Rambo (2008)

[baumer]

Dsicuss

[baumer]

Stallone has made a film like few others can, 28 January 2008

First Blood and Rambo are two of the best action films ever made and even Rambo III is good. Stallone's interpretation of Rambo is that of a reluctant hero. He really never wanted to be in the situation he was thrust into, but once there, he cannot deny who that man is, and that is none other than a killing machine. In the commentary for First Blood, by Stallone himself, he admits that Rambo is a man that can't help who he is. He doesn't start wars or confrontations, but he sure as hell excels in the situation. This RAMBO is no different. Just as Rocky told Adrian in Rocky IV you can't change who you are. Rambo is no different. He wants to live peacefully, and for 20 years he might have been, but that time has passed. Burma/Myanmar is about to learn that.

The first five minutes establishes the tone of the film, and within those first five minutes, you will know if this is the film for you or not. I hate to sound like everyone else, but this is the opening 20 minutes of Saving Private Ryan, but for the entire 90 minutes. There is enough carnage in here to make even the toughest individual cover their eyes once or twice. I remember as a kid, I thought it was tough to watch Rambo get the knife across his chest in the flashback scene in First Blood. If that was a scene in here, it would be the tame by the standards the movie sets. We instantly witness limbs and heads flying everywhere. There are humans being fed to pigs, still alive. Women are raped, kids and forced to play "mine games" and when someone gets an arm or a leg chopped off, it is as graphic as can be. I don't think Stallone was aiming for gratuitous violence here, but realism.

When you see films like Blood Diamond, Hotel Rwanda and others of the same ilk, it reminds you that there are conflicts taking place in many places in the world, and if it doesn't benefit the Unite States to get involved, if there is no oil to steal or money to be made, then no one hears about it. We all know about Afghanistan and Iraq because the U.S. has interest there, but no one cares about a bunch of Burmese people being slaughtered by a government army. Stallone makes you care. The Christain missionaries that arrive at the scene provide the canvas to paint the picture with, but with or without them, it doesn't change the fact that the realistic violence perpetrated by the thugs in this movie happens. Read page 22 of any North American paper and you'll get a tiny blurb about mass graves indicating some kind of ethnic Holocaust. Rambo makes this front and center.

I don't want to give you the impression that this another JFK or Platoon, because it is not. This is simply one of the best action films I have ever seen and Stallone shows once again that he is an action aficionado behind the camera. I'm not sure many others could make a film like this. The action is tense, frenetic and unapologetic. Although we haven't seen a Rambo film in 20 years, Stallone doesn't skip a beat. Besides the action, Stallone is also excellent in here as the quiet hero. While he wrestles with who he is, once he accepts that, all hell breaks loose. I have always thought Stallone was such an under rated actor, and in spite of all the myopic critics diatribes about him, he can act. Rambo might not on par with Stallone' performance in Rocky or Copland, but he hits every note he needs to here. He is a man of few words, but his actions speak louder than any David Mamet ( no disrespect to Mamet, I love his work) script could.

There are some very nice touches here as some of the music is straight from Jerry Goldsmith's vault and there is a nice homage to First Blood, where it all began, when he wears the same jacket as he did when we first see him in the original.

Rambo is a great action film, in fact one of the best in recent memory. This is one that all action fans should give a chance. I was entertained for every second and there is even a sad message in the film. Rambo is worth your time. Sly has done it once again.

9/10

[75Live]

This is a great way to end the series. As has been said in the films and this one as well, Rambo finally comes full circle. He exorcises his demons and finally goes home.

The action is pretty awesome. It is definitely more visceral and it had purpose. I don't think it went over the top with goriness as it fit the situation.

A-

[The Toymaker]

Rambo

This is the weakest of the four. It pretty much copies the story from Rambo First Blood Part II, even down to the whistles on the morning when the Burmese soldiers discover dead bodies, exactly like the second movie in design. However, the gratuitous violence and Rambo coming full circle make this probably one of the best endings to a franchise bar Rocky Balboa. Now all Sly has to do is keep it that way and not make a fifth.

A-

[Ozymandias]

I think this is definitely the second best Rambo behind First Blood because these are the Rambo movies that felt the most real and had messages in them. The ending with Rambo walking torwards his Dad's home with the classic score was a perfect way to end his story.A

Edited October 11, 2012 by Shpongle

[fishstick]

What are you people smoking? I saw this shitfest yesterday and I can`t believe full-blooded Rambo fan has anything positive to say about this mega turd.

 

It`s starts bad enough with Sly in a bad wig, his face completely ravaged by botched plastic surgery. This is no joke. The guy can barely move his lips now which made me flashback to Elephant Man who had the same lips and very similar asymetric face as well.

 

Rambo`s a snake catcher in Thailand and if the movie was about that I guess it would have been better.Alas, someone thought it was a great idea to bring aboard a classic damsel in distress sorta love interest but not quite who started to eat up the screen time while seriously grating on my nerves. Number one, why is this retard in the movie at all? She isn`t hot for guys to gawk at and women won`t be caught dead watching this anyway so why is she here? Second, who was the actress sleeping with to get this completely unnecessary part? More importantly, why would anyone in the industry sleep with a washed up 40something TV actress when they can have hot spring chickens?

 

This annoying bitch was fuckin terrible. Blonde and dressed like going on a yaht trip, read sticking out like a sour thumb, she was seddled with the cheesiest inspirational lines that had about 20 repeats of words "you can change who you are" followed by 20 solemn replies "you can`t change shit" (actually, "shit" is my addion and the lines would flow better with it so I generously improved the script here). Now I get that her purpose was to humanize Rambo, but since he didn`t feed snakes with her or shoot her in a head, which would be the most genuine human reaction to a fuckin annoying bitch out of place in a fuckin jungle, humanization failed EPICALLY.

 

The movie fuckin dragged. It went something like this. Cut to annoying bitch and her missionary posse. ZZZZZ. Cut to Rambo`s plastic face. ZZZZZZ. Cut to over the top Laos villains blowing up civilians and throwing babies into fire. Bring it!

 

Once the bitch was predictably captured (her posse was anti-killing so they went into the war zone w/o weapons, I`m not kidding, it`s all in this stupid movie, gotta be seen to be believed), there were tons of unnecessary cuts to her tears-streaked faced while villains were rioting above her cage (this involves tons of female humilation and big reveal that their leader has hots for young boys - how 80s!).

 

The movie picks up with the arrival of ragtag crew of mercenaries who are all underdevloped sterotypes and one is an actual Abercrombie&Fich-like hottie so I guess that misguided Sly really thought women and girls would somehow flock to this. Oh, Sly. Dellusions of grandeur. Anyway, the best one is Kiwi merc who was Balin in TH. I loved Balin so this guy was the best thing about the movie. He called the whole mission a piece of shit which is the truest thing anyone ever said in the movie. I stongly believe he meant the movie was piece of shit. Which is even truer.

 

From there, Rambo always saves the day in the last minute, like Gandalf in TH though not as many times, and some mercs and missionaries (the ones w/o speaking lines) bite the dust. Damsel screams, cries and covers her eyes and ears. What all useless characters do. Rambo gets hold of a giant machine gun so many heads and limbs are blown in a cartoon fashion. It`s very comical. Considering that Rambo`s now fat (at least his shirt make him look like a beer-kickin unemployed couch potatoe) we don`t get any of his signature super fight moves. He`s merely sitting on his ass while firing 100000 bullets a second. I`m not joking about this number cause bad guys brought the never-ending supply of trucks full of soldiers so you had to get rid of those redshirt fast.

 

Well, even bullets have to stop sometimes and now what? No worries. Deus ex machine in the shape of poorly developed, only hinted at Rebels, comes to the rescue. Everyone dies but Gay Villain who tries to escape only to run into Rambo`s knife.

 

There are lessons to learn as annoying chick`s hubby who`s sworn not to kill (he even chastitises Rambo for killing the guys who threatened to rape his wife) picks up a stone and kills one of his attackers. Than he waves to Rambo,like, respect, man. Eyeroller but not as big as Rambo going back home to his father because annoying chick`s words about changing and goo-goo eyes exchange they had in the boring first half of the movie inspired him to give America another shot. Puke.

 

This didn`t do very well dom and rightly so. I get that fans of the character wanted to see him again and were easy to please but this thing shat all over Rambo legacy, not that Rambo 3 didn`t already but this was a turd that overflew the crapper.

Edited March 17, 2013 by fishnets

[baumer]

Fish, you pick really weird reasons to hate movies and people. Sly's face and the lack of hotness from Julie Benz are not reasons to hate the movie. First of all, she is hot but that's not why she was picked for the role and secondly, there is no love interest. He helps her because she is the opposite of him. She still believes in goodness, he is black inside. He feels some kind of a kindred connection to her, to perhaps a time before he went to Vietnam. There is nothing sexual about it.If you didn't like it for other reasons, ok, but some of your complaints are just strange.

[fishstick]

OK, you are offended because I slagged your favorite movie but I`m sorry it was a piece of shit especially the script fails it completely. Missionaries were a terrible idea, inspirational dialog was horrid, Benz was laughable and pointless. There was no chemistry for kindred spirit or anything else. Their longing looks were ridiculous because one didn`t know what the hell they meant, romance, friendship, what? The idea that Rambo would change (go back to America from his self-exile in Thailand) because some chick tells him to believe in himself and because she`s a part of some hippy no-guns Christian group is offensive. There`s even a scene where she gives him a cross and another where he looks at the cross while making a decission. Fine, if you want to see Rambo in a bad tropes-ladden movie with unmemorable supporting characters and absolutely bland villain than this is your cup of tea. OTOH, as a fan of the character and first 2 movies I hate it with passion because it shits on eevrything that made first 2 so good.

 

R:FB had no stupid love/spirit interest and it was amazing because the character was great, the villain was great, stakes were high, he was badass and sympathetic at the same time, and his emotional breakdown was more moving than any inspiraitonal shit in this shit. Yeah, the "I killed for my country" speech was cheesy but it felt genuine in the context and much more than vague beating around the bush about change. It was straight up and therefore powerful.

 

R:FB 2 also kept the tradition of strong villain and powerful cheesy speechifying ("that our country loves us as much as we love her") and it added a female character who made sense. Ko Bao was an agent, so no weaponless bullshit here. She was a fighter and Rambo`s monologue about what it means to be expnadable was great bonding between them. So she had a reason to be in the movie without feeling shoe-horned. And she didn`t have to humanize him because he already was.

 

Moreover, this crap didn`t even have any great action. First 2 movies have some iconic action scenes. This had none. Just some OTT comical carnage.

 

But the worst offense that Rambo does is that it has Rambo disappear from the screen for long amounts of time in favor of characters nobody cares for. He felt like a co-lead with Grating Sarah. Why? of all characters that ever appeared in this series (Trautman, Ko), this one was the least deserving of eating up the screen time. She was boring. And bad actress. And shoe-horned. And stupid. And didn`t make any sense. The whole missionary posse made no sense. The idea to go into war zone w/o weapons or armed forces protection didn`t make them likable or sympathetic. It made them irritaing, dumb and disposable.

 

Finally, first 2 movies dealt with the subject matter that public was emotionally invested in. It`s still called American tragedy or whatever. OTOH, who the fuck knows where Laos is? Or cares about their internal politics? Or who the fuck cares about some really crazy Jesus people? POW = relatable. These self-rightous fuckers? Not at all.

Edited March 17, 2013 by fishnets

[CoolioD1]

^tl;dr.

 

Anyway, I thought this was pretty badass. Would give it a B+

[baumer]

You lost me at "it had no action."Sorry Fish

[Squaremaster316]

Aside from the last 7 minute action scene, there's really little for this film to offer.

[fishstick]

You lost me at "it had no action." Sorry Fish

 

Sorry B, your glasses got fogged or something so you haven`t seen word "great" before action. It had action just it wasn`t great. It was OTT comical and not a single defining moment. Heads and people blew up and nothing really stood out. Moreover, it was even worse that they tried to inject some horrors like babies being thrown into fire or having their heads smashed into the wall or civilians forced to walk through landmine-infested water or captured women being humilated and gang-raped. This kind of stuff belongs in a deep thinker and not in a popcorn flick because it becomes comical in a popcorn. Like hanging of a kid in POTC:AWE. Unless you want to say something deep about the human condition under duress don`t bother. It loses its purpose. It isn`t shocking in "I`m really disgusted how low people cna stoop" way, it isn`t moving and it just looks silly, exploitive and OTT.

 

The movie sucked. No amount of gratuitous violence (that some people here think equals a great action movie but doesn`t, far from it) can`t change the fact that the premise of Rambo changing his views of America because some pacifist blondie told him some Jesus Loves You cheese, is dumb as fuck and just as competently executed. Or whatever the moral of the story was outside of the "what really counts is the body count". They could`ve had a decent movie without stupid missionaries (that type of character didn`t work in POTC:OST and they certainly don`t work here). Rambo, his rebel buddies, maybe mercs too and those Kambodian/Laos/whatever army fucks with a good villain. That would have been a full circle for him. He waged a war against them 30 years ago and now is in the position to help or whatever. Still chessy (which is what all actioners are) but at least we wouldn`t have to sit through dullfest that were those annoying religious fanatics and their pompous crap that didn`t add up to anything in the end.  

Edited March 17, 2013 by fishnets

[baumer]

Ok. You are entitled to your opinion.

[Phil in the Blank]

I really think this was a great movie, and is only behind the original in the Rambo series. I actually cared about the characters, and the action was brutal. It's always a winning combination to me.

[Lazer]

Edit. Was this only called Rambo?

Edited August 28, 2014 by Lazer Deadshot

[Lazer]

Stallone has made a film like few others can, 28 January 2008 First Blood and Rambo are two of the best action films ever made and even Rambo III is good. Stallone's interpretation of Rambo is that of a reluctant hero. He really never wanted to be in the situation he was thrust into, but once there, he cannot deny who that man is, and that is none other than a killing machine. In the commentary for First Blood, by Stallone himself, he admits that Rambo is a man that can't help who he is. He doesn't start wars or confrontations, but he sure as hell excels in the situation. This RAMBO is no different. Just as Rocky told Adrian in Rocky IV you can't change who you are. Rambo is no different. He wants to live peacefully, and for 20 years he might have been, but that time has passed. Burma/Myanmar is about to learn that.The first five minutes establishes the tone of the film, and within those first five minutes, you will know if this is the film for you or not. I hate to sound like everyone else, but this is the opening 20 minutes of Saving Private Ryan, but for the entire 90 minutes. There is enough carnage in here to make even the toughest individual cover their eyes once or twice. I remember as a kid, I thought it was tough to watch Rambo get the knife across his chest in the flashback scene in First Blood. If that was a scene in here, it would be the tame by the standards the movie sets. We instantly witness limbs and heads flying everywhere. There are humans being fed to pigs, still alive. Women are raped, kids and forced to play "mine games" and when someone gets an arm or a leg chopped off, it is as graphic as can be. I don't think Stallone was aiming for gratuitous violence here, but realism.When you see films like Blood Diamond, Hotel Rwanda and others of the same ilk, it reminds you that there are conflicts taking place in many places in the world, and if it doesn't benefit the Unite States to get involved, if there is no oil to steal or money to be made, then no one hears about it. We all know about Afghanistan and Iraq because the U.S. has interest there, but no one cares about a bunch of Burmese people being slaughtered by a government army. Stallone makes you care. The Christain missionaries that arrive at the scene provide the canvas to paint the picture with, but with or without them, it doesn't change the fact that the realistic violence perpetrated by the thugs in this movie happens. Read page 22 of any North American paper and you'll get a tiny blurb about mass graves indicating some kind of ethnic Holocaust. Rambo makes this front and center.I don't want to give you the impression that this another JFK or Platoon, because it is not. This is simply one of the best action films I have ever seen and Stallone shows once again that he is an action aficionado behind the camera. I'm not sure many others could make a film like this. The action is tense, frenetic and unapologetic. Although we haven't seen a Rambo film in 20 years, Stallone doesn't skip a beat. Besides the action, Stallone is also excellent in here as the quiet hero. While he wrestles with who he is, once he accepts that, all hell breaks loose. I have always thought Stallone was such an under rated actor, and in spite of all the myopic critics diatribes about him, he can act. Rambo might not on par with Stallone' performance in Rocky or Copland, but he hits every note he needs to here. He is a man of few words, but his actions speak louder than any David Mamet ( no disrespect to Mamet, I love his work) script could.There are some very nice touches here as some of the music is straight from Jerry Goldsmith's vault and there is a nice homage to First Blood, where it all began, when he wears the same jacket as he did when we first see him in the original.Rambo is a great action film, in fact one of the best in recent memory. This is one that all action fans should give a chance. I was entertained for every second and there is even a sad message in the film. Rambo is worth your time. Sly has done it once again.9/10

Baumer, why no love for Rambo II as a great action film?

[Lazer]

I really think this was a great movie, and is only behind the original in the Rambo series. I actually cared about the characters, and the action was brutal. It's always a winning combination to me.

I have to watch all the Rambo movies in order...but when watching his movie, I thought Rambo was written as a great character...both as a human being and a killing machine.

[superstancer]

Liked it inspite it has sssoooo much Violence but thats fine im an Action Fan

Action scenes were really good.....Great way to end the series but stallones making Rambo 5 im eagerly waiting for that

8/10

[baumer]

Baumer, why no love for Rambo II as a great action film?

 

Why would you say that?  You read my review, it's one of my faves of all time.