Rambo (2008)

Genre

Action | Thriller

Director

Sylvester Stallone

Country

USA

Cast

Sylvester Stallone, Julie Benz, Paul Schulze, Matthew Marsden, Graham McTavish, Reynaldo Gallegos, Tim Kang, Jake La Botz, Ken Howard, Maung Maung Khin, Supakorn Kitsuwon, Richard Crenna

Storyline

John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) is living peacefully in Thailand until he joins a group of missionaries to venture into war-torn Burma to rescue a group of Christian aid workers who were kidnapped by the ruthless local infantry unit.

Opinion

After twenty years, Sylvester Stallone brought John Rambo back to the big screen. This time around he is not just acting, but he's also the man behind the camera and co-writer of the screenplay. And precisely for this reason, I wasn't expecting anything from this film, but it wasn't as bad as I thought. Actually, "Rambo" is an entertaining, and quite good action film.

The plot is simple and overall similar to that of the previous entries, yet it is quite solid, and the action - although it still plays an important role in it - isn't the center of the story. In fact, and thankfully, it focuses on the character's frustration and contempt for a world that at first needed him as a soldier, but later rejected and excluded him because a damaged good. So this film is really following the footsteps of "First Blood".

Even though the story is stronger and the main character has that texture lacking in the previous two entries, the writers should have really worked more on the characters. Rambo is the only character we know. The other characters' development in basically non-existent, therefore you root for Rambo only because you don't have enough elements to hate the others.

All of that being said, we still have to remember this is an action film, and as such it works pretty well. The action sequences are well done and very intense. However, the film is too violent. I wouldn't be complaining about it if it had a point. Like in "Oldboy".

Then there's the music that fits to the action, and a camera work that is annoyingly shaking at times, but also adds a little tension to the action. At last the acting, it isn't awful, but it isn't exception either.

Rambo III (1988)

Genre

Action | War

Director

Peter MacDonald

Country

USA

Cast

Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna, Kurtwood Smith, Marc de Jonge, Sasson Gabai, Doudi Shoua, Spiros Focas, Randy Raney, Marcus Gilbert, Alon Abutbul, Mahmoud Assadollahi, Yosef Shiloah

Storyline

When his friend Colonel Trautman (Richard Crenna) is captured by Soviets during a mission in Afghanistan, John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) sets out to rescue him while taking on the brutal Colonel Zaysen (Marc de Jonge) and his army. 

Opinion

"First Blood" was nothing short of great. "Rambo: First Blood II" was nothing but an exciting action flick. "Rambo III" is nothing. Period. No, actually it is something, a dreadful and unwatchable action flick.

The plot has finally lost all the plausibility. It is also boring. There is so much nonsense going on, it's impossible to keep track of it. I'm still trying to understand why the Russians attack the Afghan village but then decide to leave. But what do you even need a decent plot for when you have John Rambo? The answer is simple, you don't need one. Apparently.

And it would have been fine with me if only the filmmakers kept portraying Rambo as a good man repeatedly being let down by his country. Like in the first film and kind of in the second. But it's so much more fun to have a character that is a shirtless, indestructible killing machine capable of destroying Russian armies and taking down helicopters with a bow and arrow that is also a stupid, one-dimensional, flat character rather than having a real person.

But those are not the only problems here, after all those are pretty common in action films. Not very common (or normal) for an action flick, however, is the lack of good action. Awfully paced, it is very poorly done and ridiculous - especially in that "climactic" final battle - and it completely fails to amaze or to be exciting.

What else can I say? "Rambo III" really deserves a mention for definitively ruining a character/franchise.

Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)

Genre

Action | War

Director

George P. Cosmatos

Country

USA

Cast

Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna, Charles Napier, Steven Berkoff, Julia Nickson, Martin Kove, George Cheung, Andy Wood, William Ghent, Voyo Goric, Dana Lee, Baoan Coleman

Storyline

John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) is released from prison by his government for a top-secret rescue mission to the jungles of Vietnam.

Opinion

"First Blood" and "Rambo: First Blood Part II"? Two completely different movies. Actually, the latter should have been called "Rambo: How to Destroy First Blood".

In fact, other than having great action, this film doesn't have much to offer, starting from the plot. The predictable yet believable plot of the previous film has been replaced by a very weak plot that reaches the limits of absurdity: Rambo single-handles not one, but two armies, the extremely stereotyped Vietnamese and Russian troops.

For a reason I will never understand, the filmmakers also thought it would be nice to thrown into the mix a needless, irrelevant and undeveloped romance.

And the Rambo I came to love in the first film is gone. Remember that broken man that at the end starts crying while talking about his past? Well, forget about him, this time we get a "hero" going around shirtless, once again for no reason at all.

And while "First Blood" portrayed a true side of American, how losers are treated, "Rambo: First Blood Part II" portrays Americans only like people obsessed with shooting and bombing, and the criticism of America's priorities when it comes to their men on the field is not very effective, there's just a glimpse of it.

So it is definitely not a serious film. On the other hand, however, if only considered as an action flick, the film takes the viewer on an incredible, exciting ride.

First Blood (1982)

Genre

Action | Drama

Director

Ted Kotcheff

Country

USA

Cast

Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna, Brian Dennehy, Bill McKinney, Jack Starrett, Michael Talbott, Chris Mulkey, John McLiam, Alf Humphreys, David Caruso, David L. Crowley, Don MacKay

Storyline

Vietnam veteran John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) is pursued into the mountains surrounding a small town by a tyrannical sheriff (Brian Dennehy) and his deputies, forcing him to survive using his combat skills.

Opinion

I was expecting "First Blood" to be different. Actually, I don't know what exactly I was expecting, but what I found myself watching was not a simple action film, the regular Stallone film, but a deeper film. And I even ended up liking it.

First of all, even though it's simple and quite predictable, the storyline is actually believable. I know, there's a lot of crazy stuff going on. Second, what it has to say its very interesting. In fact it is not the typical action flick story, but it actually is a quite accurate portrayal of how veterans are treated. It's also a beautiful portrayal of the American society where defeats are not tolerated and victories only are allowed. 

"First Blood" therefore is quite dramatic and serious, but let's not forget this is still an action film, and it works well as such. The action sequences are indeed very well done, and they almost make you believe that Rambo could take down an entire town on his own. 

Also the beautiful thing about it is that it's easy to identify with Rambo. I know it sounds crazy, but it's easy to see Rambo as a good man that is just having a bad time. Sure, he reacts in the worst way, but after what he's been through, I suppose that's the only way.

The biggest surprise though was Sylvester Stallone. I surely wasn't expecting him to give such good performance and to execute the drama require by the role so well. The supporting cast also does a good job with Richard Crenna and Brian Dennehy both worth of a mention.