Rambo [Blu-ray] [2008] (Blu-ray)

A Triumphant Return The name Rambo is synonymous with violence. So with Rambo 4, John Rambo or whatever you want to call it. They were determined to make this the most violent Rambo to date. Taking the setting to Burma to give the mainstream audience a view on how violent parts of Burma are, Rambo is revived in a triumphant massacre. This time, he's not alone. After being approached by a group of Christian Aid Workers, Rambo takes them up the river and into Burma. He starts to fall for one of the aid workers by the name of Sarah (Julie Benz) but they are both two very different people. Whilst on their aid trip in a small village, the village is attacked by the armed militia and the aid workers are kidnapped along with Sarah. Rambo, having left the workers behind, is approached 10 days later to help track down the workers. This time he has help from a group of mercenaries which will help him save Sarah, and take down the evil regime. This is a really good movie that, when involving the violence is no holds barred graphic wise. I can't help but think we've been lied to somehow as Sly has said in numerous interviews that he didn't use any CGI for this movie. This appears to be untrue as there's one part of the movie that we see a considerably large explosion that seems very much computer generated. Sly seems to be wanting to bring back the old glory days of the first rocky movies and the first Rambo's. With the success of Rocky Balboa and now with the success of Rambo 4, it's clear that Sly still has what it takes to give us a really good film. The only really bad point is the length at just over an hour and 10 minutes. Buy it, you wont be disappointed.

Warning I bought this then remembered I don't have a blu-ray player. If you make the same mistake as me don't bother sending it back. I smeared it in peanut butter and threw it just to amuse myself. It was one of the best times of my life.

better than i thought i bought this film on blu ray a couple of days a go and i thought it might be quite good. when me and my mate watched it we coulld not believe how violent it was. peoples arms, legs and heads were shot off and one man gets his neck ripped out. overall i would recommend it.

Live for nothing, or die for something! Ex super soldier John Rambo (Stallone) is enjoying a peaceful life on the Thai-Burmese border, fishing and catching snakes for a living. When a pretty blonde US Christian relief worker (Julie Benz) begs Rambo for a boat ride upriver into Burma for her optimistic band of peace lovers, he reluctantly accepts. Inevitably, things go wrong and the group are captured by Burmese militia. Rambo is again asked to head upriver, this time to escort mercenaries into the war zone to hunt for the missing party and luckily for them, the ageing hero still has his bow and arrows. After reading less than favourable reviews about the fourth installment in the Rambo series, I almost didn't go and see it but I relented....this IS 80's action hero Rambo after all. Although I can see the critic's points about poor dialogue and cardboard characters, this is still an enjoyable film for any fan of First Blood. Stallone doesn't have much to say at all. He barely features in the first half and says very little when he does. Col. Trautman is briefly shoehorned into the story during a dream sequence but aside from that we learn very little else about what Rambo has been up to since his trip to Afghanistan in Rambo III. The Burmese soldiers are generic baddies with zero character development or any explanation as to why they are raping and murdering innocent villagers or why they take the aid workers captive. In one of the featurettes, Stallone says he hasn't resurrected Rambo sooner because there wasn't a conflict anywhere that he felt suitable as the backdrop to another film. The situation in Burma was something Stallone wanted to bring to the attention of the world but the story behind the genocide isn't clear. Stallone goes for shock value instead, with extremely graphic violence which could be looked at in different ways. Yes, children are stabbed and burned to death so the reality of the situation is probably accurate (the production team interviewed Karen refugees to get authentic stories) but on the other hand, the violence is also used to justify Rambo's violence. The Burmese militia are merely a means for Rambo to give in to his killer instinct. The whole thing is pretty two dimensional, but when Rambo does eventually come to the rescue, any fans of the original will be jumping out of their seats and punching the air. What Rambo lacks in script and character it makes up for with straight up man-action. Some may argue that the film is gratuitous violence and it probably is. I suspect that Stallone truly did want to raise awareness of the ongoing atrocities but the message of the film seems to be 'don't get involved in other peoples problems unless you are prepared to kill lots of people.' That said, I did enjoy Rambo as an action film and it was good to see Stallone putting on his headband again. Here's to Cliffhanger 2! Just kidding.... Like this? Try: First Blood

Now THATS what we hoped for! Rambo delivers in spades. Stallone has taken the character forward - he's darker, more disturbed than ever before but still steps up and delivers the vengeance just as we hoped. The film also centres around the real tragedy of a 60 year war in a part of the world the rest of us had forgotten. People involved with the film took personal risks to bring the story out and should be commended for that. In Burma, you can go to prison for owning a copy of this - so I think we should all buy 2 to make up for it! ;)