Rambo--Most Serious Film of the series. Should have been NC17 for the violence

* * * * (out of 5)

I love the Rambo series and have ever since I saw First Blood Part 2. To me, Part 2 was the birth of the modern action movie as we know it today. It was written by James Cameron, who went on to make Aliens and Terminator 2 and brought the action film to new heights that are rarely scaled today. Cameron's original story of the psychological trauma of the Vietnam vet going back to 'Nam was a much more serious film that Sylvester Stallone changed to fit his political ideology. Stallone made it a rousing Hollywood spectacle that I still loved. But Cameron was upset by the changes, took the theme and made Aliens with Ripley filling the Rambo role.

Now, 23 years later, John Rambo is back, running a boating business along a river in Thailand. He's not just angry, but seethingly bitter at the world and all that live in it. He grunts less in this film, but curses at people way more. He's like your angry grandfather only with a 60 inch chest. But there are few Hollywood moments in this film. It starts off with real news footage of the "civil war", really genocide, going on in Burma and shows both the violence and after effects of that violence, including rotting skulls from beheadings. I can't stress enough how inappropriate this movie is for children and many women. I was shocked to come out of the theatre and see a father walking with his four kids, discussing how good the movie was. Not one kid was older than 10. I realize video games have made this generation desensitized, but I can't believe that kids are that far gone that they won't be shocked by what they saw. I was.

Ten years ago, Steven Spielberg made the most realistic war film up until that time in Saving Private Ryan. He took the gore and carnage of the extremely violent horror movie and made it real on the beaches of Normandy. Writer/director Stallone takes that same kind of carnage and uses it to maximum effect in this the most violent action film ever made. When these Burmese soldiers raid a village they kill women and children on screen, chop off limbs with machetes and commit other atrocities. When Rambo cuts off a Burmese soldier's head it looks like Gallagher smashing a watermelon with a sledge hammer. Bullets literally cut people in half.

But Rambo is also older and wiser. When he is challenged, rather than react he just stays mute and waits for things to calm down. One woman, Sarah Miller (Julie Benz from Dexter), has a way of soothing this savage beast. She plays a missionary who along with the other members of her church are on a peacekeeping mission to Burma and who hire Rambo for a ride. Despite his warnings they still want to go as she explains to him, is trying to save another's life, really a waste of your own?

As with last year's Rocky Balboa, there is closure with this series. Stallone can still write and is an able director. Hopefully he gets a chance at making more movies. In an era when there are so few real movie stars, he makes you remember why he was one.

The Series in Fred's order:
Part 2
Rambo 4
First Blood
Rambo 3


The Freditor