Rambo


John Rambo: "Go live your life 'cause you've got a good one."
Sarah: "It's what I'm trying to do."
John Rambo: "No, what you're trying to do is change what is."
Sarah: "And what is?"
John Rambo: "That we're like animals! It's in the blood! It's natural! Peace? That's an accident! It's what is! When you're pushed, killing's as easy as breathing. When the killing stops in one place, it starts in another, but that's okay... 'cause you're killing for your country. But it ain't your country who asks you, it's a few men up top who want it. Old men start it, young men fight it, nobody wins, everybody in the middle dies...and nobody tells the truth! God's gonna make all that go away? Don't waste your life, I did. Go home."



release year: 2008
genre: action
viewing setting: home Bluray 7/8/22 and 3/24/17 and 1/10/15 and home DVD, 12/5/12 and xxxx and theater, 2/8/08

synopsis: A group of missionaries foolishly ventures into Burma and gets into trouble, and it's up to burned-out (but still highly lethal) soldier John Rambo to try and rescue them.

impressions: This movie was not only full of violence, but the violence was just _mean_ at times, almost like it was there just for the sake of being there. The bad guys did things like forcing innocent villagers to run through minefields while placing bets on who would make it. Naturally, the missionaries don't factor things like this into account when they decide to head into this area to help people. I'm not saying that the people didn't need help, I'm saying that it's impossible to help them when they're being terrorized by ruthless, sadistic men with guns. Fortunately, Rambo said the same thing, and when the time comes, he leads a team of mercenaries into the war zone to rescue the helpless, captured, surviving missionaries. There is an insane amount of death in this movie, by all methods (blades, arrows, and firearms) and this is easily the most violent of all the Rambo films. It also has the most deserving-of-death villains of any of the movies in the series.

something this movie has that no other movie has: A jeep-mounted 50-caliber machine gun being turned around and used on the driver, at point-blank range. Wow.

acting: Sylvester Stallone is still in great shape and does a good job as a warrior who doesn't want to wage war anymore, but ends up doing it to save the innocent. Matthew Mardsen and Graham McTavish are the most memorable of the mercenaries who Rambo helps on the mission. Paul Schulze and Julie Benz are the lead missionaries, who unfortunately have more idealism than common sense.

final word: Ultra-violent but worthy sequel (and final chapter) in the series.

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