Does the latest Rambo flick offer the intense action you've come to expect from the franchise?
Director: Sylvester Stallone Writer: Sylvester Stallone Cinematographer: Glen MacPherson Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Julie Benz, Matthew Marsden, Graham McTavish, Paul Schulze
Rated R for strong graphic bloody violence, sexual assaults, grisly images and language.
THE FILM
Sylvester Stallone took a lot of heat when he announced he was making a new Rocky movie. He’s too old. No one cares anymore. The last Rocky movie sucked the life out of the franchise. Then Rocky Balboa came out and everyone sat up and took notice. Best Rocky movie since the first one, many cried. Stallone did it again, he made Rocky relevant again, others proclaimed. It was a huge success and Sylvester Stallone made a movie that blew most of the other Rocky sequels out of the water. He concluded the story of Rocky Balboa the way it needed to be finished. Never doubt the Italian Stallion.
Then word came along that Stallone was going to produce another chapter in the John Rambo movie franchise. Everyone started to complain. He’s too old. No one cares anymore. The sequels to First Blood sucked the life right out of the franchise. Sound familiar? That’s because no one learns from history. Stallone took the Rocky franchise and created a special movie that proved there was life in the legs of the prized pugilist. What makes you doubt he could make a movie that proves the fire still burns deep in the soul of America’s most troubled antihero?
Rambo is a movie that both reinvigorates the franchise and builds upon the first chapter in a way that neither of its predecessors ever could. During the Reagan era, Rambo became a cartoon caricature of what the president idolized. Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger were the prototypical U.S. fighters, marching into foreign lands and blowing up those damned communists one-by-one. However, those familiar with First Blood should know that is not what John Rambo was originally about. Rambo was a loyal American, a Vietnam veteran, returning to a country that neither cared nor believed in what he did in the name of his flag.
This story is more about a country that had moved on and forgotten the men who died to preserve its freedom. The next two movies were “Ra Ra” “Go USA” movies where Rambo travels back to the enemy lands to blow up all the bad guys. This fourth movie in the franchise moves it back to what the original film was all about. As it begins, we see John Rambo living in Thailand as a snake wrangler. He is living peacefully and wants nothing to do with the human race in general. Unfortunately, the human race still needs him.
A group of missionaries ask Rambo to take them into war ravaged country Burma to deliver supplies, medicine and food. Rambo wants nothing to do with this but is convinced by a girl (Julie Benz) to accompany them to their destination. The reason she succeeds is because he sees something in her he no longer sees in himself - a sense of purpose and a faith that what she does will help other people. The quote of the movie is “it’s better to die for something than to live for nothing.” When Rambo learns the missionaries have disappeared, he is forced to finally return to action.
There are a number of things that work in this movie. The first is that we know everything there is to know about John Rambo, but none of the characters in the movie shares this knowledge. He is treated like a simple peasant and a boat man. When he accompanies a group of mercenaries to find the missionaries, they make comments that makes the viewers just shake their heads. We know what this man is capable of and we know it is just a matter of time until each character is forced to eat crow. Thanks to characters such as the insufferable missionary Michael or the “merc with a mouth” Lewis, Rambo’s eventual explosion is even more anticipated.
Michael is a character that has very little redeeming qualities. He is a missionary who preaches helping those in need, but after Rambo saves the small group from being killed by a group of pirates, Michael reacts in a way that paints him as unappreciative and insolent. Lewis is such a jerk, and continuously talks down to Rambo, proving to be practically impossible to like. These are the good guys. With friends like that, who needs enemies? However, for Rambo to work the men he is fighting must be the ultimate evil.
Sylvester Stallone called Soldier of Fortune magazine and asked where the most dangerous place on Earth is. They told him about Burma and after research, Stallone made the bad guys in the movie as close to realistic as possible. That makes the movie even more distressing. This military would take villagers into open rice fields, toss land mines into the water, and force them at gunpoint to race through the water with bets on which prisoner would explode first. Then they would gun down the survivors. The army would race into villages and burn them down, shooting women and children, cutting men’s arms off and kidnapping the youthful boys to join their army. According to the features on the disc, these are realistic atrocities committed by this army. This movie has become so controversial that if any citizen of Burma is caught with it, they are sentenced to prison. If a person is caught selling it, they receive life in prison.
The movie is more important than just a movie of Rambo killing people. But Rambo killing people is what makes the movie so great. If you are a guy who likes great amounts of gore and cheers when something so ridiculously over the top as a person getting ripped in half occurs, this movie is your wet dream. Rambo uses a large knife and lops someone’s head off in all its glorious detail. He turns a machine gun onto a man and empties rounds into him, causing his head to explode in a puff of red smoke. There are so many great moments of slaughter I could only sit there with a dumb smile on my face as I watched it in all its gory glory.
The ending of the movie is what clinched it in my book. I understand there might be another Rambo on the way, but I don’t see the purpose. Rocky Balboa was a perfect swan song that referenced the original in a way that made it a perfect conclusion. Rambo is also the perfect conclusion to this character. Ignore the second and third movie and you have a great one-two punch with First Blood and Rambo. Where First Blood shows a man trying to return home, Rambo re-introduces us to a man who has given up hope. This film is about a man who rediscovers what it means to fight for something once again. It is a perfect conclusion to the story that began in First Blood and the final scene of Rambo harkens back to the opening of First Blood. John Rambo has gone full circle and this movie is the perfect end to a great story.
The Video
The video is presented in 1080p / AVC MPEG-4 on a BD-50 disc. Everything from the nighttime scenes to the gloomy tent scenes to the large scale river scenes has a clarity that is beautiful. To top it off, all the special features are presented in high definition as well.
The Audio
The audio on the Blu-ray is 7.1 DTS HD Master Audio. This is one of the best high definition audio presentations I have heard. Everything from the score to the dialogue to the eventual gunfire are all crisp and clear. When the action picks up significantly in the second half the sound is just explosive. Everything is leveled out perfectly and this is truly a perfect audio experience.
The Extras
Commentary Track with Sylvester Stallone - This is a really nice audio commentary with a very intelligent filmmaker about the movie and the real world situations surrounding it. However, if you buy the Blu-ray you can get the superior...
Bonus View Picture-in-Picture Commentary Track (Blu-ray Exclusive - player must be Profile 1.1) (2:00:22) - This is the reason to buy Blu-ray. The first thing you should notice is this version of the movie is about thirty minutes longer than the movie itself. The feature flips between a straight commentary and a making-of documentary. Occasionally you will have the picture in picture where a talking head discusses what you are viewing on screen (Stallone, an actor, a crew member, etc.) intercut with behind the scenes footage of the scene you are watching on the main screen. However, at times the movie will go full screen with the interview subject and you will get a short diversion from the picture as they discuss something concerning that section of the movie. An example is when you first meet missionary Michael, the movie cuts away to interviews with Stallone and actor Paul Schulze as they talk about his role and then see shots from later in the movie. When they have finished the conversation about this specific topic, the movie starts up again and the commentary continues on. This is a fantastic feature of Blu-ray technology and is the next step in special features.
Deleted Scenes (13:44) - There are three deleted scenes. The first is an extension of Sarah trying to convince Rambo to take them to Burma. In the original feature, she simply questions his humanity, but in the deleted scenes there is much more back and forth as Rambo questions his beliefs in anything. The second scene takes place on the boat on the way to Burma and includes Rambo asking Sarah a little about her background. The final deleted scene is during Rambo, Sarah and School Boy’s escape and involves an injury Sarah suffers on the run. All are good scenes that were tightened to increase the tension and lessen Rambo’s dialogue.
It’s a Long Road: Resurrection of an Icon (19:44) - This is your typical making of featurette. They talk to everyone involved, and we learn why Stallone decided to step behind the camera for this movie. It is a solid featurette, going from conception to final cut.
A Score to Settle: The Music of Rambo (6:31) - Brian Tyler is the new composer on the Rambo movies, taking over for the late, great Jerry Goldsmith. When taking over for a man who received eighteen Oscar nominations, you would expect anxiety. What was refreshing was the how relaxed Tyler seems as he takes much of Goldsmith’s work and adds his own little twists. This is understandable when you learn that Tyler is a huge fan and student of Goldsmith and this is in fact his third attempt at following his elder’s work. Goldsmith scored Alien and Star Trek and Tyler scored AVP2 Requiem and Star Trek Enterprise on television. To see a young composer who respects those who came before is refreshing in this day and age.
The Art of War: Part 1 - Editing (6:47) - Sean Albertson edited the entire movie from the United States, not seeing any footage until two days after it was shot. This made the entire technique very difficult as Stallone would use up to eight cameras on a single take and send all the footage in bulk. This is yet another good feature about the difficulties of making this movie.
The Art of War: Part 2 - Sound (3:15) - Just a little talk with Albertson about making sure the sound is perfect during editing. One interesting tidbit is that they made it as real as possible and then realized no one would enjoy the movie if it sounded that real. They had to scale back and add music to make it bearable.
Weaponry of Rambo (14:23) - A discussion with Kent Johnson about the actual weapons chosen to use in the movie. Those were real guns and every actor had to go to a boot camp to learn how to use them safely. And all those instances of heads exploding and bodies ripped in half? That is exactly what damage those specific guns do when used. One other thing, Stallone actually forged the knife he used on his own. The scenes in the movie with him making it were real.
A Hero’s Welcome: Release and Reaction (9:31) - The first part of this discusses the premiere in Las Vegas (Arnie was there!) and the second half talks about the reaction by U.S. Military personnel who have said it contains the most realistic battle scenes they have seen in a movie.
Legacy of Despair: The Real Struggle in Burma (10:42) - This is an actual documentary over the real struggles in Burma. Many workers are spoken to about the help needed in the country and it seems much of what was shown in the movie is based on exact facts. One guy claims the troubles in Darfur pale in comparison to what has been happening in Burma the last ten years.
Trailer Gallery - Trailers for all four Rambo movies.
MoLog (Blu-ray Exclusive - player must be Profile 2.0) - I could not get this feature to work, even though my PS3 is compatible. From what I understand, it is an online experience where you can discuss the movie in a chat style format with others who are also watching the movie as well.
The Film: 7.9/10.0
The Video: 10.0/10.0
The Audio: 10.0/10.0
The Extras: 10.0/10.0
The 411: Rambo offers all the action and adventure you could ever expect from a movie in this franchise. The blood and gore are over the top and ridiculously graphic. This movie is an action fan’s wet dream and offers all the ingredients for a great Friday night film. It is also the perfect conclusion to the Rambo storyline, tying into the first movie in a way that both satisfies and entertains. This is the Rambo movie all First Blood fans have been waiting on.
