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List Price: $22.98 | | Label: Lionsgate
Salesrank: 28394
Released: May 27, 2008 |
| Our Price: $4.63 |
| Used Price: $2.73 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Genre: Feature Film-Action/Adventure
Rating: R
Release Date: 27-MAY-2008
Media Type: DVD
Description of Rambo (Special Edition + Digital Copy):
If you've been wondering what ever happened to ex–Green Beret superwarrior John Rambo since he singlehandedly shot up a Pacific Northwest town (First Blood, 1982), returned to the jungles of 'Nam to free U.S. POWs held long after war's end (Rambo: First Blood Part II, 1985), and interrupted the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan long enough to blow lots of stuff up and rescue his old commandant from the Reds (Rambo III, 1988), then Rambo (2008) is for you. Without so much as a IV to dilute the brand name, Rambo--which is what most of us called the second, most iconic film in the series--may aspire to open a new era for a pop legend. But it's a thoroughly mechanical attempt to reanimate a franchise that, absent the anger, frustration, and self-loathing of the post-Vietnam years, has no meaning or purpose. For some time now Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) has been putt-putting along the Thai-Burmese border in a longboat, catching exotic snakes to sell. As for the 60-year civil war in Burma between the brutal government and the Karen independence movement, he ignores it. Enter a party of American missionaries whose dewy blond spokeswoman (Dexter's Julie Benz) asks Rambo to haul them upriver so that they can bring medical aid to the insurgents. After the requisite number of monosyllabic refusals, he does. Soon afterward the do-gooders are in a world of hurt, and he's summoned to lead a squad of mercenaries on a rescue mission.
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 (Special Edition + Digital Copy) Reviews:
Harsh reality... 
2009-12-23 - "Rambo"(2008) is directed by Sylvester Stallone. The story takes place in Burma (Myanmar) where General Than Shwe rules the military junta and takes a harsh stance against the nation's pro-democracy movement. This film is particularly graphic in its depiction of the violence and cruelty. We first see Rambo in the jungle earning a living through the sale of snakes and selling them to a nearby village. He helps some missionaries up the river, only to find out later that they have been captured by the Tatmadew, led by Major Tint. He then joins a group of mercenaries in a rescue attempt. Rambo is a guarded individual who has found his home in this dangerous land. Unlike some others, he fearlessly kills knowing that there is no bargaining room with certain individuals. There is something awfully realistic about how individual lives are depicted as having little worth in this corner of the world, where people's lives are reduced to an animalistic level of survival, where culture and humanity are a rare commodity. This is an action film that shows the brutality of war, and doesn't glorify it.
Full of features, full of Relevance 
2009-12-22 - What started out as the revival of a moneymaking franchise turns into one of the most relevant movies of the last few years. Sylvester Stallone's return as John Rambo is not only a good movie but a movie that has become a rallying cry to a group of actually fighting tyrany.
We find our hero settled in Thailand, working with and catching snakes. He is approached by a group from a church wanting to bring in a group of doctors into Burma. Rambo declines warning them of the danger but the persistence of Sarah (Julie Benz) of religious convinces them to go. A dangerous run-in fails to deter them and Rambo leaves them in a village where they start tending to the people's needs.
To nobody's surprise a short time later the leader of the parish approaches him. They haven't gotten out and haven't been heard from so he hires Rambo to bring in a group a mercs to the spot where he dropped them.
The use of these characters really makes a difference in the movie, Rambo doesn't have to carry all the load (he is the "boat guy") and the interplay between the various guys really works well. There is not a bad performance in the lot.
The special features concerning the making of the movie really adds value, particularly the story of the actual repression in Burma. The chief villain of the picture is an actual refugee from the war which is as bad as the picture describes it. The only objection I have to the entire disk are the deleted scenes. I think they all should have been included they would have really added to the story.
The Military Junta is so upset over this picture that the sale of this movie is punishable by death and the possession can get you 10 years. The rebels have taken the picture's catch phrase as their own.
It's very rare that a picture has this kind of impact in the real world. even if the movie wasn't as good as it was, it should be celebrated for that.
This picture is worth your money and when the history of the fallen dictatorship is written, this picture will be a part of it.
The Long Road Back
2009-12-19 - John Rambo is back -- and so, more importantly, is Sylvester Stallone, the artist and filmmaker. With RAMBO and last year's triumphant ROCKY BALBOA, Stallone has reclaimed the respect and admiration accorded him early in his career, when his performance as a down-on-his-luck prize fighter from Philadelphia inspired comparisons to Brando and his attendant screenplay was praised for its gritty realism and fragile romanticism. There is plenty of the former and precious little of the latter in the brutal landscape Stallone has committed to celluloid with RAMBO, but that's as it should be; this isn't a live-action cartoon -- it's a nasty, grim, and uncompromising portrait of the savagery of war.
Unfortunately, what all this means is that while RAMBO represents a new peak for the series, the sheer volume and disturbing realism of the carnage onscreen is wearing and anyone expecting the bombastic "fun" of previous installments is missing the point. Even with a relatively compact running time of just over ninety minutes, the relentless fatalism espoused by the haunted Vietnam vet makes RAMBO seem like a much longer movie. That's not a criticism -- if anything, it's a reflection of just how thoroughly Stallone has come to inhabit this character, for we feel the weight of Rambo's world-weariness in each and every frame.
On a final note, kudos to Stallone for resisting the temptation to "water down" his vision of RAMBO to secure a PG rating; John Rambo and Sylvester Stallone are back, integrity intact.
Now THIS is an action film.
2009-12-16 - This is one of my favorite movies of all time. Great action, minimal CGI, and very fast-paced, this puts the ACTION in action movie.
At barely 85min long, this movie barrels along from action sequence to action sequence, is gory, violent, and disturbing. Stallone is actually beleivable in his role as a super mercenary, who kills in barbaric and realistic ways. A true throwback to 80's action films. Its great to see in a time where we have Matt Damon and Brad Pitt playing the heavies, that true action stars such as Stallone and Bruce Willis have reminded us what being an action hero is all about. Cannot wait for The Expendables next year!
RAMBO
2009-10-18 - If you thought this was just (FUNNY) then you must be a garatrooper! For what it stood for this rambo was best from an old man. If you were there in the grass then you know too!
