Rambo IV (Sylvester Stallone, 2008)

[Mr Sausage]

'BTW, Has anyone read the original novel First Blood was based upon?'
i have.
it's actually rather good.
also, this movie looks unspeakably bad and i just can't actually fathom paying money to see it.

It does look bad. Here's hoping it's gleefully so.

[Roger_Thornhill]

Well, I wonder if any the "naughty" non-white people will speak a single line of comprehensible dialogue or if they'll just brandish weapons and assault women.

Good grief, you need to lighten up since I was being facetious in that post. In any event, it's the Burmese regime and it's military who are the baddies in this. Did you miss the shots of the Burmese military brutally attacking it's own citizens? Are you looking for a "balanced" portrayal of the regime? Have you not been keeping up with the news lately in Burma? That's like complaining that the Nazis weren't given a fair treatment in Schindler's List. These aren't some innocent farmers committing these acts against the Burmese people. Besides, why are you looking for a nuanced portrait of race relations in a fucking Rambo movie?

[exte]

Did you miss the shots of the Burmese military brutally attacking it's own citizens? Are you looking for a "balanced" portrayal of the regime? Have you not been keeping up with the news lately in Burma? That's like complaining that the Nazis weren't given a fair treatment in Schindler's List. These aren't some innocent farmers committing these acts against the Burmese people. Besides, why are you looking for a nuanced portrait of race relations in a fucking Rambo movie?

EXACTLY! EXACTLY! I hate it when I hear that utter shit about the Nazis... Unbelievable!!

[Antoine Doinel]

On Thursday, here in Montreal - and I'm presuming in a many other theaters across North America, there is a special Rambo marathon with all the films, ending with a screening of the new film.

Here's a handy death chart of the first three films to get you psyched!

[Cinesimilitude]

I'ma get crunk and see this fo sho.

[Joe Buck]

I thought about getting hammered and going to the midnight showing tonight, but I have to work in the morning and would be asking for trouble. I missed going to those midnight shows, like the wretched Star Wars prequels, and yelling crazy stuff out. It was one big party. Anyway, I will probably see it Sunday afternoon. I have no expectations going in, so I'll probably be pleasantly surprised. My wife wants to see Untraceable, but I don't think that is up to my standards.

[tavernier]

Diane Lane vs. Sly? No contest.

[Antoine Doinel]

My wife wants to see Untraceable, but I don't think that is up to my standards.

But it has the best line of the year: "He hacked into my car's computer?!"

[chaddoli]

I thought about getting hammered and going to the midnight showing tonight

Done and almost done.

[davebert]

I am so fucking stoked for this, and in an unironic way. I've already got my $6 weekend A.M. matinee tickets for tomorrow. I just hope they didn't CGI in the knife for when Rambo decapitated a dude with his fists!

A.O Scott weighs in with a positive review

[Adam]

I don't really read that as a positive review. Just a couple of mitigating comments in a more negative review. Do you consider "Blockheaded poetry" to be positive; it sounds to me like damning with faint praise.

[davebert]

I don't think the review is ecstatic, but as one of the major critics paid attention to by more educated filmgoers, the fact that he doesn't say "WTF were they thinking making a new one, it's ridiculously stupid and a waste of celluloid, etc." - the fact that he instead grapples with the reasons behind Stallone's return and gives the movie a fair shake, will probably go a ways towards deflating the energy other critics who were waiting to engage in another gleeful pile-on.

I remember what happened with Rocky Balboa, which had its admittedly stupid parts (mostly from Stallone being detached from cultures he's trying to describe) that would have been easy to eviscerate, and some critics did. But most shared my opinion that the movie was actually pretty good, and a far better closer to the franchise than Rocky V. Perhaps we'll see the same effect for Rambo. I'll have to see for myself.

[colinr0380]

I'm still not convinced but Jeremy Richey has posted a favourable review on his blog.

[domino harvey]

Interview With Rush, which should erase any lingering impulse to see the film. Also, how great is it that this got beaten at the box office by fucking Meet the Spartans?

[pauling]

I'm sort of a stats geek.

[tavernier]

Interview With Rush, which should erase any lingering impulse to see the film.

We already knew that Sly was a right-wing nut, so it's no surprise he was shilling on Rush's Liar Hour.

[HerrSchreck]

Interview With Rush, which should erase any lingering impulse to see the film. Also, how great is it that this got beaten at the box office by fucking Meet the Spartans?

Christ man (the interview speaks for itself) looking at the pic on that page on the Limbaugh site:



.. damn, for purely nostalgic reasons I was watching Lords of Flatbush last week (lifetime NYer, movie came out when I was very small & my pop took us to the theater etc) and looking at the above pic I have two things to say:

1) aging REALLY sucks (when you're in Hollywood especially-- though being a globe trotting star helps alot.. even though it at the same time makes it all the worse).. and

2) Schwartzenbingo looks like he's sixteen compared to Sly.

[Antoine Doinel]

Sly inspires the Burmese. From IMDB:

Rambo Is No Hero in Burma

Bootleg copies of Sylvester Stallone's latest Rambo movie are popping up all over Myanmar (Burma), despite efforts by authorities to prevent the film from being circulated, Reuters reported today (Tuesday). In a report from Yangon, the wire service said that the movie, in which the country's military junta is portrayed as the enemy, is "fast becoming a talking point among a population eager to shake off 45 years of military rule." Reuters indicated that a paraphrased line from the movie, "Live for nothing, die for something," has become a rallying cry within the country and has buoyed the resolve of opponents of the military regime.

[Antoine Doinel]

Rambo gets no love in the UK.

[miless]

http://worldofwonder.net/images4/rambochardlatimes.jpg

[tavernier]

I feel bad for John Mueller, or whoever actually sat through all 4 movies with a stopwatch, pen and notepad.