Rambo

Now we have come to the finale of “Rambo Month,” where I will be looking at the latest in the series, “Rambo,” released in 2008.

This is absolutely surreal since it was 20 years later that a new Rambo movie was released. You would think that there would be a lot of hype, but this one snuck quietly into theaters in January of 2008. I liked that the movie was released then because no movie seems to live up to its hype, so the best option is not to have hype.

If you saw the trailers before this movie came out, you know what you were going to get: a violent war movie. James Rolfe called this film an epic masterpiece when looking at the technical achievements. Everyone who saw this movie talked about the amount of blood spilled in this movie, which is no joke. James Rolfe said, “If you have seen a lot of zombie movies, it’s not that gory, but compare it to any other war movie, this one takes the cake. It makes ‘Saving Private Ryan’ look like, I don’t know, ‘Bouncing Bears from Heaven’.” If you remember in the past Rambo movies, people would fall down after getting shot, but here, their bodies just piece apart. In the previous Rambo movies when people would blow up, they would explode into a fiery explosion, but in this movie, their bodies would surge into puddles of blood. Machetes slice through villains, arms get cut, legs get cut, heads get cut, it’s madness. Picture what "The Expendables" movies would have looked like with the amount of blood spilled in this movie. That's what will be going through your head when watching this movie.

Remember when I mentioned the “Bloodiest Movie Ever” joke that “Hot Shots Part Deux” made? Well, if the Zucker Brothers and Jim Abrams were ever to reunite and make a third “Hot Shots” movie, then they should because that joke could not be outdated after seeing “Rambo.”

James Rolfe criticized the story for being a little lacking and had him wondering what he saw after watching it, but said that it’s not completely shallow. Even though there isn’t any good dialogue, Rambo does say a lot with his expressions. A lot of times he would give a cold stare and a bass rumble would follow. There’s a speech he gave that said, “When you’re pushed, killing is as easy as breathing.” He also says, “Live for nothing or die for something.”

When I rate this movie, I don’t think it’s close to being as good as “First Blood” was, but much like with “Rocky Balboa,” this one is the best of the sequels. Two and three felt really polished, but “Rambo” was raw and dark with a lot of shaky camera movements. The camera moved around a lot, pulled focus, making it feel like you were watching a documentary, making it feel like the realist of the movies.

Stallone is not shirtless in this movie, showing off his muscles, there are no one-liners in this movie, and it’s just a No Holds Barred, down-to-Earth action flick.

Much like later on in the “Rocky” movies where you missed Burgess Meredith as Mickey, here you will miss Richard Crenna as Colonel Trautman, who was, as I noted before in my review of the first movie, the classic mentor figure. I’m sure Stallone would have given Crenna a small part in this movie, but he does appear in flashbacks, which are clips from the previous movies. There isn’t really any mention of Trautman, but there isn’t really any mention of the previous movies. By calling this “Rambo” makes the movie stand on its own. James Rolfe said, “If this wasn’t Rambo but was some other guy in the same movie, I don’t think there would be much interest. The reason why I went to see it was because it was Rambo. I was a child when the first three movies came out, so to see a fresh new one in the theater was a real treat.”

If you’re a Rambo fan, definitely see this movie. This may not be the most well-written film ever, but you shouldn’t be disappointed.

Maung Maung Khin plays a ruthless military officer, Paul Schulze plays a missionary, Julie Benz plays the love interest, and Ken Howard plays a pastor. This one takes place in Thailand on the Burmese border.

One sad note is that Stallone told Variety recently that he is officially retiring the Rambo character, especially after years of talks of making a fifth movie. I personally would have loved to have seen a new Rambo, and I'm sad that he's done with the character, but maybe after "Creed," Stallone felt that he shouldn't revive his famous characters repeatedly, or people would feel they would be getting stale. However, I do hear of talks on a TV show, or maybe a focus on Rambo's son. As sad as I am that a fifth Rambo is never going to be made, I am happy that a fifth Spy Kids and a sequel to the 2015 "Fantastic Four" have been scrapped (thank you!).

Well, that ends “Rambo Month.” I hope everyone enjoyed this month of reviews as much as I did making them. Stay tuned next month for “Black History Movie Month” Part 4.