Rating:

Rent at Netflix
Rent at Blockbuster

It’s been twenty years since Sylvester Stallone donned the crazy mullet and patented bandana that made him John Rambo, a psychologically damaged Green Beret who just couldn’t make the adjustment back to civilization. A lot has changed since then. The cold war is over, Vietnam has passed the torch to another unpopular war, and the mullet is no longer an acceptable hair style. Undaunted, Stallone has re-ignited one of the most violent movie series’ of all time with his latest installment of Rambo.

The movie begins with John Rambo living in the jungles of Southeast Asia. He’s a dangerous snake catcher, something that doesn’t phase the emotionally comatose character the slightest. It’s there he is approached by a group of Christian missionaries (Julie Benz) who are eager to head into the war-torned country of Burma to provide medical relief, prayer, and support for the Karen Freedom Fighters.

Rambo is reluctant, informing the happy-go-lucky Christians that their presence won’t change anything. Guns are the only thing that can fix it, and they’re simply wasting their time. Some begging, pleading, and a little sexual tension persuades the cynical Vietnam vet to take them on his boat up to Burma. From there, chaos takes place, and the plot unfolds into a violent clusterfuck that you’d expect from the Rambo series. As Rambo says, “When you’re pushed, killing’s as easy as breathing”.

This is a very violent film. There is no way of sugarcoating it. People are blown in half, gutted alive, and have their larynx ripped straight from their throats. Limbs fly across the screen and the amount of blood and gore in the film is staggering. This film eclipses the previous Rambos in total kills with 262 (3.2 a minute), with each one having an impact. This is not for the faint of heart, or for anyone planning to hold down a meal. I’m actually surprised it managed to maintain an R rating.

The directors leave little grey area when it comes to the character’s involved. The bad guys are clearly marked as the Burmese military as they show countless scenes of the atrocities they’re commiting against innocent people. The good guy is of course John Rambo, the soft spoken hero with an instinct for violence when provoked. And rounding it out the naive and downright dumb Christian missionaries who seem to feel that heading into a village in one of the most violent places in the world is a good idea.

Rambo films are a guilty pleasure for a large percent of the male audiences around the world. Sure the plots are pointless, but the violence and intensity continues to draw us in. This installment resembles the first film both in violence and overall appeal. It’s a major step up from the previous two sequels that just didn’t have a direction. For the moment, Sylvester Stallone still has enough gas in the tank to carry a movie.

There is no mistaking that this film will never make it into an Oscars telecast. But it’s still a good movie that I really enjoyed. Short, concise, and satisfies the audience by giving them what they want, blood. It’s a guy flick that is a throwback to the old 80’s action films. Invite some buddies over, grab a case of PBR, and enjoy a great piece of manly cinema.

4 out of 5 stars

Bonus: The DVD is packed with extras. There are 4 deleted scense that you could argue may have made the film better. A boatload of featurettes that include a piece on “Bringing back Rambo”, along with how the major fight scense were made. Most interesting perhaps of all is a piece on the real-life situation in Burma, something that adds a little perspective to the movie.

This DVD was received in one day from Netflix.