Watched this on Amazon Prime last night. Didn't hate it nearly as much as its critical and audience reception would indicate. Still, it's pretty much what you'd expect - Rambo tries again to live a peaceful life but the plot comes calling when his niece goes to Mexico in search of her piece of shit dad. She doesn't return and Rambo is in an especially salty mood this time around. The film culminates in a version of Home Alone so violent it would make Paul Verhoeven cream in his pants.
It’s very basic and straightforward, but I guess I enjoyed it for that. It’s not trying to be anything more than an entertaining and violent Rambo film. I do wish the pacing and placement of the action was better though. It all happens in a 10-minute climax, which made the movie feel a bit rushed.
I didn't think it was very good, but not very good is pretty much par the course for this series which started as an introspective drama about a traumatized war vet and instantly became schlock with the very first sequel.
Nothing to really get upset about here (granted, I knew it was a Taken knockoff going in), although the gore was a step down from Rambo 08. Remember that 50 cal scene? Fuck yeah, bro. Pretty forgettable violence here, except for the hilarious death of the Big Bad.
I actually still haven't seen this Movie yet but from what I understand about the plans for it before it was even made, I would definitely much rather have what we got with this Movie than see a Rambo Movie in which he would go up against Monsters.
1ST BLOOD is a deep yet repetitive and overlong character study with a rushed ending. Richard Crenna's performance is too over-the-top. As for Sylvester Stallone... Well, he has proven to have talent for drama throughout his career, but his range is limited. He can play characters that don't have that many layers. Compare his crying scenes in this movie and ROCKY (which came out only 6 years before this). The latter was moving; the former almost made me laugh.
6/10
Whoa! Talk about missing the point! RAMBO: 1ST BLOOD PART II puts the character's psychological problems aside in order to deliver a regular action movie. In fact, why the Hell would a soldier with PTSD go back to the exact same place where he was traumatised (voluntarily, at least)?! Was the title character able to overcome his problems? If so, it should've been addressed. After watching the movie, I read that the original script began the story with him in a psychiatric hospital instead of a labor camp prison. Good idea! Sylvester's performance is a little better, because now he's just focused on being tough. Richard was lucky that Charles Napier was cast. His performance is bad and hammy in the exact same way so, whenever their characters argue, it's very funny.
3/10
RAMBO PART III
1/10
RAMBO
3/10
The violence in RAMBO PART V: LAST BLOOD doesn't have the deep implications of the 1st installment nor the ridiculousness of the other sequels. It's just off-putting. There are good supporting performances, but the dialogue is incredibly corny. GABRIELA (the daughter figure of our now-short-haired hero) has been kidnapped during a trip to Mexico. That's reason enough for him to go all Liam Neeson on those criminals' asses, right?
Well, when he arrives, he comes face-to-face with the leaders and he gets beaten up. I guess now he has another reason. At least I give the movie credit for not turning him into an invinceable killing machine. He finds GABRIELA, but she dies soon after. Jesus! What's with the excessive motivation?! The movie spends a good chunk of time on her personal drama only for her to become nothing more than an object that the hero can avenge?! After the title character declares a war, the criminals go find him where he lives. You'd think that after it becomes clear that he has set traps everywhere, someone would yell "Retreat!" Nope. 2 of them fall on top a several spikes. It's clear that they die instantly, but RAMBO goes and shoots them repeatedly. Is proving your machismo more important than wasting bullets and revealing your position through noise?
Crenna was great. He had to make the BS of the situations grounded in some kind of reality.
"Men! Goddamnit! Men who fought for their country!"
I thought Rambo 4 was pretty good for what it was but it's over. Time to shut it off.
"Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow." Frankenstein
As a movie, it’s not bad. If it were just a stand alone revenge flick starring Sly. It’s fine.
Complaints:
A) It doesn’t feel like a Rambo movie. B) The plot is too thin and it had potential to be a better film with literally one more re-write and some slight thought/effort. C) I just loved the way part IV ended. He finally comes home from Vietnam. He finally walks to his dads ranch. He’s found peace. I didn’t need another one.