Reaction & Review | Rambo

Welcome, one and all, to an all new Reaction & Review. Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, we continue the Rambo series by checking out the fourth entry that came out in 2008. That movie is "Rambo".

Now I suppose the first thing you might be thinking of, just looking at that title, is why is this thing just called "Rambo"? Why is it not called something like "Rambo IV" or "Rambo: Part 4 The Next Blood"? Well, the answer is a little bit complicated. You see, the original title of this movie was supposed to be called "John Rambo". However, Stallone himself admitted, in an interview, that he thought that title would persuade people into thinking that it would be the last Rambo movie ever made, thanks to the movie "Rocky Balboa", which was released 2 years prior to this movie and is technically the last movie to star Rocky Balboa. I've heard rumors that there's another Rocky film in development, however, until I see proof of this, "Rocky Balboa" is pretty much the last film to star Stallone's boxing character.

But anyway, I'm getting off track here by talking about Rocky. I should be getting back to talking about this film's title. Now I also heard that there was another title for this movie that didn't make the cut, which was called "Rambo: To Hell and Back". Which, in my opinion, sounds like a REALLY cool title, and I'm kinda disappointed that they didn't go with that title. However, due to some online backlash from fans, they changed the title to just "Rambo". A little bit of trivia, though, the title "John Rambo" was used for the fourth movie in some countries, because the first Rambo movie, AKA "First Blood", was simply known as "Rambo". And for us, the title "Rambo" was used for this fourth installment. Which is still kind of a stupid title, because "Rambo: To Hell and Back" sounded like a much better title they could've used. Or hell, they could've just called it "Rambo IV" or something. I don't know, and at this point, I don't care. I finally get a chance to see this movie for myself, and that's all that really matters to me.

Now setting aside the long complicated story about that title, let's get into what I know about the film itself going in. For starters, I don't really know much about the plot itself, outside of the fact that it stars Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo once again. And this film sort of stands out, because where the first 3 movies were made in the 80's, this one came out 20 years after "Rambo III", and I'm not entirely sure where you can go from here. But that's where Stallone himself comes in, because unlike the previous 3 movies where they were directed by different people, this one was written and directed by Sylvester Stallone. Now yes, he did co-write the previous 3 movies, but I don't know how much creative control he had back then since he wasn't a director for any of the previous films. This one, though, he has full creative control for this fourth installment, and I'm curious to see what he can do with his vision on where he wants to take Rambo in.

So, with all this in mind, I'm hoping for this movie to be pretty good. I don't know if it's gonna reach the same kind of quality as the 3 previous movies did, but if it can still be as entertaining as they were back then, then that's all that really matters to me. So the only way I'm gonna find out where this movie is really gonna go from here, is if I shut up, and I push play, and I'm gonna do that right now. So, without further ado, it's time to kick back, relax, and check out "Rambo".

3 minutes later

O..K...well, we're certainly starting off this movie with a bang, as I just saw someone literally blow up from running in that field. I totally wasn't expecting that to happen, but here we are. Oh, and they're all literally being gunned down, too, by these soldiers that I've heard a little bit about from a moment ago. So yeah, guys, we're definitely off to a rather interesting start.

18 minutes later

Holy shit...! Well...I think I can safely say that Rambo definitely hasn't lost a step when it comes to his shooting. God damn, that last shot to the head was fucking brutal.

8 minutes later

Guys, I've seen a lot of messed up things since watching the Rambo movies. This may possibly be one of the darkest moments I've ever seen in any Rambo film ever. This really is messed up, guys. I'm just gonna throw that out there.

10 minutes later

I'd like to say right now, guys, that I'm already beginning to despise this fucking Aussie. I want him to die in the most brutal way possible by the time this movie's done. And I'm not gonna be too happy if he either gets out of this unscathed or he dies in a rather anti-climatic way.

9 minutes later

You guys remember when I said earlier that Rambo hadn't lost his edge when it came to his shooting? Well, that statement stands true, as he took out all of those soldiers by himself with perfect accuracy from his bow and arrow. That was pretty fucking awesome!

12 minutes later

OK, that's new. I've never seen Rambo choke someone so hard that he's able rip their flesh afterwards when they die. I never would've known that, personally, but hey, you learn something new everyday, don't ya?

4 minutes later

All right, guys, I have good news and I have bad news. The bad news is that the Aussie that I mentioned earlier is still alive. The good news, however, is that he now has a broken leg. So, not exactly what I asked for, but I'll happily take what I can get at this point.

5 minutes later

OK then...I was wondering what the hell Rambo was gonna do with the only claymore mine that he borrowed earlier. Well, suffice to say, I can add that one to the count of awesome explosions I've found in the Rambo series so far.

The Review

Well, guys, that was "Rambo". Let me go ahead and shut the movie off here...OK. So, where to begin with? Well, going into it, I really didn't know what to expect. And I was curious to see what you could do with a series that had been on the shelf for 20 years. Well, I think I can safely say that, for the most part, this movie is really solid. Granted, this movie does have a couple of problems, but I still think it holds up to being a solid title in the Rambo series.

So let's go ahead and get started with this review by talking about the writing. And I want to start with the movie's tone. You see, for anyone who has seen the 3 previous Rambo movies, some could perceive those movies as just being cheesy 80's action flicks. And that's totally a justifiable claim. As someone, like myself, who had seen the first 3 Rambo films for this series, they definitely do fit that kind of mold. Now mind you, I am not saying that as if it's a bad thing, because they are still mostly well-written action films. Now yes, the plots to those movies weren't exactly original or aiming for something different. But still, they were written well enough for what they wanted to be in terms of action flicks. This movie is really no exception. In fact, I'd say it's almost similar to "Rambo: First Blood Part 2", which I'll talk more about in a bit. But getting back to what I was currently talking about, this movie goes in a much darker direction. Where instead of just being another cheesy action flick, this movie focuses more on the darker elements, such as when we get to see the Burmese Regime just laying waste to citizens in villages, mostly children. Which I will say that if you like children or have some sort of attachment to them, then this movie might end up being a difficult watch for you. Because the movie doesn't shy away from showing the more graphic images of children being slaughtered on screen. And I could totally imagine someone watching this and being horrified by those kinds of scenes, especially if you have any attachments to children. Just wanted to throw that warning out there, in case if you have any interest in watching this movie.

Now I mentioned a moment ago that this movie was almost similar to "Rambo: First Blood Part 2". If you've never seen it, well first off, I've already written a review of it. You can go read more details about what I thought about the movie there. But to give you a brief summarization of that film's plot, Rambo was being sent out to a POW camp in Vietnam, where he was suppose to take photos of any surviving U.S. soldiers that may still be held there. But eventually, Rambo being Rambo, tries to rescue them while trying to avoid being spotted by the Vietnamese soldiers. Now I bring that up, because there's a sequence in this movie that is nearly identical to what was shown in Part 2. In it, we see a mercenary team that Rambo is a part of, as they quietly invade a Burmese camp, in which they have held both women and men hostage. The women are there to be used as sex slaves, while the men are there to be forced into the Burmese army as part of their regime. But that's beside the point. The point is that the entire scene plays out very similarly to what happened in Part 2. Both sequences happen in the rain, while they quietly try to rescue as many people as they can within 15 minutes. The only difference between the two movies is that in Part 2, Rambo was doing it all by himself. Where as this movie has it where Rambo is working with a mercenary team, after a series of events occurs where a medical team ends up getting captured in Burma while they were out trying to offer medical aid to the people there. And eventually, Rambo goes out there himself on a rescue mission to join the mercenaries and try to save the people there that were captured.

Since I just mentioned Rambo himself, let's get into the characters. Now similar to "Rambo III", character depth in this movie does not really exist very much. Most of the characters in this movie, with MAYBE the exception of Rambo, are mostly really shallow and void of personality. The only ones that stand out are the annoying Aussie that complains a lot. The only thing we know about him is that he's out on this mission just so he can support his wife and 3 kids that he has back home. There's also another Aussie that goes by the nickname of "School Boy", and he's also the sniper of the team. And everyone else in the mercenary team goes nameless, and mostly serve as killing fodder. Sarah, the one who convinces Rambo to go along with them, really doesn't have any defining character traits, and the same goes for Michael, who's also the head of the medical team. The only character who's even worth mentioning is John Rambo. He picks up where he left off back in "Rambo III", where he's living his life in solitude in Thailand, and he's really more of a soft-spoken type of character here. Now yes, he had his soft spoken moments in the previous 3 films, but he was still able to be loud when he wanted to be. In this movie, he definitely tones it down a bit. Which, I guess, after 20 years from the previous movie, it would make sense as to why, being that he's been through a lot of shit during his time. So I guess he's justifiable in why he doesn't speak very much in this movie. But still, he can definitely still go at it, when he has to gear up for war, which that part of his character mostly remains intact.

And speaking of still going at it, let's get right into the acting. The acting here is really solid from the entire cast. The only actor who makes a return here is Sylvester Stallone as Rambo. Unfortunately, Richard Crenna does not return here, outside of a dream sequence Rambo has that showcased footage from the previous movies involving Colonel Trautman. And the reason why Crenna doesn't reprise his role is simple. He passed away in 2003, so it was quite a while ago when Crenna passed away long before this movie came out. But despite all that, what we do have for a cast here is really good. And while most of the characters personalities in this movie were ridiculously shallow, they still turned in really awesome showings. And even though I despised that fucking Aussie that would constantly run his mouth, his actor was still able to take that massive dick-headed personality and make it stand out. And the same goes for our star, Sylvester Stallone. He's still able to take whatever minimal dialogue that he was working with and made it work to his character's advantage. So yes, guys, the acting here is really solid from just about the entire cast.

Now let's talk about the special effects. And here is where the film kinda falters a bit. Now being that this movie was made in 2008, we have to work with more modern technology here, which includes stuff like CG, which I'll get to in a second. Now I will say that when it comes to the pyrotechnics, they are done very well. Granted, they are not as prevalent here as what was shown in the previous movies, but it is still a factor here. One particular explosion was done in CG, but it was still pretty good. And on that note, I need to talk about the CG next, specifically, when it comes to blood. There is quite a bit of CG blood in this movie. Most of it comes from whenever a body is being shot at, and their blood comes out like if someone set off a bunch of fireworks. It's definitely the most bloody Rambo film I've seen so far, probably more so than the first and third movie. Now some of these shots of blood coming out of bodies look OK, and other times, it looks like shit. Like, this is some REALLY jarring-looking CG blood that you are more than likely going to notice how much of this blood was done digitally. Now there are some instances where the movie does use practical blood, especially towards the end, and that still looks really good. But some of the CG blood here just kinda falls flat on it's face. Now granted, it's not something that will entirely ruin the film for you, unless if you're a real stickler when it comes to how you want your blood done in action movies, but it is something that is definitely worth noting.

Camerawork here is pretty good. There is a little bit of shaky cam here and there, but it's still clear enough to where you can see most of everything that goes on in this movie. Lighting here is lit very well. Mostly because this was filmed outdoors, so it would make a lot of sense why the lighting here would be good. Sound-mix here is also mixed very well. The score here, in certain areas, mostly in the beginning and ending of the film, has music that is very similar to Jerry Goldsmith's work that he had done in the previous movies. And it's very good here. The rest of the score is, ultimately, nothing special. But the beginning and ending scores are still really good, so the music here is a plus just based solely on those two pieces alone.

So ultimately, guys, when everything is said and done, am I able to recommend "Rambo"? Mostly, yes. Especially if you were a fan of the previous 3 movies, then this one will definitely deliver on the action. However, I do have to warn you again about some of the disturbing imagery used here involving children that I mentioned earlier. That part alone I could see someone not being very comfortable with, and could possibly hate this movie because of that. However, if you're able to stomach that part, the rest of the movie lives up to being a really solid Rambo film. The action definitely turns itself up a notch, and Sylvester Stallone is still able to be as awesome as he was 20 years ago. Now with that being said, where would I rank this movie along with the other previous Rambo films? Honestly...I don't know. I really don't know where I would rank this particular Rambo film. I'm kinda leaning towards it being the weakest film of the entire series. Maybe it's because I have some sort of big fondness for the previous 3 Rambo films that I don't know if I would even rank this one higher than any of them. Plus also, while I appreciate the film going in a much more darker direction, I don't think that's really enough for me to say that I like it better than the other 3 movies. Now mind you, when I say it's the weakest film of the series, that does not mean that I dislike it, nor do I think it's bad. I just don't think I would put it above the other 3 movies. Now yes, there is one more Rambo film left that I have yet to watch, so perhaps maybe I shouldn't be doing this sort of ranking yet. I'll just have to wait and see when I eventually get to it in a couple of weeks. But still, despite my nit-pickyness, I can still totally recommend the 4th Rambo movie", overall. Again, as long as you can look past the stuff that I already just mentioned. But anyway...I'm gonna go and do something else. And seeing as how this movie wanted to go in a more darker direction, I kinda want to rewatch my copy of "Dredd" again. I just love that movie so much, so I'm gonna go and do that next right after I get done typing this review.

And with that, guys, we come to the close of another Reaction & Review. Until next time, ladies and gentlemen, take care, and I will see you all later. Peace.