Reviewed by Johnny McNair

Lionsgate Home Entertainment – 93 mins – 2008 – Rated R – 1080p Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1 – Dolby Digital DTS 7.1 and 5.1 EX Audio Mix

In 2006 when Sylvester Stallone revived Rocky Balboa for one last round, it was a huge success triggering an interest for him to resurrect another of his on screen characters, John Rambo. A Rocky movie is easier to swallow because it’s a sports movie and Balboa is a symbol for never giving up. Rambo on the other hand is harder, because he is part of the 80’s Reagan era when the cold war was in full swing, and in the movies it was cool to kill anyone who was a communist. For the most part, politics and the world itself have changed, so a killing machine like Rambo is not as acceptable. But Stallone worked his never-give-up attitude to develop a way to update the character after being MIA for 20 years. And you know what…he actually pulls it off. Rambo is now available on Blu-ray from Lionsgate, and fans of the character are going to love it.

THE MOVIE

Directed and co-written by Stallone, John Rambo is not the muscle bound super soldier he was last seen as in 1998’s Rambo III, instead he is a worn out loner living in Thailand who makes a living renting out his boat and capturing dangerous cobras and pythons to sell at underground snake fighter shows. He hates the world and has pretty much given up all hope in mankind itself. When he is approached by a group of American missionaries requesting to pay him to boat them up river into Burma so they can give medical care to the villagers who are being victimized by the ruthless Nationalist Army; Rambo declines the offer knowing that they will be killed instantly, and the blonde woman in their group, Sarah, played by Julie Benz, would be kept prisoner and repeatedly raped. Sarah actually gets to Rambo’s softer side and convinces him to do the job, but he makes it clear that he’s only doing it for her and if she chooses to turn back at any point, he will.

Upon completing the job Rambo learns that the missionaries have been captured as he feared, and pulls himself out of depression to kick some ass. A team of mercenaries have been hired to go in and see if they can rescue the missionaries before it’s too late, and Rambo boats them in since he has an idea where they may be. The bad boy mercs want nothing to do with Rambo, who they simply refer to as the “Boat Man,” but nobody stops Rambo from getting the job done. Before you can blink, Rambo is popping arrows into enemy soldier’s heads and torsos, and filling them with bullets.

Whereas the violence in Rambo II and III in particular where the typical 80’s comic book action, the violence in this new film go for a more realistic tone to illustrate the horrors that are currently happening in Burma. So there are hardcore moments where little children are shot and stabbed with bayonets, women are gang rapped, and captured villagers are used as players in a sick game where they have to run through mine fields and make it to the other end without blowing themselves up as soldiers place bets on their survival. This may sound harsh, but unfortunately it is real and stuff like this happens everyday in Burma, as well as other chaotic war zones. In the previous films, Rambo would shoot or stab a guy, you’d see a little blood and he’d fall down, now he’s decapitating the enemy, ripping off their throats with his bare hands, and filling them with an uncountable number of bullet holes. Some may find this very hard to watch, because the gore is hardcore and they got away with a lot for an R rated film. But other war related films such as Saving Private Ryan and Black Hawk Down also displayed violence in a real way and were praised for doing so.

For these reasons, Rambo bookends the series by going for the realistic tone that the original film First Blood did. Yes, in the end it’s only an action film, and to many Rambo only symbolizes the lower IQ crowd who still think that professional wrestling is real, but there’s more to it than that, otherwise this film would not have been made or become as successful as it was at the box office. Like it or not, Rambo is just as mainstream as Indiana Jones and James Bond.

Rambo is not going to win any Oscars, but if you’re a fan of the previous films, or just love action films in general, you will enjoy this movie. It’s 90 minutes long, there are no slow moments, and the ending action scene looks like the video game Call of Duty 4. Hey, Stallone knows his audience. Because this film did so well, there are rumors of another Rambo film, but Sly, come on, just like Rocky it’s time to retire Rambo while he’s still in a positive light. The last scene of the film closes the book of where the first film began; so don’t screw a good thing up. Just wait another 15 years and let somebody else do a Rambo remake with some other guy carrying the bow and arrow.

VIDEO

Presented in 1080p with a 2.40:1 aspect ratio, Rambo has an incredibly sharp image that is so clean you can see the ridges on the tip of his arrow during his “Live for nothing or die for something” speech. This film doesn’t have any bright colors in it, going for a muted documentary style, but it is crystal clear even in the night sequences where the black tones stand strong. The only problem with its clarity is that the digital blood effects that splatters over the bodies during the ending battle scene looks phony in spots, but other than that this is an excellent transfer.

AUDIO

With a movie with so many bullets and explosions, it better sound good, and fortunately Rambo sounds great, offering a 7.1 DTS HD sound mix that will make you think your in the middle of a battlefield. Dialogue is clear and even sequences with heavy background chatter like the opening snake fighter scene are done well. And during one sequence when it’s raining, you’ll be looking out your window to see if it really is. For those of you who like to show off your sound system, Rambo is your weapon of choice.

EXTRAS

The Blu-ray for Rambo offers a good batch of features all presented in HD, and a second disc, which gives access to a digital copy of the film (standard format only) for a mobile device such as an iPod.

And audio commentary track by Director/Star Sylvester Stallone talks about the process it took to bring revive the Rambo franchise for post 911 audiences. It’s a good commentary track especially because Stallone knows the character inside and out, so even the hardcore Rambo fans will learn some new stuff.

Lionsgate has also included a Bonus View picture-in-picture feature that allows a window to pop up in the lower right corner for certain scenes, allowing you to see Stallone recording the audio commentary, and on the set highlights that he narrates.

Running over an hour is a making of that is divided into six sections, accessed individually or as one big featurette. The six chapters are, Legacy of Despair: The Struggle in Burma, It’s a long Road: The Resurrection of an Icon, A Score to Settle: The Music of Rambo, The Weaponry of Rambo, Art of War: Completing Rambo, and A Hero’s Welcome: Release and Reception. There is plenty of good stuff in these featurettes, mainly talking about why it took so long to bring Rambo to the screen and different storylines that were presented, such as how it was originally going to take place in Mexico, but the current situation in Burma played out better for the character. Interviews with Stallone and other key figures involved with the project are quite interesting, making this a worthwhile feature.

There are four deleted scenes that are basically extended versions of what was already in the theatrical version, mainly involving Rambo and Sarah. These are slow dialogue scenes, which is probably why they were omitted.

Trailers include other Lionsgate Blu-ray movies such as the original trailers for the previous three Rambo movies, War, Crank, and The Punisher.

Rambo is the first Lionsgate Blu-ray to offer a digital copy, which is provided on a second disc so you can download the full length movie onto your iPod via iTunes or give it to a friend who doesn’t have a Blu-ray player so they can watch it on their PC.

BOTTOM LINE

Many doubted that a Rambo film would work after all these years, but Stallone and company did a great job to breath new life into the character. This is a good Blu-ray offering both excellent visual and audio quality and solid block of features, which includes the digital copy. Lionsgate has also released the first three Rambo films on Blu-ray that can be purchased individually or as a box set, but oddly the fourth Rambo film is not included with the set and only offered individually. Obviously that means there’s another deluxe version somewhere on the horizon, but in the meantime it’s great to see Rambo back in action.

SCORES (Out of 5):

The Movie: 4.0

Video: 4.5

Sound: 4.5

Extras: 4.5

Bottom Line: 4.5