingers over the violence, making us witness the unspeakable. It is, frankly, shocking.

The basic plot then kicks in. Rambo has been living in Thailand as a snake-wrangler for the last twenty or so years. He is found by a group of Christian relief workers (led by Julie Benz and Paul Schulze), and they plead with him to drive them by boat in war-torn Burma so they can aid the suffering. After some coaxing by Benz, he begrudgingly agrees and takes them over. Before you can say "Ballistic Carnage", the group are captured (and also their entire village gruesomely raped/decapitated/torched/shot/exploded/vivisected/gutted/severed/you get the picture). Back at Rambo's home (and by home I mean hammock), a priest comes and pleads with Rambo to take a group of Church-paid mercenaries to the relief workers destination so they can extract the workers get them home. After a soul-searching montage, Rambo suits up and leads the team over. Much vivid butchery follows.

What I really liked about Rambo was the simplicity of it. It's much like last year's Rocky Balboa. It's a lean 90-minute piece with a minimum of plot that relies on the mythic essence of the title character. The plot is a closeline and while in many other films that is a major problem, here it is to the films benefit. The characters are mainly archetypes with a minimum of detail, and the villains are most faceless. I appreciated the ways in which the mercenaries are sketched out. We know next to nothing about them, other than a few passing bits we get through behaviour. It makes sense. Hired mercenaries are men who thrive on secrecy. They don't communicate with each other more than what is necessary. Much like Rambo himself. As played by the 61-year-old Stallone, he has settled into a nice quiet gruffness which is perfectly suited to the material. Stallone is without question a limited actor, but he is under-appreciated in the ways he can create an internalized character and communicate everything through silence and eye gestures. He plays John Rambo as well here as he did in '82 with First Blood.

As for the action, it is numbing. The human atrocities presented here make the gruesome material of Schindler's List look like gentle ribbing. The villain's are so far past monster status that it is almost uncomfortable. In a sense, by immersing the viewer in their deeds we begin to better understand the psyche of John Rambo. He has witnessed horrors so severe that he has emotionally shut down and lost touch with humanity. Well, after witnessing what the villains do here we share that mindset. The world is an ugly place and sometimes violence is necessary. Whether you agree with the message or not, Stallone makes his message clear and concise. We are so filled with disgust that we want to see Rambo decimate this group beyond reason. The final firefight, which surely is a nod to The Wild Bunch, is roughly twenty minutes of grisly catharsis. Disgusting or not, it delivers exactly what one hopes for after the momentous killing sprees of Rambo's 2 & 3. The ending is a brief downbeat nod to the first film that leaves us with a poetic sense of relief after the exhausting visceral experience we've just undergone.

Many will hate Rambo for being such a blatantly sadistic (and obvious) exercise in brutality. But, it is exactly what it has been marketed and intended to be. That it does it so well is nothing short of commendable, after years of PG-13 action-lite extravaganzas. Sylvester Stallone has crafted a mean little film that, while it will never get much critical respect, is a relentlessly pure experience that leaves you breathless and numb by the end. To enjoy it is almost beside the point. It is meant to be endured, and I can't help but thank Stallone for creating an action-film that actually made me feel something. It's a fitting end for John Rambo, and a film-going experience I won't soon forget.

4 out of 5

P.S.: While it is odd to have Rambo follow Rambo III, the title fits the film. It's simple and hard-hitting. Much like Rambo himself.

 

[Lazlo Panaflex]

I loved it, pure classic Rambo is back I agree it is more graphic and realistic than Rambo 2 and 3 but it sure is a great exprerience.

Spoiler

The ending was excellent showing Rambo has come full circle as he's wandering the country just like in First Blood.

 

[Lazlo Panaflex]

Rambo's true money will come from overseas, not domestic. It will break $100 mill overall though due to overseas popularity with the character. The youth of today sucks and have no taste, so I will not be surprised at all if Meet the Spartans makes 50 million while Rambo makes 1 million (you get what I mean).

Actually there were more people seeing Rambo than Meet The Spartans because when Rambo was over I snuck into see the last 15 minutes of MTS and there weren't that many people. (and yeah MTS did indeed suck)

 

[Batty Belfry]

Here's my full review from my blog:

How does one review a movie like Rambo? It is a blood-soaked, brutal exercise in pain, sadism, and aggression without a hint of irony. To say that it does it better than almost any action film I've seen is almost beside the point. It takes the violent stakes set by First Blood Part II and Rambo III and decapitates them with Panzer tank shells. So, let's start with a look at the Rambo legacy, as it were.

I was fortunate enough to attend the 7+ hour Rambo Marathon at the Scotiabank theatre in lovely downtown Vancouver yesterday evening, where I revisited the entire saga. It's curious the way the series started, with the sad and dare I say gentle, First Blood. With its meagre kill count of 1, First Blood was a psychological study is thriller trappings. Sure there are some explosions and gun-fights, but ultimately it is a study in one tormented man's personal demons and inability to fit into human society. It's almost comical how Rambo: First Blood Part II takes him to Vietnam and has him wipeout an entire generation of Viet-Cong. It seemingly goes against everything the first film was saying, and embraces the type of gloss that the age of excess demanded. Rambo III is so far over the top that it becomes a droll study in overkill. A fun one, to be sure, but so far removed from its humble beginnings that it's bizarre. After reviewing them, however, it is important to note that they are all consistently enjoyable films with nicely understated work by Stallone, and brilliant technical efficiency. So, how does the newest film fit into the established world of John Rambo?

Well, Rambo is, without any doubt, the goriest and stomach-churning of them all. It also, however, restores the sadness so well exemplified in the series' first entry. John Rambo is a man constantly in pain whose only ability is to stop evil through sheer, relentless savagery. He's the anti-John McClane. No sneaking around air-shafts for this guy.

Rambo opens with news reel footage of the human rights atrocities in Burma, where the Karen Christians have been systematically slaughtered over the last sixty year (The longest civil war in history!). This real-life touch is both staggering and problematic. The previous Rambo sequels, while making use of current political situations, were always in some sort of heightened reality. This opening grounds the film in the real. We then witness the horrific massacre of a tribe of villagers by the Burmese military, and it is stunning. Director Stallone lingers over the violence, making us witness the unspeakable. It is, frankly, shocking.

The basic plot then kicks in. Rambo has been living in Thailand as a snake-wrangler for the last twenty or so years. He is found by a group of Christian relief workers (led by Julie Benz and Paul Schulze), and they plead with him to drive them by boat in war-torn Burma so they can aid the suffering. After some coaxing by Benz, he begrudgingly agrees and takes them over. Before you can say "Ballistic Carnage", the group are captured (and also their entire village gruesomely raped/decapitated/torched/shot/exploded/vivisected/gutted/severed/you get the picture). Back at Rambo's home (and by home I mean hammock), a priest comes and pleads with Rambo to take a group of Church-paid mercenaries to the relief workers destination so they can extract the workers get them home. After a soul-searching montage, Rambo suits up and leads the team over. Much vivid butchery follows.

What I really liked about Rambo was the simplicity of it. It's much like last year's Rocky Balboa. It's a lean 90-minute piece with a minimum of plot that relies on the mythic essence of the title character. The plot is a closeline and while in many other films that is a major problem, here it is to the films benefit. The characters are mainly archetypes with a minimum of detail, and the villains are most faceless. I appreciated the ways in which the mercenaries are sketched out. We know next to nothing about them, other than a few passing bits we get through behaviour. It makes sense. Hired mercenaries are men who thrive on secrecy. They don't communicate with each other more than what is necessary. Much like Rambo himself. As played by the 61-year-old Stallone, he has settled into a nice quiet gruffness which is perfectly suited to the material. Stallone is without question a limited actor, but he is under-appreciated in the ways he can create an internalized character and communicate everything through silence and eye gestures. He plays John Rambo as well here as he did in '82 with First Blood.

As for the action, it is numbing. The human atrocities presented here make the gruesome material of Schindler's List look like gentle ribbing. The villain's are so far past monster status that it is almost uncomfortable. In a sense, by immersing the viewer in their deeds we begin to better understand the psyche of John Rambo. He has witnessed horrors so severe that he has emotionally shut down and lost touch with humanity. Well, after witnessing what the villains do here we share that mindset. The world is an ugly place and sometimes violence is necessary. Whether you agree with the message or not, Stallone makes his message clear and concise. We are so filled with disgust that we want to see Rambo decimate this group beyond reason. The final firefight, which surely is a nod to The Wild Bunch, is roughly twenty minutes of grisly catharsis. Disgusting or not, it delivers exactly what one hopes for after the momentous killing sprees of Rambo's 2 & 3. The ending is a brief downbeat nod to the first film that leaves us with a poetic sense of relief after the exhausting visceral experience we've just undergone.

Many will hate Rambo for being such a blatantly sadistic (and obvious) exercise in brutality. But, it is exactly what it has been marketed and intended to be. That it does it so well is nothing short of commendable, after years of PG-13 action-lite extravaganzas. Sylvester Stallone has crafted a mean little film that, while it will never get much critical respect, is a relentlessly pure experience that leaves you breathless and numb by the end. To enjoy it is almost beside the point. It is meant to be endured, and I can't help but thank Stallone for creating an action-film that actually made me feel something. It's a fitting end for John Rambo, and a film-going experience I won't soon forget.

4 out of 5

P.S.: While it is odd to have Rambo follow Rambo III, the title fits the film. It's simple and hard-hitting. Much like Rambo himself.

I think this is spot on! I just got back from the movie, and wow...

Stallone really took advantage of the beautiful scenery around him. What a lean and visceral film, I loved it.

There was one scene that made me wince

Spoiler

where the soldier put his boot on the little kid's head and bayoneted him in the gut.

That moment made me squirm. As a parent I can't stand watching kids being victimized, even when I know it's just a movie, it was a *real* film.

 

[Lord Blackbolt]

What's wrong with America when Meet the Spartans becomes number 1 at the box office....****ing idiots