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

Over The Top (1987)

"The world meets nobody half way"

Stallone stars as Lincoln Hawks. Truck driver by day and professional arm wrestler by night. Faced with obstacles in his marriage by his menacing father-in-law played by Robert Loggia, Hawks is forced to leave his wife and two year old son. Now ten years later, his wife who is struggling for her life asks Lincoln to take their son on the road with him and try to give him the father he has never had. Spoiled by his rich grandfather his son is not at all thrilled by his fathers lifestyle as a truck driver. Loggia without knowledge of his daughters decision sends his men after Hawks to reclaim his grandson. Hawks then introduces his son to arm wrestling leading to an all out brawl at the national competitions held in Las Vegas.

Overall this is one of the best characters Stallone has portrayed. While the idea of a professional arm wrestling organization may seem far fetched it actually does exist. The story is original and low key for the most part for being portrayed as an "action film". The competitions are fun to watch with some interesting characters and Loggia as the insane grandfather is a wonderful villain. The film almost feels like it was made in the 70s until mullets and handlebar mustaches are introduced. I enjoyed watching this film but if I had to break it down it was a mix of "Commando", "Rocky 5", and "The Pursuit of Happiness" rolled in one. It is the best arm wrestling movie ever made. Wait... Its the only one. 3.5/5 -tom

Lock Up (1989)

"Nothings dead until its buried"

Frank Leone (Stallone) was sent to prison for going after the men who killed his longtime friend and mentor when the police and prosecutors did nothing. He accepts what he has done and accepts the consequences and is sent to a minimum security facility where he is a model inmate. Having served four and a half years with only six months left on his term Leone is low key just biding his time until release. Then suddenly he is taken from his bed in the middle of the night and transferred to a maximum security prison upstate courtesy of Warden Drumgoole (Donald Sutherland), who Leone has a certain history with. Drumgoole wants one thing and one thing only...revenge, and will do anything in his power to make Leone's stay at his facility a waking nightmare. He is beaten, placed in segregation, and refused the right to see his girlfriend. Chink (Sonny Landham), the worst and meanest inmate in the prison along with countless guards, are under the control of the warden and all try to break Leone.

While this is one of Stallone's better movies outside of the "Rocky" and "Rambo" series', it falls apart at the end. For the most part however, it was one of the better prison movies I've seen. Stallone and Sutherland work great as hero vs. villain. Its a decent movie, but like I said, the last fifteen minutes or so just didn't do it justice. 2.5/5 -tom

Cobra (1986)

"This is where the law stops and I begin!"

Once again we have another 80s Action film that adheres to every possible cliche and convention that it could possibly adhere too. Much like "Commando", "Cobra" is a bad, bad movie when looked at against all of cinema and many of its classics; however, as a Stallone film it kicked ass. What else can I say? Stallone is Marion Cabretti (aka Cobra) and is, yup, you guessed it...the top cop in the city. Cobra is a member of the 'zombie squad', a group of officers that other police call on to do the tough jobs (I thought that was the SWAT team?). When a rash of serial killings begins to plague the city, Cobra is called on to do "what he does best". The killings are being committed by not just one person but by a whole (biker?) gang of crazies who kill with knives, axes and claw hammers. Brigitte Nielsen stars as a woman who accidentally witness the group during a killing and is now on the run for her life.

Watching "Cobra" is kind of like playing a video game with god mode, unlimited ammo and one-hit kill codes on. You never fear anything will ever happen to Stallone and you know he is going to kill any body he fires at weapon at with as few bullets as possible. While not as wholly ridiculous as "Commando" it is so freaking unbelievable you'll occasionally laugh til you cry. If you're a Stallone fan or you love these types of cliched 80s Action films then you'll be in testosterone heaven but if you're looking for something deeper you may want to pass. I have to say, I found myself really having fun watching this despite its shortcomings so it gets bumped up a half a point for its pure entertainment value. 2.5/5 -andy

Rambo 3 (1988)

"Who are you."- "Your worst nightmare."

In the third part of the Rambo quadrilogy we find our hero at a Buddhist monastery living a life of peace and serenity, closed off from the outside world for several years . Once again Rambo is met by Colonel Trautman (Richard Crenna) with an offer to assist him and a crew of soldiers in aiding relief in Afghanistan from a Russian dictator. Rambo denies and the colonel and his crew go into Afghanistan and are captured by the Russians and labeled as spies and held as POWS. Now in the past Rambo has been saved by the colonel numerous times, now the role is reversed, Rambo has no choice but to do what he does best... become war. He travels to Afghanistan and is aided by locals in the search and capture of his missing friend.

While "Rambo III" is the weakest of the four films it is still an outstanding action film. It is a story of two friends and the lengths they will go to save one another. The main villain is a little corny but most are in this genre. It was nice to see the roles reversed between Stallone and Crenna and the two played well together. "Rambo III" is full of outrageous stunts, explosions, and dialog. But all and all a memorable action film. I will leave "Rambo", the fourth film in the series to Andy. I cannot wait for that review either. I hope he is as impressed with it as much as I was. So on that note "Rambo III"... worth watching. 3/5 -tom

SECOND OPINION

I just finished watching "Rambo 3" for the first time ever so I thought I'd pop on here give a couple of brief thoughts. For me, this was the most enjoyable Rambo film yet. Sure, it was pretty unbelievable but no more unbelievable than any other Rambo film or Ah-nuld movie from the 80s. It had twice as much action as "Rambo: First Blood Pt. 2", it moved along at a much better pace and there were tons of really cool explosions and kills. The reversal of Trautman and Rambo's roles in this one, I thought, made things really interesting and changed the dynamic to just the right degree. 3.5/5 -andy

Tango And Cash (1989)

"Rambo is A pussy!"

In the 80s, Action movies had a few basic types of movies. The 'Buddy Cop' Action movie ("Lethal Weapon"), The Sci-Fi Action Movie ("Predator"), the Military-Infused Action movie ("Rambo: First Blood pt. 2), to name a few. The nice thing about "Tango and Cash" is that while it clearly exhibits multiple 80s Action movie cliches, it doesn't really fit into any one particular category; the closest obviously being "Buddy Cop". There is a somewhat self-referential humor thing going on here with mentions of both Rambo and Conan and it's fun to see Stallone play the more straight-laced cop of the two. The plot is nothing new by today's standards and by 1989 I'm sure it had been done a few times as well, but it's still a fun ride. Stallone is no. 1 cop Ray Tango from the West side of the city (or is it East? I don't think it matters...) and Russell is Gabriel Cash from the other side of the city. Cash is reckless but not as crazy as Gibson in "Lethal Weapon" and Tango is almost preppy with his meticulous wardrobe but both are good at getting the job done. The job, in this case, is busting up multiple drug and weapons rackets and in doing so have made themselves celebrities and heroes albeit separately. The bad guy, some sort of mobster I'm guessing, is played deliciously by Jack Palance. Palance here is pretty much the same character he played the year before in Tim Burton's "Batman". Palance and his cronies frame Tango and Cash for the murder of a Federal official. They both go to prison where half the inmates were put there by them and as you can imagine, things don't go so well for them in this corrupt institution. The rest is typical 80s stuff: Tango and Cash escape prison, get a bunch of guns that magically hit their targets EVERY TIME, and set out to clear their names.

If you're a fan of this sort of thing, then you'll love it. You have to know what you're in for when you sit down with ANY 80s Action movie. "Gone With The Wind" its not, but it's not trying to be, so why judge it by the same standards? Russell is the better actor here but Stallone holds his own. Teri Hatcher also stars as Stallone's sister and is candy for the eyes but that's about the only thing she brings to the table. A fun but slightly off kilter cop movie that moves along at nice steady pace. I liked it. 3/5 -andy

While I wont be so generous with the rating, I have to agree with Andy, it is what it is, which is an 80s popcorn action movie. It is nothing special and nothing original, but I like these two actors because they play off each other so well. You cant help but not to like these two characters. You also got a feeling that everyone in this movie had a fun time making it, including Palance as the devilish villian. It is your average run of the mill buddy-cop or anti-buddy-cop movie. If your a fan of Stallone or Russell you should see it.2.5/5- tom

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