Rambo

Actors: Sylvester Stallone, Julie Benz,
Director: Sylvester Stallone
Writers: Art Monterastelli and Stallone
Music: Brian Tyler

Rambo which was released on January 25, 2008 is one among the series of action films starring Sylvester Stallone, based on the characters created by David Morrell in his novel First Blood. Earlier films of the series were First Blood (1982), Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), and Rambo III (1988). The first film was both a major hit and box office success. The critics praised Stallone’s performance. The next two Rambo sequels though box office hits, met with much less critical praise than the original. Rambo is the fourth film. All these films center on a troubled Vietnam War veteran, John James Rambo, who is greatly skilled in all aspects of survival, weaponry, jungle & guerrilla warfare and hand-to-hand combat.

This recently released film brings back nostalgic memories of a cold and clinical killing machine Rambo who killed for country, honor and justice. This time Rambo comes back from semi-retirement and joins a bunch of Americans who want to supply relief to an endangered tribe, hounded by the military junta. Rambo retreats to a simple life in a rural Thai village near the Myanmar border, capturing snakes for local entertainers and transporting roamers in his battered long-tail boat. He is persuaded to ferry a group of American missionaries to war-torn Myanmar. When the missionaries are, predictably, captured by the Burmese military, Rambo is asked and persuaded to then ferry a group of mercenaries into Burma to rescue the missionaries. This he does with a minimum of subtlety and a maximum of bloodshed.

The scene of Rambo ripping a guy’s throat out with his bare hands is very dramatic and deserves accolades. Julie Benz plays the role of one of the captive missionaries that Rambo is persuaded to bring to Burma. Stallone is once again outstanding as Rambo. Like in his earlier films, Stallone, a two-time Academy Award-nominated American actor, producer, director and screenwriter, this time also has packed the film with action making it a good upbeat family entertainment. It is a very fine action flick, the kind of movie Hollywood rarely makes and the kind of action movie people love to watch. The music is given by Brian Tyler, a veteran composer who has written, arranged, and conducted musical scores for films such as William Friedkin directed The Hunted and the 2005 supernatural action film Constantine.