The Rambo series!

What's everyone's thoughts on John Rambo, and the Sylvester Stallone series based on a novel character who originally wasn't supposed to survive the first movie? I hardly think that's a spoiler, considering we're getting Rambo V, tentatively subtitled "Last Blood" as an homage to the original title, which in nowhere had the word "Rambo" in it. Hell, the whole series has a funny way of naming things:


First Blood (1982) - They drew first blood. Okay.
Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) - Second blood? A recent film that reminds me of this confusion is "The Last Exorcism: Part II".
Rambo III (1988) - They knew this was all about Stallone at this point, and ran with it. He was huge in the 80s, so why not?
Rambo (2008) - Is this a prequel? Nope. It's part 4.

The new one isn't titled yet, but it very well might be Rambo V: Last Blood. Stallone seems to be feeling a bit old these days, because he recently said the character of Rocky Balboa is done, and shortly after that, Michael B. Jordan (Adonis Creed) in response said he thinks Stallone will be back. Fuck, I sure hope so. Stallone is the man, and Creed II was soooooo good, we need more sequels. After all, Rocky had 5 sequels, and they're all great. Even the bad one (5).


So in First Blood, Stallone is a Vietnam vet who just wants to see his war buddies under better circumstances, but fuck... they're all dead. So he's bummed out, but the local law enforcement is giving him a hard time. They push him. Then, they push him some more. He served his country for these bastards, and this is how they treat him? And then... they draw... First Blood.

It's a really fuckin' good action movie. Pretty tense, too. He's a man trying to lose the enemy in the wilderness, but this shit exacerbates into something wonderful. A franchise.

First Blood Part II was co-written by James Cameron. Fun fact. It doesn't do much for me, but it's probably how most people view the character of John Rambo, though. He's given an out for his prison sentence if he does some mission in his old stomping grounds, Viet-fucking-nam, and then... it's 80s action stuff. Okay at best.

I'm more fond of Hot Shots Part Deux, which features 3-time Rambo actor Richard Crenna playing a parody of his same damn character. Funny shit.

Rambo III, which drops the "First Blood" moniker, is along the same lines of part 2, but I like it a bit more. Rambo is set on a mission to Afghanistan for some reason or another, but this time... well... there's nothing new here. I just think it's a little bit of a cooler movie.

Fun little anecdote: In Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986), Chop-Top listens to the butchering evidence tape relevant to that plot, and in hearing all the violence, he asks, "What's that? The Rambo III soundtrack?". He knew what was up.



Oh shit...

Nothing for 20 years, huh? Rambo deserves better than to be in the 90s anyway. So in 2008, we get the new one, just titled Rambo. Stallone is getting up in age, but fuck it. He just did another boxing bout in Rocky Balboa (2006) after not having fought in Rocky V (1990), and people loved it. People like me will eat this shit up. He's still got it, so he wanted to give another one of his iconic characters a second chance, because face it... Not many actors have an iconic character play, let alone two. So Stallone got jacked, went to Berma, and massacred some fucking villains, because that's what he does.

Part 4 was easily the most violent of the bunch. Raw and brutal Rambo action, and we all fucking loved it. There's not much to analyze in the movie, because it is just an outlet for action and violence. The exploitation fan in me loves that, and I love that Stallone could come back to that so seemlessly. That's why I'm excited for the new Rambo movie, too.

We haven't seen Stallone in action in a while, because he is getting old. He's 70 something, and to most people, it just isn't plausible that someone can be that old and that bad-ass, but fuck it. I wouldn't want to fight Stallone. I'm still a scrawny piece of shit compared to that guy, and while he (reasonably) didn't fight in Creed II, we're all pretty much in agreement that we'll see him kick some serious ass in Rambo V.


Rate some Rambo Movies https://junkepics.com/film/?category=1&tags=john+rambo