As storytelling, the latest Rambo is the most bare-bones of the bunch. Rambo has little to say, so it's especially galling that Stallone, as director and co-writer, obliges him to have essentially the same conversation at three different points (the final distillation: "Live for nothing or die for something"). The Burmese army goons seem in competition to commit the most hideous atrocity (e.g., child skull-crushing underfoot), the better to justify the eventual, lovingly protracted spectacle of them being eviscerated by high-powered weaponry. Although shot in Thailand, the movie has mostly been photographed in brown, reducing any particular sense of place but, perhaps, perversely increasing our gratitude for the splashes of purple whenever hot metal tatters flesh. --Richard T. Jameson

Beyond Rambo

Complete list of Rambo movies on DVD and Blu-ray

Soundtrack

Rambo: The Complete Collector's Set

Stills from Rambo (click for larger image)

Rambo [Blu-ray]

• Jumper [Blu-ray]
• 10,000 B.C. [Blu-ray]
• Rambo 1-3 Boxset [Blu-ray]
• Cloverfield [Blu-ray]
• The Bank Job [Blu-ray] + Digital Copy
• Vantage Point [Blu-ray]
• Hitman [Blu-ray]
• Untraceable [Blu-ray]
• Aliens vs. Predator - Requiem (Extreme Unrated Set) [Blu-ray]
• Fool's Gold [Blu-ray]

(Even as hyper-masculine as Rambo: First Blood, Part 2 was, you empathized with John Rambo). The missionaries, other than Sarah and Michael, are human props. Unfortunately, for all the flying body parts and sewing blood, "Rambo" has no heart. Why Rambo suddenly decides she is worth changing his mind over is never given, he just does it. It is as generic an actioner as they come, which is a huge disappointment after what Stallone did with "Rocky Balboa."

And so, Rambo and his motley crew rescue the fair maiden and her friends with unbelievable amounts of blood, explosions, splatter, decapitations and screaming. USA. Then.Big Surprise.the missionaries are caught by sadistic Myanmar goons who think fun is betting on which POW will get blown up in a race through a mine field. USA. Of course. Along come a band of arrogant missionaries who want to save the world by sneaking into Burma (aka Myanmar) and giving out Bibles and pills. It was hard to give a darn about anyone involved, as the whole movie is a gloriously shot excursive in mayhem.

They do so in standard comic book style, all smart-mouthed quips and great big guns. The final ten minutes of "Rambo" are ridiculously surreal and dopey, including the patriotic rah-rah of making a wimpy snot-nosed pacifist into a real man by having him bash an enemy's head with a rock. The goons are creepy torturing rape machines, and so they must all be destroyed, right.

Thus it is up to John Rambo and a bunch of foul mouthed mercenaries to extract the prisoners. Alas, not too be. John Rambo stands in the dark rain and grunts things at them until the pretty missionary (Julie Benz) babbles some nonsense about caring and he cracks.

Given that you have no true idea why Rambo has a thing for Sarah (Benz) or why he'd agrees to take/save her, the characters have all the depth of a blood splatter. The mercs are a multi-national pack of clichés who look down on Rambo until they suddenly decide to follow every order he gives. The aging John Rambo is a snake catching recluse in Thailand, still having flashback nightmares about being a supersoldier and giving 'that 1000 mile stare' to show he's still in a war zone somewhere in his head.

Given the decent job Sylvester Stallone did reigniting Rocky Balboa, I had decent hopes that "Rambo" might be as good. USA.

This is how all the rambo's should've been.you thought he was a bad mother in the first few, this one is full of violence and blood and graphic scenes. Definetly worth it if you love action.

The story only runs 80 minutes, not including credits, and it's ultra-intense from beginning to end. I'm a huge fan of the first one, which I think is an action/adventure masterpiece, but the next two films are merely okay IMHO; although Sylvester Stallone never looked better and the locations are fabulous in these sequels, the stories are too comic-booky and the characters are cardboard. Although the first two sequels are cartooney and lack depth they show Rambo searching for truth and flirting with religion and spirituality. Two Biblical proverbs state "a gentle answer turns away wrath" and "a gentle tongue can break a bone." The female missionary (Julie Benz) knows this and skillfully talks John into helping them.

This is an important point: Some people are so morally degenerate and evil that execution is the only just ultimate reaction (notice I said "ultimate"). THE STORY: John Rambo is alone & bitter and living hand-to-mouth in Thailand when a group of Christian missionaries enlist him to take them into Burma (aka Myanmar) to aid a village of people. The vast majority of sane Christians realize this, but there are a few extemists who refuse to be BALANCED with the Scriptures on this subject and insist that conflict and especially armed conflict is NEVER appropriate. Total pacifism does not work. Jesus' ministry team had a treasury box with loads of money and some of his workers carried swords for protection from thieves and murderers. Despite his gruff exterior, she sees something in him, something in his eys a good heart, even greatness, a genuine glimmer however faint.

John instinctively realizes the rope she's throwing him and takes hold of it. He doesn't talk much and, when he does, it's very few words laced with expletives. "Rambo" is easily the second best of the series, second only to the first one; even that's debatable. Yet there's more going on here than just that. "Rambo" was written and directed by Sylvester Stallone and filmed in Thailand.

No lie. This woman with a heart of gold is Rambo's "golden connection" out of the horrible rut of bitterness he's fallen into. Do you break out a machine gun or merely ignore it. This third sequel makes up for all that because it's not cartooney at all and there's quite a bit of depth, albeit not much in dialogue form. The picture powerfully illustrates the best and worst in humanity. The lead male missionary in the film is such a person (which I found unrealistic btw), but he learns the error of his ways before the story is over. She stirs in him the hope and faith he's been longing for for too long.

BOTTOM LINE: One reviewer said he went to see "Rambo" for some mindless action & laughs but was unexpectedly and deeply moved instead. Indeed, John treats the guy as if he's a bothersome gnat. Don't read this paragraph unless you've already seen the film and/or want to entertain possible insights]. Obviously they've given themselves wholly over to the darkside of their natures. The locations are magnificent. Also, Romans 13 clearly states the righteous laws of human governments are God-ordained for the purpose of punishing criminals, including the right to execute when appropriate. Anyway, the end of the film shows Rambo back in America walking to his family ranch.

He mumbles that he might have a father, he really wasn't sure, and obviously didn't care at that point. It takes true strength to do this and Rambo has this strength. She later gives him a cross necklace for helping them out (he wouldn't take money). In fact, I don't suggest seeing the film right before you go to bed because you'll likely be too riled up by the onslaught of violence and intensity to sleep. He has no friends. In other words, there's very little depth, if any. Note the incident on Rambo's riverboat when the lead mercenary continuously insults John and tries to provoke him into a fight.

Violence is not always necessary. Bitterness/despair and deliverance. The possibility of Rambo's spiritual rebirth [SPOILER ALERT. Weeks later he learns the missionaries have been taken captive so he goes back with a group of mercenaries to bring them out, if possible.

Although this is the most violent film ever made it skillfully shows when pacifism is appropriate. Rambo completely ignores him, choosing not even say a word. The male leader of the missionaries is completely unable to talk him into helping them. Is Rambo helping the missionaries or is she the one helping him. Obviously John had a profoundly positive spiritual metamorphosis in the story. I'm a Christian and would like to point out that the New Testament does not support the idea of absolute pacifism. The beginning of the film shows Rambo in a complete state of bitterness: He's just existing.

Numerous important themes are addressed in the picture (besides the main theme noted above):. The Christian missionaries are willing to risk everything to help the villagers, whereas the Myanmar militarists revel in slaughtering scores of unarmed people for "fun;" they're also shown abusing/raping women and boys. In other words, he refuses to allow someone to victimize him and draw him into a conflict that has no positive purpose. In the second film he gets a Buddhist necklace off of the Asian woman he befriends (who, of course, dies) and at the beginning of "Rambo III" he is shown working at a Buddhist temple and helping out the priests there; later, he meets and wins the hearts of (moderate) Islamic villagers and gives his Buddhist necklace to a Muslim boy who helped him out. Personal Grade: A There's nothing sensual about their relationship, despite her (realistic) attractiveness; it's solely spiritual. Rambo strongly discourages them in light of the political instability of the country, which includes heavy persecutions and mass slayings, but they insist on trying to help so he does it anyway.

Such reprobates are only worthy of one thing: Utter annihilation. In "Rambo," as previously noted, the female missionary is key in John's positive transformation; at one point she gently asks him whether or not he has any family back in the USA. The precise nature and extent of this change is not known, unless there's (hopefully) a fifth film [END SPOILER]. "Rambo" combines elements of "Apocalypse Now," "The Killing Fields" and the first two Rambo films and is ultra-serious & intense from beginning to end, not to mention it's probably the most violent film ever made. "Rambo" (2008) is the fourth installment in the Rambo franchise after "First Blood" (1982), "Rambo: First Blood Part II" (1985) and "Rambo III" (1988). What do you do when a gnat bothers you.

Disc size: 46,855,015,149 bytes. VC-1 BD-25 / Advanced Profile 3. MPEG-4 AVC BD-50 / High Profile 4.1. Disc size: 20,119,118,800 bytes. Number of chapters: 12. Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48kHz / 192kbps. Movie size: 26,384,185,344 bytes. Number of chapters: 16.

Running time: 1:31:13. Average video bit rate: 26.82 Mbps. DTS-HD Master Audio German 4432 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 24-bit / 4432kbps (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48kHz / 24-bit / 1536kbps). Average video bit rate: 17.97 Mbps.

**********************************************************. BD-Java: Yes. Dolby Digital Audio French 640 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 640kbps. ********************************************************** Subtitles: English SDH / Spanish. DTS-HD Master Audio English 5516 kbps 7.1 / 48kHz / 24-bit / 5217kbps (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48kHz / 24-bit / 1536kbps). Subtitles: English / German.

Running time: 1:31:31. Movie size: 18,359,592,960 bytes. DTS-HD Master Audio English 2653 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 16-bit / 2653kbps (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48kHz / 16-bit / 1536kbps). Protection: AACS. Version: U.S.A / Lionsgate / Region Free. Version: Germany / Warner Brothers.

Its not a great film but it is a lot better than I expected. Stallone of course is still in good shape aged 60. In First blood we had the always excellent Brian Denehy as the local Sheriff, in Rambo there's nobody. The people are living under a military regime which is brutal in the extreme. The body count is vast, it might be a record for I know. The ending is well done, taking you almost full circle back to First Blood from 1982.

The missionaries are captured and Rambo ultimataly helps a group of mercenaries to get them out. A group of missionaries are trying to helped the sick and wounded in Burmah. I won't discuss steroids at this point. However overall I shall be quite happy to watch this again.

Rambo has retired to Thailand, but he's still in top shape. However making comparisons with that film are a mistake as it isn't in the same class. The main reason is a lack of another major character to support Stallone. It was a blood splattered 90 minutes but it was better than I expected. I wanted to hate this movie so much, but came away having been throughly entertained (in an extremly violent way) for 90 minutes.

If you have any problems with watching bloody scenes I'd give this film a miss as there are a great many which involve huge blood loss.