Current Events > It sucks that the Rambo sequels made people forget how good Rambo was *spoilers*

(+) Yeah! (+)

The first Rambo movie is great.

Well acted/shot. An actual story with interesting concepts such as PSTD, returning from Vietnam, forgotten soldiers, what the military industrial complex effectively does to citizens, shattering their mental state etc.

Sure they botched the ending by rewriting the suicide but it's a good film.

Then all the sequels suck and somehow were so bad they warped the public understanding of Rambo to be "Stallone in a bandana shoots 500 people with machine guns in the wildneress while things explode for an hour."

And the writing/characters become so bad with no point or substance.

I actually had to stop part way through Rambo (4) because it was so bad and it's a short movie.

It's a shame.
---

---

I've actually seen each Rambo movie, which is weird, because besides the first one, which was great, I thought that each subsequent movie was terrible.

it was ridiculous how he went from this military vet, who while suffering from PTSD, wanted no trouble from anyone, ended up being some maniacal serial killer.

---

The one from like 10 years ago was a fun and dumb action movie with some good gorey moments but yeah absolutely nothing like the original.

Didn't even bother with the new one.

---

Last Blood was hilarious, though.

He ripped the guys heart out with his bare hands.

---

Darmik posted...

The one from like 10 years ago was a fun and dumb action movie with some good gorey moments but yeah absolutely nothing like the original.

Didn't even bother with the new one.

I actually didn't like the gore in Rambo 4.

Holding a child to the ground with your boot while you brutally shoot them to death in front of their parents is not the kind of thing you put into such a dumb toothless action flick.

Don't get me wrong, I don't mind that level of content. But save it for a movie with substance like Come and See or Schindler's List. Something that has something to say.

Complete lack of humanity side by side with whoosh crikey explosions action fun time doesn't gel.

Star Wars didn't cut to scenes of the Stormtroopers raping children and torturing women in front of their husbands
---

I was surprised how good the first movie aged.

---

Yeah the sequels are really tone deaf.

First Blood is a somber and dark film. Anything but glorifying war and militaristic bravado.

The rest?

Glorify war and militaristic bravado.

Just such a weird series.

---

The 80s went through weird genre shifts in sequels which were often successful for the first time, but never seemed to recover afterwards. Rambo and Alien are some of the biggest offenders when it comes to that.

Imagine if the series continued to evolve with audience trends. Rambo/Aliens in a goofy super hero type movie style would have been both horrifying and interesting.

---

UnfairRepresent posted...

I actually didn't like the gore in Rambo 4.

Holding a child to the ground with your boot while you brutally shoot them to death in front of their parents is not the kind of thing you put into such a dumb toothless action flick.

Don't get me wrong, I don't mind that level of content. But save it for a movie with substance like Come and See or Schindler's List. Something that has something to say.

Complete lack of humanity side by side with whoosh crikey explosions action fun time doesn't gel.

Star Wars didn't cut to scenes of the Stormtroopers raping children and torturing women in front of their husbands

You're probably right. I just remember the throat ripping scene and the gun turret scene near the end lol

Jiek_Fafn posted...

The 80s went through weird genre shifts in sequels which were often successful for the first time, but never seemed to recover afterwards. Rambo and Alien are some of the biggest offenders when it comes to that.

Imagine if the series either continued to evolve with audience trends. Rambo/Aliens in a goofy super hero type movie style would have been both horrifying and interesting.

Most people seem to forget these days when they're arguing if the new Star Wars is the worst movie ever but the majority of sequels before the 2000s were complete and utter garbage. Most were just cash-ins made by different people. Hell it wasn't even that long ago Disney would pump out Direct to Video sequels to majorly successful movies for some reason.

---

Rambo 2008 was pretty good though

---

Rambo and Rambo 2 are contradictory films. Both are great in their own way, but the first film is about how war dehumanizes and turns men into killers whereas the second film is about how America could take Vietnam and Russia at the same time with one hand tied behind her back. U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!

Honestly, I think the catchy name, Rambo, is the only reason why the second movie is a sequel and not its own thing.

---

FortuneCookie posted...

Rambo and Rambo 2 are contradictory films. Both are great in their own way, but the first film is about how war dehumanizes and turns men into killers whereas the second film is about how America could take Vietnam and Russia at the same time with one hand tied behind her back. U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!

Honestly, I think the catchy name, Rambo, is the only reason why the second movie is a sequel and not its own thing.

First movie was good, then like you say, the sequel contradicts it's meaning, but it also turns super rascist with him killing "evil" asians in a country that was oppressed by white people! I thought the last one would be a little more woke but no, he's just killing Mexicans.

---

I wish First Blood ended with him killing the sheriff and then flying away on the chopper like the colonel was talking about. That's it. Left wondering what happens but no need for any sequels.

---

People forget the first Rocky won best picture the year it came out, by the time Rocky had a robot butler and was fighting communism it was all a joke. Sly went for the $, and I don't blame him one bit.

bknight posted...

People forget the first Rocky won best picture the year it came out, by the time Rocky had a robot butler and was fighting communism it was all a joke. Sly went for the $, and I don't blame him one bit.

To be fair as much as I liked Rocky 2, it also completely undermined the point of the first movie

But at least it was good
---

Rambo 2008 was a good movie for what it was.

UnfairRepresent posted...

I actually didn't like the gore in Rambo 4.

Holding a child to the ground with your boot while you brutally shoot them to death in front of their parents is not the kind of thing you put into such a dumb toothless action flick.

Don't get me wrong, I don't mind that level of content. But save it for a movie with substance like Come and See or Schindler's List. Something that has something to say.

Complete lack of humanity side by side with whoosh crikey explosions action fun time doesn't gel.

Star Wars didn't cut to scenes of the Stormtroopers raping children and torturing women in front of their husbands

Stallone talked about this in the commentary for that film. He felt that because he was doing a movie about a real life civil war (Burmese civil war), that he felt he had to make it as horrifically true to life as possible, and to do anything other than show the sheer barbarity of the government forces would be doing a disservice to the people who had died in such a way at their hands.

---

Also, don't forget Rambo III's "this film is dedicated to the brave Mujahideen fighters of Afghanistan" original dedication at the end, which is most certainly NOT in the current releases and broadcasts of the film.

---

ScazarMeltex posted...

Stallone talked about this in the commentary for that film. He felt that because he was doing a movie about a real life civil war (Burmese civil war), that he felt he had to make it as horrifically true to life as possible, and to do anything other than show the sheer barbarity of the government forces would be doing a disservice to the people who had died in such a way at their hands.

And that's the thing that bothered me about the film too. It was as realistic as something like Saving Private Ryan, but it was still the one man killing machine John Rambo (which the movie also has his highest kill-count).

Going for the 80s style action hero for a movie that is supposed to be showing true horrors of war came off as more tone-deaf than Rambo 2 and 3 imo.

---

Parasite_Eve posted...

that looks hilarious, I found it on YouTube, but my phone suddenly doesnt want to play videos.

---

Hayame Zero posted...

And that's the thing that bothered me about the film too. It was as realistic as something like Saving Private Ryan, but it was still the one man killing machine John Rambo (which the movie also has his highest kill-count).

Going for the 80s style action hero for a movie that is supposed to be showing true horrors of war came off as more tone-deaf than Rambo 2 and 3 imo.

Yeah, I appreciate that he felt the importance to tell the story of what was happening to the rebels, the inhumanity and brutality of that conflict, but if you are going to tell that part of the story then you have to have the entire film grounded in that reality.

---

Also to be fair, Rocky 2 and its sequels kind of missed the point of what Rocky 1 was about as well. Also like how Robocop 1 was a parody of capitalism.... only for it to embrace it with its sequels. So yeah I think it was kind of an 80's thing to miss the point because something sells well.

---

Hayame Zero posted...

Also, don't forget Rambo III's "this film is dedicated to the brave Mujahideen fighters of Afghanistan" original dedication at the end, which is most certainly NOT in the current releases and broadcasts of the film.

All I remember about that movie is the dead goat game, and a Rambo taking out the helicopter pilot with an explosive arrow.

---

au_gold posted...

Last Blood was hilarious, though.

He ripped the guys heart out with his bare hands.

Just saw that on YouTube lol

---

ScazarMeltex posted...

Stallone talked about this in the commentary for that film. He felt that because he was doing a movie about a real life civil war (Burmese civil war), that he felt he had to make it as horrifically true to life as possible, and to do anything other than show the sheer barbarity of the government forces would be doing a disservice to the people who had died in such a way at their hands.

Except the entire rest of the movie DOES do a disservice to those victims
---

Have people really forgotten? Most people I've seen discussing the movies dismiss all but the first (for good reason).
---

Rambo 3 is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me (I know the ending script hasn't aged well) - maybe because it was the first one I saw, and I was 13 (I know!). When I watched it later I found John Rambo's character arc of finding something to believe in more engaging