2008 Movie Preview
Rambo
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Julie Benz, Matthew Marsden, Graham McTavish
Directed by: Sylvester Stallone
Release date: January 25, 2008
The Plot: It's been 20 years since John Rambo helped the Taliban rise to power (go back and watch Rambo III again). He's been living a solitary life in Burma/Myanmar, working as a river guide in a war-torn hellhole. When a group of American missionaries go missing and are presumed kidnapped by the Burmese military, he dusts off his headband and goes back to war.
The Pros: Bruce Willis successfully revived John McClane, Harrison Ford will again don his Indiana Jones fedora, and Stallone himself didn't completely embarrass his legacy with Rocky Balboa — so why not Rambo?
The Cons: …maybe because a 60-year-old with long black hair and a headband is hilariously awful? Stallone may be misjudging this one. Rocky is timeless, but Rambo is such a product of his time that he's likely to now be seen as more of a joke than an icon.
Cheat Sheet:
- The movie went through a series of working titles and may still change before its ultimate release. Other titles included Rambo IV: End of Peace, Rambo IV: Holy War, Rambo IV: In the Serpent's Eye, and Rambo: To Hell and Back.
- Rumor has it that in the original script, Rambo's trusted mentor Colonel Trautmann was going to appear despite the death of actor Richard Crenna (who played Trautmann in the first three films). James Brolin was rumored to step into the Trautmann role, but it was eventually cut.
- This is the first film in the series to be directed by Sylvester Stallone. First Blood was directed by Ted Kotcheff (North Dallas Forty), Rambo: First Blood Part 2 was directed by George P. Cosmatos (Tombstone), and Rambo III was directed by Peter MacDonald (Mo' Money).
- Stallone will not be toning things down à la Live Free or Die Hard. Rambo is rated R and features gruesome, bloody violence (a teaser trailer released several months ago featured graphic and grisly deaths, including beheadings).
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