| Description : | 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) |
Reviews :
{ Rating: 4.0 out of 5 } | Extended cut has a stronger story to go with the action
The box cover says Rambo, but the title for the extended cut has been restored to the original JOHN RAMBO title.
The four-movie BluRay Box Set DOES NOT include the extended John Rambo.
Basically Stallone added nine minutes back into the movie, and most of it is dialog INCLUDING the Rocky Balboa style monologues.
There's a quick new scene on the boat in the beginning with the snakes.
Rambo has a big monologue along the same lines of Rocky's speech to his son in Rocky Balboa. It's in the rain when he's convinced to take the boat up river.
There's more dialog on the boat while he's taking the missionaries.
The pastor has more lines when he comes to get Rambo.
Going back to watch the theatrical cut makes it seem like an edited for TV version where they had to cut out big story bits. The extended cut feels more like an end for Rambo along the lines of Rocky Balboa, and restoring the John Rambo title makes sense. |
