Before I move onto my other topics as planned, I have a minor diversion that I'd like to go on here regarding over the top action films; I went out and caught a matinée of Rambo.
Perhaps it was the inner 12 year old in me who enjoys watching bullets fly, fire scorch and explosion demolish armored vehicles and huts. Perhaps it was my morbid curiosity over just how on earth Stallone convinced studio executives that we could use another installment to this series. Maybe it was my latent desire to be pretentious and feel intellectually superior to others in the theater who may take this fare seriously. As of now I can't say yes to observations 2 or 3. And may I just say.....this blast from my childhood's past was indeed a modern day blast. Who knew the tired 80's formula of action films could be a breath of fresh air?
While Stallone is now into his 60's he still looks the part of the stoic war machine and lots of that is owed to mega doses of human growth hormone. But hey, why fret? It keeps one of Hollywood's heroes well preserved and ready to battle evil. Would there be a 4th installment of this series had he not taken this stuff?
The film centers on a group of church aid workers from the US who ask Rambo to get them into war torn Burma to help those displaced by the violence. The aid workers are kidnapped and that's where the mayhem starts. There is some vague political message in all of it but, catch it or miss it, and you'll be none the wiser.
This is the bloodiest of all the Rambo films where body parts fly through the air like autumn leaves and blood runs with the force of Niagara Falls. Some may be a bit put off by the brutality of the villains in this film. Toddlers are stabbed with bayonets and thrown into raging fires
where they are torched once more by flame throwers. Factor in some scenes of rape and you really can't wait to see these guys get blown to bits. If that's not enough, the leader of the bad guys is a pedophile. Nasty stuff but hey, they are villains after all and this is the stuff evil men do.The movie is a step up from Rambo II and III with the superhuman aspects of our hero toned down just a tad. He's got the help of mercenaries in this one who are each highly skilled Rambo types themselves. Those of you wanting to see our hero gun down a hundred men while he stands in plain view with no one able to shoot him will be let down a bit by this one. But gun down the bad guys he does in a very intense shoot out in the final moments of the film.
This ain't rocket science, but as far as throw away action films go, this is one of the better ones to come out in a while if you don't mind the gore.
Coming up next on U N L O A D E D....The evil that is Enterprise Rent a Car.
Also.... Match maker, matchmaker. The yentas are after me.
And... Breathe in deeply and die. My coughing has stopped but the cure is worse than the disease. Yep I'm going to attack the pharmaceutical industry...AGAIN!!!
