Rambo [Blu-ray]

Sly Stallone has created a masterpiece. There I said it. I never thought I would, but there it is. Never say never. Rambo the fight continues is a beautiful film and yes I know how strange it is that the word beautiful could be associated with anything that Stallone does let alone ANY war film. As star, director, producer and writer Sly certainly had his hands full, but it is because of his meticulous attention to detail that we are treated to a visual extravaganza that is oft times so realistic, you will be moved to tears.

Rambo the fight continues depicts John Rambo as the loner we know on a deep personal journey when he is confronted by missionaries who ask for John's help in getting into war torn Burma. When the missionaries don't return, John Rambo feels obligated to join a group of mercenaries to retrieve the hostages. The atrocities depicted in the film are a real life daily occurrence for the people living in Burma, and it is because of this reality that the story rings so true. Sly's gritty, jittery camera work and frenetic direction tell the story as though we were seeing all of it through the eyes and mind of John Rambo. Regardless of how you feel about Sly and his former efforts, see Rambo the Fight Continues if for no other reason, it is the most realistic war film ever created. Be prepared when you start the film, however, as it doesn't hold back anything. And so it should be with a film whose slogan is "Live for nothing or die for something"

Given the decent job Sylvester Stallone did reigniting Rocky Balboa, I had decent hopes that "Rambo" might be as good. Alas, not too be. The aging John Rambo is a snake catching recluse in Thailand, still having flashback nightmares about being a supersoldier and giving 'that 1000 mile stare' to show he's still in a war zone somewhere in his head.

Along come a band of arrogant missionaries who want to save the world by sneaking into Burma (aka Myanmar) and giving out Bibles and pills. John Rambo stands in the dark rain and grunts things at them until the pretty missionary (Julie Benz) babbles some nonsense about caring and he cracks. Why Rambo suddenly decides she is worth changing his mind over is never given, he just does it. Then...Big Surprise...the missionaries are caught by sadistic Myanmar goons who think fun is betting on which POW will get blown up in a race through a mine field.

Thus it is up to John Rambo and a bunch of foul mouthed mercenaries to extract the prisoners. They do so in standard comic book style, all smart-mouthed quips and great big guns. The goons are creepy torturing rape machines, and so they must all be destroyed, right? Of course! And so, Rambo and his motley crew rescue the fair maiden and her friends with unbelievable amounts of blood, explosions, splatter, decapitations and screaming. The final ten minutes of "Rambo" are ridiculously surreal and dopey, including the patriotic rah-rah of making a wimpy snot-nosed pacifist into a real man by having him bash an enemy's head with a rock. USA!! USA!! USA!!

Given that you have no true idea why Rambo has a thing for Sarah (Benz) or why he'd agrees to take/save her, the characters have all the depth of a blood splatter. (Even as hyper-masculine as Rambo: First Blood, Part 2 was, you empathized with John Rambo.) The mercs are a multi-national pack of clichés who look down on Rambo until they suddenly decide to follow every order he gives. The missionaries, other than Sarah and Michael, are human props. It was hard to give a darn about anyone involved, as the whole movie is a gloriously shot excursive in mayhem. Unfortunately, for all the flying body parts and spewing blood, "Rambo" has no heart. It is as generic an actioner as they come, which is a huge disappointment after what Stallone did with "Rocky Balboa."

This is how all the rambo's should've been...you thought he was a bad mother in the first few, this one is full of violence and blood and graphic scenes. Definetly worth it if you love action!

"Rambo" (2008) is the fourth installment in the Rambo franchise after "First Blood" (1982), "Rambo: First Blood Part II" (1985) and "Rambo III" (1988). I'm a huge fan of the first one, which I think is an action/adventure masterpiece, but the next two films are merely okay IMHO; although Sylvester Stallone never looked better and the locations are fabulous in these sequels, the stories are too comic-booky and the characters are cardboard. In other words, there's very little depth, if any. This third sequel makes up for all that because it's not cartooney at all and there's quite a bit of depth, albeit not much in dialogue form.

THE STORY: John Rambo is alone & bitter and living hand-to-mouth in Thailand when a group of Christian missionaries enlist him to take them into Burma (aka Myanmar) to aid a village of people. Rambo strongly discourages them in light of the political instability of the country, which includes heavy persecutions and mass slayings, but they insist on trying to help so he does it anyway. Weeks later he learns the missionaries have been taken captive so he goes back with a group of mercenaries to bring them out, if possible.

"Rambo" combines elements of "Apocalypse Now," "The Killing Fields" and the first two Rambo films and is ultra-serious & intense from beginning to end, not to mention it's probably the most violent film ever made. No lie. The picture powerfully illustrates the best and worst in humanity. The Christian missionaries are willing to risk everything to help the villagers, whereas the Myanmar militarists revel in slaughtering scores of unarmed people for "fun;" they're also shown abusing/raping women and boys. Obviously they've given themselves wholly over to the darkside of their natures. Such reprobates are only worthy of one thing: Utter annihilation.

Numerous important themes are addressed in the picture (besides the main theme noted above):

-- Bitterness/despair and deliverance. The beginning of the film shows Rambo in a complete state of bitterness: He's just existing. He has no friends. He doesn't talk much and, when he does, it's very few words laced with expletives. The male leader of the missionaries is completely unable to talk him into helping them. Two Biblical proverbs state "a gentle answer turns away wrath" and "a gentle tongue can break a bone." The female missionary (Julie Benz) knows this and skillfully talks John into helping them. Yet there's more going on here than just that. This woman with a heart of gold is Rambo's "golden connection" out of the horrible rut of bitterness he's fallen into. Despite his gruff exterior, she sees something in him, something in his eys -- a good heart, even greatness, a genuine glimmer however faint. Is Rambo helping the missionaries or is she the one helping him? John instinctively realizes the rope she's throwing him and takes hold of it. There's nothing sensual about their relationship, despite her (realistic) attractiveness; it's solely spiritual. She stirs in him the hope and faith he's been longing for for too long.

-- Violence is not always necessary. Although this is the most violent film ever made it skillfully shows when pacifism is appropriate. Note the incident on Rambo's riverboat when the lead mercenary continuously insults John and tries to provoke him into a fight. Rambo completely ignores him, choosing not even say a word. In other words, he refuses to allow someone to victimize him and draw him into a conflict that has no positive purpose. It takes true strength to do this and Rambo has this strength. Indeed, John treats the guy as if he's a bothersome gnat. What do you do when a gnat bothers you? Do you break out a machine gun or merely ignore it?

-- Total pacifism does not work. I'm a Christian and would like to point out that the New Testament does not support the idea of absolute pacifism. Jesus' ministry team had a treasury box with loads of money and some of his workers carried swords for protection from thieves and murderers. Also, Romans 13 clearly states the righteous laws of human governments are God-ordained for the purpose of punishing criminals, including the right to execute when appropriate. The vast majority of sane Christians realize this, but there are a few extemists who refuse to be BALANCED with the Scriptures on this subject and insist that conflict and especially armed conflict is NEVER appropriate. The lead male missionary in the film is such a person (which I found unrealistic btw), but he learns the error of his ways before the story is over. This is an important point: Some people are so morally degenerate and evil that execution is the only just ultimate reaction (notice I said "ultimate").

-- The possibility of Rambo's spiritual rebirth [SPOILER ALERT! Don't read this paragraph unless you've already seen the film and/or want to entertain possible insights]. Although the first two sequels are cartooney and lack depth they show Rambo searching for truth and flirting with religion and spirituality. In the second film he gets a Buddhist necklace off of the Asian woman he befriends (who, of course, dies) and at the beginning of "Rambo III" he is shown working at a Buddhist temple and helping out the priests there; later, he meets and wins the hearts of (moderate) Islamic villagers and gives his Buddhist necklace to a Muslim boy who helped him out. In "Rambo," as previously noted, the female missionary is key in John's positive transformation; at one point she gently asks him whether or not he has any family back in the USA. He mumbles that he might have a father, he really wasn't sure, and obviously didn't care at that point. She later gives him a cross necklace for helping them out (he wouldn't take money). Anyway, the end of the film shows Rambo back in America walking to his family ranch. Obviously John had a profoundly positive spiritual metamorphosis in the story. The precise nature and extent of this change is not known, unless there's (hopefully) a fifth film [END SPOILER].

"Rambo" was written and directed by Sylvester Stallone and filmed in Thailand. The locations are magnificent.

BOTTOM LINE: One reviewer said he went to see "Rambo" for some mindless action & laughs but was unexpectedly and deeply moved instead. The story only runs 80 minutes, not including credits, and it's ultra-intense from beginning to end. In fact, I don't suggest seeing the film right before you go to bed because you'll likely be too riled up by the onslaught of violence and intensity to sleep.

"Rambo" is easily the second best of the series, second only to the first one; even that's debatable.

Personal Grade: A

Version: U.S.A / Lionsgate / Region Free
MPEG-4 AVC BD-50 / High Profile 4.1
Protection: AACS
BD-Java: Yes
Running time: 1:31:31
Movie size: 26,384,185,344 bytes
Disc size: 46,855,015,149 bytes
Average video bit rate: 26.82 Mbps

DTS-HD Master Audio English 5516 kbps 7.1 / 48kHz / 24-bit / 5217kbps (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48kHz / 24-bit / 1536kbps)
Dolby Digital Audio French 640 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 640kbps
Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48kHz / 192kbps

Subtitles: English SDH / Spanish
Number of chapters: 16

**********************************************************

Version: Germany / Warner Brothers
VC-1 BD-25 / Advanced Profile 3
Running time: 1:31:13
Movie size: 18,359,592,960 bytes
Disc size: 20,119,118,800 bytes
Average video bit rate: 17.97 Mbps

DTS-HD Master Audio English 2653 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 16-bit / 2653kbps (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48kHz / 16-bit / 1536kbps)
DTS-HD Master Audio German 4432 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 24-bit / 4432kbps (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48kHz / 24-bit / 1536kbps)

Subtitles: English / German
Number of chapters: 12

**********************************************************