Rambo (2008)

"Live for nothing or Die for something."

"Rambo" is the fourth film in the franchise about Vietnam vet John J. Rambo. By now we have covered the first three films so if you haven't read our reviews, you should so you can catch up on what's lead Rambo up to this point. This time, we find our hero living in Thailand where he operates a boat and catches snakes for some sort of show being put on along the river. He is visited by a group of missionaries looking to be taken up river to Burma, which Rambo describes as a 'war zone', so they can provide aid for the villagers that are being tortured and killed there. Rambo refuses at first but after the girl in the group, Sarah (Dexter's Julie Benz), returns later that night she is able to convince Rambo to take them. Sometime after that a pastor from the church in Colorado where the missionaries were from seeks out Rambo in Thailand telling him that the group never returned, asking if Rambo will take a group of mercenaries up river to the spot where he dropped of the first group so that they may look for the lost missionaries.

I was never initially into the whole Rambo franchise so I didn't see this movie when it came out in 2008. It was because of this I was asked to review it and fortunately this blog has provided me with motivation to view films I probably never would've seen otherwise. "Rambo" doesn't try to be anything extraordinary. It knows what it is and never really attempts to be too philosophical or intelligent for its own good. It got right to the action and wrapped things up nicely in just under an hour and a half - a rarity in film these days. It was EXTREMELY violent which I saw as a way to not beautify war like some other action films do, including the earlier films of the Rambo series. The dialog and acting was the best of all four films and the jungle locales looked better and more believable than they did in "Rambo: First Blood Pt. 2". After viewing the other films recently, it was nice to see what I felt was a great end to a unique franchise in cinema history. 4/5 -andy

Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)

"Murdock, I'm coming to get you!"

So I gave Andy the go ahead to do a review on "Rambo:First Blood pt.2" but after recently watching "First Blood" I couldn't resist giving my opinion after watching pt.2 for the first time in over 15 years. Picking up a few years after the first we find Rambo in a prison workcamp serving his term. He is approached by Colonel Troutman (Richard Crenna reprising his role), who gives Rambo an offer to good too be true. Go back to Vietnam, locate and retrieve POW's, and you'll have a full presidential pardon waiting for you when you get home. Wanting redemption for the captured fellow soldiers and peace of mind Rambo agrees and is flown to Vietnam. There he meets Murdock (Charles Napier) he tells Rambo he will go into a possible POW camp and take pictures... nothing more. DO NOT ENGAGE THE ENEMY he says. Once there he finds multiple POW's and reports his findings back to base, where the mission is aborted by Murdock, leaving Rambo at the hands of not only the Vietnamese but their Russian allies. Its an all out war from then on. This is THE 80'S ACTION MOVIE OF THE DECADE. Hands down. I know I said that "First Blood" was my favorite of the four, but comparing "First Blood" to "Rambo: First Blood pt.2" is like comparing "Alien" to "Aliens". Both great movies, with pretty much the same core character, just with a little more fuel on the fire. Rambo is the American Solider, fighting because he loves his country, loves his fellow solider, and will do anything to protect them. Deep down this film is an American tribute to those fallen and forgotten. Gives me hope that there is a John Rambo out there somewhere helping his fellow solider out. I love this movie, even more so after waiting so many years to see it again. Surprisingly in watching the opening credits I saw that James Cameron (Terminator1+2, The Abyss, Aliens, Titanic, and most recently Avatar), who you all have to know by now, wrote the screenplay with Stallone. Guerrilla warfare at its finest, "Rambo: First Blood pt.2" is a treat for all action movie lovers. 4/5 -tom

SECOND OPINION

So, since Tom swindled me out of this review after I sat through the whole thing tonight...(insert evil look here)...I see no reason to bore you all with another full review. Instead, I'm just gonna leave a few thoughts. Tom, you did a great job describing the plot, however, I didn't think quite as highly about it as you did. It is definitely the epitome of 80s Action. Like a lot of 80s Action films it has an exotic locale, a significant military presence, lots of guns and some real corny moments. The scene where Rambo's 'me love you long time' girlfriend gets shot in the jungle was probably real emotional 25 years ago, today though it seemed a little over the top. Don't get the wrong impression though, I did really REALLY have fun with this movie. It was a great sequel and the movie was a ton of fun, its just that watching John Rambo attempt to emote struck me as sort of funny. 3/5 -andy

First Blood (1982)

"God didn't make Rambo, I did"

"First Blood" after all these years still endures. It is a story of a Vietnam War Veteran and P.O.W. who returns home to a country that has deserted him. All of his friends are dead, the last from cancer caused by chemicals in the war. John Rambo was just a man minding his business walking through a small town. All he wanted was a place to rest his head and some food but the town's Sheriff Teasle, played by the sinister and menacing Brian Dennehy, will not stand for it. No drifters in his town. Stallone explains in the commentary that Dennehy's character was a Korean War Veteran, a war that wasn't much publicized and barely remembered although nearly 40, 000 lives were lost. The fact that a Vietnam Veteran was trying to drift through his town ate at his very core. Which is why in the scene with Stallone and Dennehy in the police cruiser show, there is no love lost. Rambo is later falsely arrested and mistreated which bring out the solider and animal instincts causing Rambo to snap and escape into the surrounding mountains. Teasle and his boys pursue and one by one picked off. Later we are introduced to the now late Richard Crenna as Colonel Trautman, Rambo's former commander, who tries to warn Teasel that what he is dealing with is a war machine. He is trained to kill and trained to survive. What I love most about this movie is the setting and tone. Here is a trained soldier cornered on a mountain top with two hundred plus men around him, its raining, he's hurt, cold and alone, but still manages to survive. Stallone's lines are few an far between which works good for the character because soldiers don't talk they think and do. They are always one step ahead of you. If there hadn't been three sequels, "First Blood" could have definitely stood on its own as a great war film, even if it was a private war. I'm glad they made them though because this character was too good not to follow. But "First Blood" will always be my favorite. 4/5 -tom