John's Movie Musings

Yes, here's another 80's series I didn't see as a kid. Too much Neverending Story and Short Circuit, obviously. I watched the original Rambo - excuse me, First Blood, a few months ago and I didn't particularly care for it. So why watch II and III? Well, Stallone made a new Rambo a few months ago and I wanted to see what he did with it. You may know that he did the same with Rocky Balboa, a movie I really enjoyed. To get the most out of the latest Rambo, I thought I better catch up on the series.

What can you say about the Rambo movies? I firmly believe that we will never see another character like this in our lifetimes. The action hero is dead. Think about it. What would today's studio execs say about a script where the hero escapes from prison, releases the prisoners, and steals his own rescue helicopter - without help from anyone. I imagine this stuffy guy in a suit scratching his chin after reading, only to ask the writer, "Can we make him gay?"

Is it good for the action hero to be dead? I don't think so. Afterall, we've got Die Hard 4 and Rambo 4 coming into these modern times. There's even another Terminator coming out. So Stallone, Willis, and Schwarzenegger all agree with me.

Maybe it's just the lack of action stars today. Let's go hypothetical... Hollywood is big into "revisioning" old series. Pretend the last Rambo didn't get made and now a new director wants to remake First Blood. Who would star? The only guy I can think might possibly pull it off is Gerard Butler of 300. Got anyone better?

Anyway, I'll spout off more about this after I watch Rambo (the last one). As for Rambo: First Blood, Part II and Rambo III, they're classics. Go find yourself some Pop Rocks and Coke and watch both in the same night.

Grades: B