When a group of missionary aid workers in myanmar disappear into the vast green inferno vigilante vietnam veteran john rambo leaves his job as a salween river boatman behind to accompany a group of mercenaries on a daring rescue mission. Studio: Lions Gate Home Ent. Release Date: 05/27/2008 Starring: Sylvester Stallone Paul Schulze Run time: 93 minutes Rating: R
If you've been wondering what ever happened to ex-Green Beret superwarrior John Rambo since he singlehandedly shot up a Pacific Northwest town (First Blood, 1982), returned to the jungles of 'Nam to free U.S. POWs held long after war's end (Rambo: First Blood Part II, 1985), and interrupted the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan long enough to blow lots of stuff up and rescue his old commandant from the Reds (Rambo III, 1988), then Rambo (2008) is for you. Without so much as a IV to dilute the brand name, Rambo--which is what most of us called the second, most iconic film in the series--may aspire to open a new era for a pop legend. But it's a thoroughly mechanical attempt to reanimate a franchise that, absent the anger, frustration, and self-loathing of the post-Vietnam years, has no meaning or purpose. For some time now Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) has been putt-putting along the Thai-Burmese border in a longboat, catching exotic snakes to sell. As for the 60-year civil war in Burma between the brutal government and the Karen independence movement, he ignores it. Enter a party of American missionaries whose dewy blond spokeswoman (Dexter's Julie Benz) asks Rambo to haul them upriver so that they can bring medical aid to the insurgents. After the requisite number of monosyllabic refusals, he does. Soon afterward the do-gooders are in a world of hurt, and he's summoned to lead a squad of mercenaries on a rescue mission.
As storytelling, the latest Rambo is the most bare-bones of the bunch. Rambo has little to say, so it's especially galling that Stallone, as director and co-writer, obliges him to have essentially the same conversation at three different points (the final distillation: "Live for nothing or die for something"). The Burmese army goons seem in competition to commit the most hideous atrocity (e.g., child skull-crushing underfoot), the better to justify the eventual, lovingly protracted spectacle of them being eviscerated by high-powered weaponry. Although shot in Thailand, the movie has mostly been photographed in brown, reducing any particular sense of place but, perhaps, perversely increasing our gratitude for the splashes of purple whenever hot metal tatters flesh. --Richard T. Jameson
Beyond Rambo
Complete list of Rambo movies on DVD and Blu-ray
Soundtrack
Rambo: The Complete Collector's Set
Stills from Rambo (click for larger image)
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
Excellent DVD in excellent condition.:
The DVD was delivered in a timely manner as promised and in the new/excellent condition as advertised. That is all a customer asks for. Thank you.
Excellent Addition to the Series:
Despite what you may have heard, John Rambo is still very much alive. He's battle worn, sick of the world, and "retired" in a village deep in Thailand where he catches snakes, fishes, and sleeps fitful nights. He probably would have lived out his days this way and quietly died years from now with us never hearing from him had not a group of missionaries from Colorado decided that they would go into the worst area of Burma on a humanitarian mission, or had Rambo been able to talk them out of it. But that... more info
Extreme gore with a serious political point:
I was shocked by how much I appreciated this movie. Yes, it is extremely, but not excessively gory. The blu-ray version makes the violence even more real. The point of the violence is to show what people in Burma face every day - this isn't overblown, this is a fictional story of real everyday occurrences. The supplements in the film point out that the Burma military government is afraid of the movie and will kill or imprison for life anyone who sells the film in Burma, or will imprison anyone for 10 years... more info
Better than anticipated:
Above par action movie. The bad guys are, as usual, really bad. The people to be saved, pure of heart. And John Rambo is pissed. Not a good thing for the bad guys. But the viewers will enjoy. A high gore content to please the video game crowd. An ending could be a sequel or did "Gran Torino" close that option.
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