KCR: Rambo (2008)

Cover of Rambo (Widescreen Edition)Rambo 4 is a good wrap-up of the John Rambo lore. It gave the character much needed humanity, about believing in something, Trivia on IMDB said that "Live for nothing, or die for something" became a battle cry for the real Karen rebels, and Stallone is quite proud to have contributed that.

Premise: John Rambo is in Thailand, working the "simple life" as a snake hunter and boatman, no questions asked. One day, he got a request from a Missionary Group to take them into Burma / Myanmar, to help the Karen villages. He was successful. After he left, the village was attacked and razed government troops, with the missionaries dead or captured, and all occupants killed or fled into the jungle. The Missionary leader came to seek Rambo for help: a group of mercenaries will go back to find what happened to the missionaries, and needs his help. He agreed...

The movie is quite slow at the beginning, but there is some tension, as the boat tries to sneak into Burma, past the river patrols and the pirates. The attack sequences are brutal and thus, excellent, rivaling "Saving Private Ryan" in intensity of Omaha beach sequence. You can almost feel the mortar rounds dropping and guns firing. And it all builds up to the big fight at the end, and the conclusion.

Problem? Let's just say there's a ton of body count... 236 kills as counted on IMDB, mostly at the end. Also, some of the battle tactics makes little sense. Why hit the patrol boat with the rocket after everybody onboard is toast? It has only one flame-thrower (very short range) and one HMG any way. Once the sniper took out the HMG gunner, the boat is no threat. Also, what's with the 50-cal sniper rifle? It's in there because it looked cool, but a smaller rifle would have made much more sense. At least with the huge rifle you can pretend the body will be flung back 10 ft without a head.

Still, it's heck fun to watch if you dig this type of movie.

Related articles

• KCR: Rambo, First Blood Part II (movie, war, Vietnam) (crankyreviews.blogspot.com)
• KCR: First Blood (movie) (crankyreviews.blogspot.com)
• KCR: Rambo III (movie) (crankyreviews.blogspot.com)

KCR: Rambo, First Blood Part II (movie, war, Vietnam)

Image via WikipediaFirst Blood (reviewed earlier) was a social commentary about warrior's psychic wounds and how they have a hard time fitting back into society. The sequel, on the other hand, is a pure revenge fantasy, about how Vietnam can be "won". Indeed, one of the bonus features on the DVD was "We get to win it this time!"

The Setup: John Rambo, in prison, was rescued by Col. Trautman... a CIA guy, Murdoch, wants Rambo to go into Vietnam to find evidence of American POWs. It'll be a completely clandestine mission, with just help of one Vietnamese agent. It's supposed to be quiet, just in and out. However, when Rambo lost the camera equipment due to mis-jump, he changed the mission to rescue. When he reached the rendezvous point with one POW, Murdoch ordered the choppered turned around, leaving him behind. He was captured by the Vietnamese, now in concert with the Russians, and tortured. Instead of cracking, he escaped with help of the Vietnamese agent. When the agent was killed by ambush, he declared war on the prison camp, the Russians, the Vietnamese, and tries to rescue the POWs...

The setup is pretty atrocious, but there's enough action going through the movie to keep you on the edge. The initial insertion into Vietnam was interesting, and the escape from prison camp also interesting. The point right up to the betrayal was great, and subsequent second escape and big showdown is just awesome for its time. Nowadays, you see all the flaws and problems, but back then, it's like heck, yeah! Go USA! USA! It's cathartic.

You don't watch Rambo movies for characters. You see it to see bad guys killed, and good guys win.

KCR: First Blood (movie)

Image via WikipediaI never read the book written by David Morrell that the movie was based on, and I doubt few have.

The setup: a Vietnam vet, John Rambo (Stallone) was drifting across the US, looking for a friend, only to be told he had died months ago upon arrival. He drifted through a town, and the local sheriff Teasle (Brian Dennehey) was basically not very nice to him, and shipped him out of town. When Rambo decided head back into town, the sheriff slapped Rambo with some "vagrancy" charge and arrested him. In the prison, Rambo was abused, which triggered a violent flashback to his days as a POW, forcing him to escape. Sheriff Teasle and his deputies, embarrassed, started a manhunt, only to find that they are no match in their own woods against a master of jungle warfare who hunting VC for a living... when Teasle called out state police and national guard with orders to shoot first and ask questions later, the only one who can save the town of Hope and Rambo himself may be his old commander, Colonel Trautman...

The movie got a reputation for being bloody that it never deserved. The ONLY confirmed death in the movie was... ONE... the ONE deputy that tried to kill Rambo with the rifle from the chopper. Lots of people were wounded, some in very nasty fashion. But there were no deaths. Rambo was restrained in his response when he could have easily killed a ton of people around him. This is one guy who was pushed over the edge.

The action really did speak louder than words in this movie. The last half of the movie is virtually all action, non-stop. And they had to redo the movie many times, trying to decide whether Rambo lives or dies. In the book Rambo dies at the hands of Trautman. In the movie, he lived in repentance for the sequels that will surely follow (and it sure did, 3 more movies).

In fact, Stallone seem to be marketing a clothing line based on the John Rambo and Rocky Balboa look.

The movie is worth watching at least once, and in fact, several times, as it's a classic in pacing and tension.