Brothers (2009)

"Only the dead have seen the end of war"

Tommy Cahill (Jake Gyllenhaal) has always been the rebel of the family, going through life without much enthusiasm or motivation. Recently released from prison he returns home prior to his brothers departure back to Afghanistan. Capt. Sam Cahill (Tobey Maguire) the older of the two, married his high school sweetheart Grace(Natalie Portman) and has two young daughters, and has everything going for him. While fighting in Afghanistan Sam's company comes under fire from the Taliban and he is presumed dead. Wanting redemption in his life Tommy steps in as the "father figure" for the girls and helps Grace overcome the loss of his brother. Months go by and Sam is miraculously found in a Taliban camp and returns home and suspects a romantic relationship has happened between the brother he loves and the wife he thought he trusted.

Gyllenhaal and Maguire are at their best here and are playing polar opposites to a tee. The story itself is intriguing and also shows the gritty side of war and shows one of the most troublesome moments for any prisoner of it. Sam Shepard plays the part of the father who lost what Gyllenhaal's character considers his favorite son. Maguire redeems himself playing somewhat of a broken soul to where he has left the war but the war hasn't left him and struggles with the life he has been away from for so long. The balance in the film between the family at home and Sam overseas keeps the movie at a good pace along with an ending that will leave you speechless. "Brothers" was one of the better dramas of 2009 and one you won't soon forget. 4/5 -tom

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

Red Dawn (1984)

"Avenge ME!!! Avenge ME!!!"

Ok, so let's get this annoying plot summary thing over with quickly and move on to the fun stuff. Russia and Cuba invade small, northwestern American town in Colorado. A handful of kids, including Matt Eckert (Charlie Sheen), escape with Matt's older brother Jed Eckert (Patrick Swayze) into the mountains outside of town. They survive for awhile by hunting and eventually return to town to find the Commie's have taken over and turned it into command center numero uno. On the way back to the mountains they visit an old family friend who reveals to them that World War III has begun and they are about 50 miles inside of enemy lines. A few new characters pop up from here to there including Powers Boothe as downed Air Force pilot Andy. The small group, now calling themselves the 'Wolverines' begin a rebellion and strategically attack there Russian/Cuban foes.

Ok...Stop there. "Red Dawn" is very well made and far more of a war film than I thought it would be. I'd never seen it despite the number of people who'd always told me it was a good movie. After a week of 80s Action films I really expected the heroes to come out the other side of this unscathed but not everybody does. Who bites the dust? For those few of you who've never seen it, I will leave you in suspense. However, I really hate it when the good guy you've been rooting for the entire hour and fifty three minutes bites the bleeping dust!! I know that it's more realistic this way but c'mon, we come to the movies for fantasy right? Escapism, RIGHT? My complaints don't stop there, oh no, you should be so lucky!! At times the movie seems to take itself a little too seriously and it occasionally became overly dramatic . Hey, Charlie Sheen's character, your 'friend' betrayed you and sold you out to the Russians and you DON'T want to kill him? You want me to be sympathetic? Somebody's wires got crossed. Anyhow, it was pretty good all in all and most of you would probably dig it minus a few gripes. It drags on a bit and anybody who gets it, gets it in the last 15 minutes. It wasn't terrible though I'll probably never sit through it again...but hey, I've never really liked war movies anyway. 2.5/5 -andy

SECOND OPINION: Well theres no accounting for taste. On that note "Red Dawn", given the time it was made and the material that was being dealt with, which was somewhat contriversal having such an impact on American culture during the Reagan administration. At the time these fears were real just like the Cuban Missile Crisis. The characters are all portrayed well and the story is solid and original. A very young Patrick Swayze delivers the best performance. Keep your eyes out for the remake this year which I hope does the original justice. As one of the best films of the 80s " Red Dawn" deserves more. 3.5/5

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

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