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Underground > Film, TV & Theatre >

John Rambo

Elijah, Freelance Rabbi

16:32 / 21.05.07

The first official John Rambo trailer is up on youtube.

The plot seems to be that Rambo is now living as a boat guide in Thailand and enjoying his seclusion. Some people want to hire him to take them to Burma where the military is committing genocide. Rambo rents them a boat and they head off. Of course, things go bad, they all get captured and Rambo decides to kill everyone in a uniform to get them back.

The trailer has some serious gore so be warned. It looks like they are going for the feel of the first film, rather then using the movie as propaganda like Rambo III.

I don't know if I will see this one in the theater or wait for DVD, I suppose it depends on if anyone I know is interested. What do you think, Barbelith?

16:35 / 21.05.07

Saw this yesterday and my immedaite reaction was that it has to be parody. The amount of splatter is astonishing - dude in the front of the jeep fucking explodes when shot up - and the storyline (including specific scenes hinted at in that trailer) scream cliche.

16:54 / 21.05.07

I like First Blood, I do, and I hold Rambo to be - aside from the first seven or so minutes - the most annoying film for racial/sexual nonentities of the decade. I like the coda/well-wishing of the third. I don't like where the preview takes us with the blonde woman, there. I do like the absurd level of violence. I'm a sucker for stories of old soldiers trying to keep their heads down and failing. But, I'm not so big on the politics, the social commentary, or, well, this being a real movie.

And was that guy fiddling with his belt in the preview, when the woman is screaming and John rips the guy's throat out? Do we need another 'fate worse than death' scene, especially if any potential bite is taken out by seeing her Rambo-rescue in the trailer?

When did Hollywood veer back to we can has xtreme vi-lenz territory?

17:10 / 21.05.07

When did Hollywood veer back to we can has xtreme vi-lenz territory?

Don´t blame Hollywood for this one just yet. I´ve read that this video was sent to AICN by Stallone himself, since he hasn´t yet found any distributors for this movie. So it may not even hit the theatres next year and go straight to DVD.

Our Lady Has Left the Building

05:01 / 22.05.07

Awww, poor old Stallone, things have really gone downhill since Demolition Man haven't they?

12:24 / 22.05.07

I've wondered about Hollywood's return to extreme violence too. After September 11th, you read all this stuff that violent action movies were a thing of the past, Bruce Willis claiming he'd never make another action movie, etc. Now films are as violent as old grindhouse flicks...like "Grindhouse," in fact (which features Bruce Willis).

I'm sure this Rambo installment will be distributed. After the success of Rocky Balboa, it's a certainty. I just wanted to come on here and recommend the original First Blood novel, by David Morrell. It's still the best action novel I've read. The film adaptation had nothing in common with it. In the novel, John Rambo is a scrawny 19-year old freshy returned from Vietnam, and he's just a pure killer, made so by the US Army. It's a great novel, and I don't think it could ever be properly filmed...though to tell the truth, certain clips from this movie looks along the same lines, only instead of redneck cops Rambo is killing soldiers.

12:36 / 22.05.07

things have really gone downhill since Demolition Man haven't they?

Things usually go down after a great peak.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

13:03 / 22.05.07

Yeah, the Morrell novel's ace.

I keep meaning to rewatch Rambo III, even though it's the worst by far, just because I like seeing him arm the Mujahideen for propaganda purposes. How times change.

Also, post-Hot Shots Part Deux, the dialogue has entered whole new realms of hilarious.

13:56 / 22.05.07

I thought parody too - especially when he seemed to punch someone's head off.

MattShepherd: I WEDDED KALI!

16:04 / 22.05.07

Another vote for the original novel. It really was great -- well, great pulp, it wasn't like the "War and Peace" of disaffected psychotic Vietnam vet novels.

Maybe I'm alone in this, but I actually kind of like Stallone when he's doing his slouchy, paunchy, washed-up stuff. Especially now that he is slouchy, paunchy and washed-up. I was kind of hoping this would be like "Rambo in CopLand," but instead it was "Rambo in Predator," but without the Predator.

16:08 / 22.05.07

Rambo in Predator

Slashflick, anyone?

16:17 / 22.05.07

I only read the novel once, several years ago. It left a definite impression, as I still think of it from time to time. I do recall the magical realism touches -- Rambo's sort-of psychic bond with the guy who was hunting him. I also liked how Rambo kept screwing up all the plans of the good ol' boys who came after him; I particularly recall the scene with the old man and his much-vaunted hunting dogs.

17:16 / 16.02.08

ssssssoooooooooo... has anybody here seen it?

it's about to premiere soon in Brazil, and so far i've liked what i've seen... although i liked better the jackbauer-ish native plot that was rumoured earlier on [and put to sleep by Sly in a recent fun Q&A at Aintitcool].

and, on a quick gossipy bit, it's a bit weird that he's been advocating the use of human growth hormones to get into shape again. it surely hasn't made his arms look good.

18:35 / 16.02.08

This was flat-out the most ridiculous movie I've ever seen. We laughed our asses off through the whole thing. Not sure if that was Sly's intent but the whole audience was howling.

It's the Rambo scene from Weird Al Yankovic's UHF stretched to feature length. It's nuts. It starts with a very unsettling montage of actual newsfootage of the atrocities in Burma, giving the movie a completely fake and unearned sense of "gravitas" and "social relevance", and it ends with Rambo wielding a jeep-mounted machine gun cannon mowing down hundreds of Burmese soldiers and literally making them explode in showers of gore.

Oh and Rambo outruns an explosion of a ten-ton bomb.

It's a really entertaining movie for all the wrong reasons. But I would give it thumbs up.

18:40 / 16.02.08

I don't know quite what to say or how I feel about this film apart from I really enjoyed it. Is that wrong? Was the seriousness and playfulness in really bad taste or pure genius? I'm just not sure I know what I think about John Rambo yet? Thoughts?

22:07 / 16.02.08

Cameron... I was already sold on this, but now I'm desperate to see it. Thank you.

22:48 / 16.02.08

John Rambo pulls out his bow and shoots a man in the head. The man falls into a pool of water and strikes a land mine. Kaboom.

That's basically the entire film encapsulated in three seconds. It's everything Rocky VI wasn't.