You can see a major problem the producers of the RAMBO franchise have . RAMBO 3 was made in 1988 and since then the world has changed beyond recognition . Communism has collapsed . All the countries in South America are democracies as is much of Asia . Saddam was overthrown in Iraq by the coalition as was the Taliban in Afghanistan whilst Ghaddfi was friendly to the West before he was overthrown and Lebanon has been at peace for many years . That doesn't leave too many bad people for John Rambo to exterminate and that's a problem . Perhaps the producers could have done a story set in Columbia where a bunch of narco terrorists have captured some CIA types while the subtext of " Just say no " is bludgeoned in to the audience ? For some reason the producers never thought of this and decided to set the movie in a real world context
The mistake the film makes is obvious in the opening scene where we're shown graphic newsreel of atrocities committed by state forces in Myanmar aka Burma . Are these atrocities real ? Certainly ? Is the violence one sided ? well that's the problem . Being very much a closed state the conflict in Burma isn't something I have a great deal of knowledge of and just because it isn't reported doesn't mean it's not happening . Stop to consider the reportage in the Middle East - Israel builds Jewish settlements on the West Bank thereby breaking international law which is a leading headline on world news while the Syrian regime of Assad drops cluster bombs on a town killing a dozen civilians and it's a very brief news item . Length of item and number of features on the news doesn't equate the real tragedy of a situation . I actually had to consult the wikipedia to find out about the conflict in Burma , a country that is in fact finding tourism a growing industry . Nevertheless it seems wrong that a political situation like this is used for an excuse of exploitation cinema
And make no mistake RAMBO is exploitation at its most graphic and brutal . Not only is it the most violent of the movies in the franchise it's also one of the most brutally graphic films a major studio has released . It's not enough to see someone die from a bullet wound director Sylvester Stallone must show someone's head exploding in to a million pieces . When someone gets blown up they must literally get torn limb from limb . This extends to the characters . Is it enough to show Burmese soldiers murdering innocent civilians ? Of course not - they're shown as gang rapists and being the officer in charge being a rapist is not enough he must be shown as a paedophile . Even the mercenary anti-heroes are a combination of black and white with the older mouthy Brit only interested in self preservation and money juxtaposed by the younger idealistic brave Brit. To call them cyphers would be too much of a compliment
This hurts the film greatly because the action scenes work very well - if it was 87 minutes of totally blood thirsty mindless fun which is what the film is . However you always aware of the fact you're watching a movie set in a real country and you're also aware it's trying to preach a messege that the military regime of Burma is not very nice . I've no doubt that isn't very nice but it's the same for a few places on Earth . Do the Ksshmiris like being occupied by India ? Do the Tibetans like being occupied by China ? No they don't as I've seen in my travels across the world . But RAMBO should at best be viewed for what it really is - entertaining rubbish and not a fly on the wall documentary featuring areal life political on going conflict
The mistake the film makes is obvious in the opening scene where we're shown graphic newsreel of atrocities committed by state forces in Myanmar aka Burma . Are these atrocities real ? Certainly ? Is the violence one sided ? well that's the problem . Being very much a closed state the conflict in Burma isn't something I have a great deal of knowledge of and just because it isn't reported doesn't mean it's not happening . Stop to consider the reportage in the Middle East - Israel builds Jewish settlements on the West Bank thereby breaking international law which is a leading headline on world news while the Syrian regime of Assad drops cluster bombs on a town killing a dozen civilians and it's a very brief news item . Length of item and number of features on the news doesn't equate the real tragedy of a situation . I actually had to consult the wikipedia to find out about the conflict in Burma , a country that is in fact finding tourism a growing industry . Nevertheless it seems wrong that a political situation like this is used for an excuse of exploitation cinema
And make no mistake RAMBO is exploitation at its most graphic and brutal . Not only is it the most violent of the movies in the franchise it's also one of the most brutally graphic films a major studio has released . It's not enough to see someone die from a bullet wound director Sylvester Stallone must show someone's head exploding in to a million pieces . When someone gets blown up they must literally get torn limb from limb . This extends to the characters . Is it enough to show Burmese soldiers murdering innocent civilians ? Of course not - they're shown as gang rapists and being the officer in charge being a rapist is not enough he must be shown as a paedophile . Even the mercenary anti-heroes are a combination of black and white with the older mouthy Brit only interested in self preservation and money juxtaposed by the younger idealistic brave Brit. To call them cyphers would be too much of a compliment
This hurts the film greatly because the action scenes work very well - if it was 87 minutes of totally blood thirsty mindless fun which is what the film is . However you always aware of the fact you're watching a movie set in a real country and you're also aware it's trying to preach a messege that the military regime of Burma is not very nice . I've no doubt that isn't very nice but it's the same for a few places on Earth . Do the Ksshmiris like being occupied by India ? Do the Tibetans like being occupied by China ? No they don't as I've seen in my travels across the world . But RAMBO should at best be viewed for what it really is - entertaining rubbish and not a fly on the wall documentary featuring areal life political on going conflict