After a twenty year exile from the big screen, John Rambo was lured out of retirement for a fourth knife-wielding, gun-toting adventure in 2008. Fans waited a long time for Sylvester Stallone to find the right story and script to bring his legendary character back to life and the latest installment in the Rambo franchise proved that patience could unexpectedly pay off in more ways than one. Although Rambo turned the world’s attention toward the plight of the Burmese people, who have been oppressed for years by their own brutal and dictatorial government, the DVD release of the movie is even more relevant given the recent humanitarian crisis in Burma at the hands of nature’s fury. The Rambo movies have always done well in the home entertainment market - it’s actually where First Blood became a hit - and now Rambo, the fourth film in the franchise, hits DVD shelves everywhere on May 27 in a 2-Disc Special Edition.

So what’s Rambo been up to after all of these years? At the outset of the movie, we find John Rambo hiding away from society working as a snake wrangler in the Thailand jungle. When a group of missionaries (Julie Benz, Paul Schulze, Thomas Peterson, Cameron Pearson, James With) arrive in search of a boat to take them upriver to help the ailing adjacent Burmese people, they enlist the guide services of a reluctant John Rambo. As you’d expect in real life, the missionaries soon get captured, a few mercenaries arrive, and John Rambo leads the contingent into the jungle where bloody murder awaits - and A LOT of it. That’s all you need to know, it’s a Rambo movie.

John Rambo:

Although Rambo: First Blood Part II and Rambo III made for some of the most memorable gun-toting, hellfire action movies of the 1980s, the sequels departed from the gritty, grounded and dramatic tone of First Blood in favor of larger than life, over-the-top action. In many ways, the very real John Rambo of First Blood became nothing more than a cardboard action hero cliché in the two sequels. For Rambo, Stallone made the wise choice to go back to Rambo’s roots to make a movie that was more in-sync with the soul of character and the feel of First Blood. Rambo has always been a tortured soul and his inner conflict over societal demands, political hypocrisy, and the fine line between human restraint and animal aggression serves as the underlying heartbeat of the story. When a missionary representative (played by Ken Howard) arrives to try and convince Rambo to help the mercenaries rescue the captured missionaries, Rambo is still having nightmares of the past, which is encapsulated in a great black and white montage of clips from the first three films. We quickly understand that Rambo hasn’t really changed at all; he’s just removed himself from society because he knows he can’t escape the horrors of war or the nightmares trapped within his soul. It’s these underlying layers that give the new Rambo its own credible and dramatic spirit beyond the bullets.

The Action and Violence:

So what about the action, violence, and gunfire? First, credit needs to be given to Stallone for making a full on, balls-to-the-wall, no-holds-barred Rambo movie in a completely different generation. Second, credit needs to go out to Lionsgate for giving Sly the freedom make the film the way a Rambo film should be made. Third, (and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but...) credit also needs to go out to the MPAA for not stamping an NC-17 rating on the movie. How it didn’t get an NC-17 is beyond me, but that’s the MPAA. By far, Rambo is the most graphic and visibly violent of all four movies. What you see in this film pales in comparison to the others, with the small exception of Rambo sewing up his wounded arm in First Blood. From the first encounter with Burmese pirates to precise sniper fire during the rescue attempt, there’s more blood in this one than you’ll see in most horror movies. Your father’s Rambo movie this isn’t. Although I won’t give anything away for those who haven’t seen it, the film’s final hellfire showdown is one of the most memorable sequences of the entire franchise. It’s as real and graphically violent as you’d expect from such high-powered weaponry. Stallone drops the gory horrors of war squarely in your lap and drenches you in blood. When the dust settles, don’t be surprised if you find yourself on your feet and cheering with fists pumped in the air. It’s one hell of a bloody finish.

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