Rambo

Live for nothing or die for something.

John Rambo has been living in the Far East for a while. He has built an existence on the river, distanced himself from people and honed his survival skills. He is a snake catcher. Nothing small, cobras and such for professional use.
Rambo’s solitary existence is breached when a group of American medical missionaries requests to hire his boat, and his navigator’s skills, to get into the war torn Burma where they want to bring medical relief.

Rambo refuses, he does not believe they will change anything. One of the group, Sarah, changes his mind and he delivers them to the village. When they fail to return, Rambo, with a group of paid mercenaries, goes to Burma to find them, and if possible, to rescue them.

At the end it does not matter whether the newcomers come as medical personnel, mercenaries or army, the problems ranging in Burma, or anywhere else, are not understandable to foreigners and therefore foreigners cannot solve them. They might exacerbate them by bringing desirable goods. This message rings through the film. It rings true. Rambo always wins, and the world always stays the same.

Like John Rambo, I had also lost most of my naiveté: researching the Vietnam War I had realized that while the US never lost the war, Nixon had forced North Vietnam to sign the Paris Accords in March 1973 thus ending the war and it took two more years, and the discovery of oil, for the north Vietnamese forces to invade South Vietnam where, at that time, there was one battalion of US marines guarding the Embassy, the media had created their own history of that war and in that history America, its Armed Forces and its presidents lost- just as the Soviet Union predicted they would. I had been surprised to see that the time, spend medially on the war news, was used quietly to undermine social net and the underpinning of the American working people to move profits to a much smaller portion of the population, and the wealthiest one, harming the majority. I was less surprised when the first Bush did exactly the same during Desert Shield and the vets got home to crisis, unemployment, lack of health benefits and pensions. I wasn’t surprised at all when the second Bush manipulated terrorism to get more oil, rob the people of their liberties and move 50 % of the country’s income to 1% of the wealthiest. I expect John Rambo would not be either. As John says in the film: You will change nothing. Nothing for better that is.

There was the First Blood where Rambo would not give in to chicanery. Longhaired, headband wearing Navajo-white mix archer who knew that freedom is not limited to some. Next came Rambo who went to save fully aware that he was expendable, that indeed all those who fought with him were just that- expendable. Then there was John Rambo whose war was over but who did come out to help his former colleague. The war ended, the loyalty was still there.
Now John Rambo has completed the circle. Once a Vietnam vet unwelcomed in his own country, that was as unable to deal with its returning warriors as the soldiers were unprepared to joined society that has during their forced absence changed substantially and rather away from the idea they fought for, he is the same loner, perhaps more introspect, who no longer expects even acceptance, whose curiosity is dead and who might, because of complete lack of illusions, be able to come home. It is very unlikely that he would be able to live in what his home had become. Rambo has won every battle, he just cannot win the war.

Filmed in Northern Thailand the film keeps fast tempo, very fast and moveable camera, plenty of action and fire. Buckets of blood and gore. Night scenes and rain scenes help the action along, these are quite good. The editing is as fast as the action and you’ll never get bored. Stallone is in great shape physically and believable as the lone wolf who has accepted himself and has no longer anything to discuss. That is good because the dialogs are truly mundane and bordering on trashy. I would have preferred if John returned to dreary suburb rather than to the American dream scaled down but one cannot have everything.

Lionsgate
The Weinstein Co./Equity Prods./Millennium Films/Nu Image
Credits:
Director: Sylvester Stallone
Screenwriters: Art Monterastelli, Sylvester Stallone
Based on characters created by: David Morrell
Producers: Avi Lerner, Kevin King-Templeton, John Thompson
Executive producers: Jon Feltheimer, Peter Block, Harvey Weinstein, Bob Weinstein, Danny Dimbort, Boaz Davidson, Trevor Short, Andreas Thiesmeyer, Florian Lechner, Randall Emmett, George Furla
Director of photography: Glen MacPherson
Production designer: Franco Giacomo Carbone
Music: Brian Tyler
Costume designer: Lizz Wolf
Editor: Sean Albertson
Cast:
John Rambo: Sylvester Stallone
Sarah Miller: Julie Benz
Dr. Michael Burnett: Paul Schulze
School Boy: Matthew Marsden
Lewis: Graham McTavish
Arthur Marsh: Ken Howard
Running time -- 93 minutes
MPAA rating: R