War Comes Home (Rambo, 2008)

After Rocky Balboa started Stallone on a comeback trail, he sought to revisit John Rambo. This seemed a bit more far fetched and almost funny. And yet, choosing to Direct John Rambo for the first time, Stallone managed to marry the different tones of the franchise. Not only did it work? Rambo is a pretty solid action movie.

Opening with Rambo yet again in a self imposed exile (this time in Thailand). He is approached by some missionaries who are looking to get some associates out of Burma. Initially he refuses, but when they try without him, he ends up being unable to ignore them.

Stallone is so buff in this film (20 years after Rambo III) it almost challenges the very serious tone of the film. He was muscular in the previous films, here he is immense. But Stallone really brings back the shattered John Rambo who is struggling to find peace. And it is quite well done.

This is an ultra violent film, to the point the previous films seem somewhat soft. Rambo still manages to be a one man army, blowing through the opposition with little effective resistance. And yet, in spite of the extensive violence, Stallone give us a Rambo to root for. He manages to do so in a way that makes you forget just how implausible his actions are, instead you can sit back and just follow Rambo on his adventure, hope he saves the missionaries and gets away. The film mostly ignores the two prior sequels (as Rocky Balboa did with the Rocky films) and works nicely as a direct sequel to First Blood.

July 1, 2016 2

A New War (Rambo III, 1988)

The directorial debut of Peter MacDonald (whose had a bigger career as a second unit director, part of films such as Guardians of the Galaxy and the Empire Strikes Back), Rambo III brings us a Rambo once again in a self imposed exile. But he is brought back out of this “retirement” because the Soviets have captured Trautman (Richard Crenna).

Rambo goes into Afghanistan and teams up with the Freedom fighters. He also becomes a father figure to a young Afghani boy. Ticking off the tropes again. Rambo earns the trust of the Freedom Fighters, so that they are willing to help him, but Rambo needs very little help. He is going to solve the cold war the old fashioned way…bullets.

Rambo is full on super hero here, unstoppable by even missiles. This is not surprising, there had already been a Rambo cartoon on in the afternoons back in 1986. In the cartoon, he was fighting a terror group called S.A.V.A.G.E. (Specialist-Administrators of Vengeance, Anarchy and Global Extortion) all over the globe. I am not joking. It may surprise you to hear that neither Stallone or Crenna reprises their roles. So the fact that Rambo III is the most cartoonish take on the character should not be a surprise.

Like Part 2, this film is enjoyable and amusing for what it is, even though it lacks the emotion of First Blood. It is not for lack of trying. Both sequels tried to approach heavy subjects related to war, but their simplified approach to Stallone’s Rambo is far more angry than broken. The character suffers for it overall, and the action is pretty by the numbers, but still make for an enjoyable Stallone action film.

June 30, 2016 0

Forget the War (Rambo: First Blood Part 2, 1985)

Three years after First Blood, John Rambo came back. This time he was freed from Jail to go on a secret government mission in Vietnam, saving POWs. He is brought in by Richard Crenna’s Col Trautman at the request of Marshall Murdock (Charles Napier). Directed by George Cosmatos (who went on to direct fan favorite Tombstone as well as Stallone’s Cobra) we get a shift in the type of character and story.

This film ticks off all sorts of tropes, such as a tragic love story, betrayal by the government who hires him and so on. This film really pushes Rambo towards being a super hero. He is not merely highly skilled as a fighter…he is unbeatable. Bullets will miss him, but he will never miss.

First Blood Part 2 revs up the action and general violence, while toning down the tragic aspects of his character. The focus on POWs, of course, allows some of it to remain, tying it to the first film. But, tonally speaking, this feels unlike our introduction in First Blood.

The cast is good, though some of the characters are just gun fodder, meant to motivate Rambo. In some ways, this is the film that moved forward the Stallone Action Era, that made him into the character we think of Stallone as today.

June 29, 2016 0

The Unwinnable Fight (First Blood, 1982)

John Rambo, or as we tend to all call him, Rambo, seems like an unstoppable force. A Vietnam veteran who never really left the war and finds himself pulled into a never-ending series of conflicts. But his beginning was far simpler. in the early 80’s we saw Hollywood starting to explore the conflict known as the Vietnam War and especially it’s impact on American Soldiers.

First Blood (adapted from a novel by David Morrell) tells the story of John Rambo…he is wandering America, trying to come to terms with his experiences as a POW. There is a deeply ingrained mythology of how when soldiers returned from Vietnam they were greeted at airports by being spat upon and protested. Some research has disputed how much (if any) of this happened. But it is true that the soldiers returning from Vietnam were not greeted as war heroes. There were no parades.We did want to just kind of ignore them.

John Rambo begins the story wandering into the small town of Hope, Washington. He is in town for all of three minutes before being noticed by Sheriff Teasle (Brian Dennehy) who invites him for a ride. Teasle drops him off at the city limits. But John is not so quick to give up and walk to the next town. But after returning he is quickly arrested and brought into the local jail. There he endures humiliation and disrespect at the hands of officers with no respect for our military men.

John reaches a breaking point and fights his way out of the police station and escapes into the woods. This creates a standoff, where John Rambo hides in the forest and mountains, crafting weapons and traps until his commanding officer (Richard Crenna) comes into the picture.

This film plays strongly to Stallone’s strengths as a gruff guy searching for healing and respect. In some ways, it is not a stretch to see similarities to Rocky. The film is a solid collection of established performers (Dennehy, Crenna and Jack Starrett) and up and comers (Chris Mulkey and David Caruso). Everyone delivers performances that keep you in the story.

Director Ted Kotcheff (who would go on to Direct Weekend at Bernie’s) shows a solid handle on the action, always keeping a fast pace. The film manages to be sympathetic to Rambo, while not presenting his actions as being right. He is a victim who reacts far to swiftly and violently, setting off a chain reaction. First Blood is a powerful action film with a heart behind it.

June 28, 2016 0