Movie Review | 'Rambo' silly but entertaining, leaves nothing to imagination

By: Jason Deuterman

Posted: 2/6/08

AggieLife reviewers Jason Deuterman and Stephanie Rancier spare Aggies from cinematic disasters and steer them toward cinematic greatness. Up for review: "Rambo" and "Over Her Dead Body."

For glory's sake, his name will be remembered. Pioneering the action genre and exploring the realm of grotesque and vivid violence, Rambo is the hero who, like the tagline of the film states, never dies but just reloads. In his most recent installment of a cult classic, writer, director and star of the film Sylvester Stallone continues his tradition of the bad-guy bloodbath in "Rambo."

With the film's inception, Vietnam veteran John Rambo (Stallone) seems to have repressed his insatiable thirst for blood only to become a snake farmer in the jungles of Thailand. As with any gallant conqueror who wishes only to live out his remaining days in peace, the inevitable self-realization of his role as the epic hero eventually occurs as a reluctant Rambo piles some missionaries onto his barge, only to deliver them in to a hellish doom.

Leaving nothing to the imagination, Stallone makes it quite clear that his only priority is to illustrate, in the most graphic yet superfluous manner, the obliteration of human life. Cinematographically, the film's aesthetics are brilliantly framed to provide a cringing view into the gore of a modern-day battle sequence. Thus, as the missionaries are captured by the Burmese military and Rambo is forced by conscience to join a group of former S.A.S mercenaries to rescue the group, one sits back as throats are ripped out and limbs hurled through the air.

The only problem - it's too much. Certain scene sequences leave one wanting to jump out of the seat clapping vigorously and screaming obscenities, but more often than not, the inclination is to laugh. Not because it's funny to watch as legs are blown off by .50-caliber rounds, but because it's the only alternative to shielding one's eyes in disgust. Rambo is a character whose life was spent dedicated to the art of taking human life and it remains apparent that Stallone is no different - he is dedicated to the art of taking our precious time in an ill-chosen movie.