Rambo

. . . or, as I like to call it Rambo versus the Yellow Scourge, is the story of Vietnam veteran Jon Rambo who becomes embroiled in a mission to save a group of missionaries from a sadistic Burmese military camp. The film is the first and only Rambo flick to date that’s been directed by it’s star, Sylvester Stallone, and quite honestly, it shows. The laconic script, the brutish editing, the excess of body parts — all reflect Stallone’s character. And yet this ‘what ya see, is what ya get’ approach is something of a blessing. Stallone spares us the sappy background stories, the limp relationships, the flaccid morality tale — and delivers what Rambo fans want: Stallone killing everything and getting away unscathed. As a bonus he keeps it to a concise hour and thirty minutes (like Cronenberg’s A History of Violence, also a bloody film). Having said that, what astounds me is not the latest installment of another 80’s spawned film series, but the viewer response on IMDB which goes something like this: “This [movie] had one hell of a message, and wasn’t just a mindless action movie with gore”. No? How about, “watching Stallone act so well was a total pleasure”. Hmm. Or, “It was also kind of shocking at how Stallone is still in [such good] physical form, considering his age”. Didn’t he get busted for using Human growth hormones?

Ugly - do I need to explain?

Directed by Sylvester Stallone