RAMBO countdown

[roccobalboa]

It's not ROCKY BALBOA ..... but it'll do.

I'm pretty excited about this new Rambo.

Anyone hear any buzz about how good it is? Usually word leaks out .....

[Mrs B]

I havent heard anything yet - I know I have to wait positively ages before it released over here though!!!

The wait wont be as painful as it was for Rocky Balboa though, I have to say. Just to see Sly on the screen again though will be a real treat

[thebumfromthedark]

Anybody who may be interested, the Rambo Trilogy box set is on sale again at Best Buy for the hellaciously awesome price of 20 bucks. It also includes a free ticket for "Rambo."

[roccobalboa]

No thanks .................... I only really liked First Blood ............. we'll see about this one.

[masterofdisaster19]

I loved Rambo: First Blood Part 2, even if the title is bad, this one is aptly titled Rambo, which is highly amusing to me - most people call First Blood "Rambo". In fact, I believe at some point in the late 80's or early 90's there was a repackaging of the trilogy on VHS that did count the films as Rambo, Rambo II and Rambo III. Bum, correct me if I'm wrong on this one.

Plus, isn't it a little strange that Rambo is going to come after Rambo III? I mean, I like it. I love the title. I suppose "First Blood Part 3" and "First Blood Part 4" would have been too much. They should have been First Blood, Second Blood, Third Blood, etc. But I think Rambo confuses people. For instance, my dad, who was only a casual fan.

When he and I were together and someone mentioned the upcoming film called "Rambo", his immediate reaction was not to assume it was a fourth installment, but a remake of First Blood, which he and almost every other casual fan calls "Rambo". He asked, "Wow. Who are they gonna get to play Rambo? I hope it's not The Rock."

I explained that Stallone wasn't dead and it was a sequel. He kind of scoffed at the notion - why is it most guys near Stallone's age are so jealous of him? He'd seen how phenomenal Sly looked in Rocky Balboa, but still didn't really give it a fair viewing. He said it was "ok". Not enough Survivor montages I guess.

[roccobalboa]

Yeah, that's been a weird thing .... where the character name actually takes over the name of the movie. Actually, I remember when it came out overseas, it was released as RAMBO .... so maybe that's why they just added II and III.

Tried to look for BUZZ on how good the movie is ..... no luck.

Anyone else?

[masterofdisaster19]

Looking at Ain't It Cool News, Harry (the site administrator and movie reviewer) seems rather enthusiastic about it after a viewing of the film at the Alamo Drafthouse. And in most cases I trust his judgment. He's a lot more scrutinizing than me, and I consider myself a fairly strict judge of films' integrity.

[thebumfromthedark]

I personally think the movie should have been titled "Last Blood".

[roccobalboa]

LOL ......... pretty good BUM.

[stevepre]

I really loved First Blood. I never really got into the others. I'll go see Rambo though.

[roccobalboa]

GEEZ ...... most of the reviews killed RAMBO (no pun intended) .............

Ah ..... but most of them never liked the character anyway, so maybe it's still pretty good.

[masterofdisaster19]

Saw it last night.

There were a lot of great things about the movie, things that made me want to stand up and say "hell yeah!", while there were some shortcomings.

First and foremost, there simply isn't enough Rambo in "Rambo". The time he's offscreen feels like a series of lulls in the action; it sort of feels like we're being left in unfamiliar, and frankly unsettling territory. These lulls last anywhere from say, 5 to 10 minutes each while the story follows the group of mercenaries helping to rescue the missionaries, and are marked by slapping us over the head over and over with the evil of the Burmese army and the helplessness of their victims. It is intended to serve to make the climactic ending more interesting.

This is an escapist film, but in an hyper-realistic way; he's still Rambo, but he's in an environment where his customary heroics are toned down by a strict commitment to realism. He's no longer invincible. He no longer commands the wind. It's a portrayal of a soldier like Rambo placed into real, hellish war.

The visceral nature of the violence is left entirely intact by the film's editors. Chunks of organic matter wizz around everywhere in about 3/4ths of the movie. There was absolutely no pussification, but remember, it means this film is not for the faint of heart or the squeamish. If you can't handle seeing people being popped like water balloons with a 50-cal, then stay home.

The redeeming aspect of the film is this: there IS that moment, as in all Rambo movies, where Rambo shows up just in time to rain the hellfire of retribution on a big bunch of bastards so evil that when Rambo turns them all into splattered spaghetti, you don't so much mind the gore and bloodshed, just as they're about to gain ultimate victory. Rambo shows up to take care of business.

[thebumfromthedark]

I think that Rambo plays the part of God's wrath in this movie. He doesn't want to do it, but somebody has to.

And like Master said, when Rambo turns a fucking evil Burmese bastard into a pile of red goo in 2.5 seconds with a paramilitary machine gun, you'll be cheering your ass off... or you're a communist.

[roccobalboa]

Soooo ....... was the movie good?? Be honest. Was it ALL action? How was the story leading up to the blood bath? Did we get to see the tranquil Rambo before he got fired up? Were the lines cheesy?

Don't give too much away ............ I'm goung to see it Saturday!!!

[thebumfromthedark]

It's better than Rambo II and III, but the only reason it's not as good as "First Blood" is, no Trautman (well new, Trautman anyway). The story is treadbare but it's really unimportant. This is a RAMBO movie. You're supposed to go in knowing what to expect.

Rambo isn't so much tranquil as he is quiet and surly until he just decides to start decimating mo-fos... cause well, it's the right thing to do.