Having rode the crest of a celebrity wave that rolled through the seventies, eighties and early nineties, Sylvester Stallone's career began to flag at the turn of the millennium, when age (he was in his late 50s, and new faces such as Vin Diesel and Duane "The Rock" Johnson were beginning to muscle-in on the action scene) and poor choices (D-TOX, the GET CARTER remake, DRIVEN) would force him into a three year sabbatical. However, Stallone took it in his stride and rather than joining the likes of Jean Claude Van Damme and Steven Seagal in "direct to video" hell he bided his time and went back to the character who was responsible for his stratospheric rise to stardom: Rocky. When it was announced that the then-60-year-old Stallone would be returning to the ring for a sixth bout as the Italian Stallion, many believed it to be the actor's last, desperate attempt to claw back the fame that alluded him during the past decade. No one was expecting ROCKY BALBOA—a film that Stallone would also write and direct—to be good and many critics anticipated the film's release, knives at the ready. So it came as something of a surprise when the film released to a fanfare of respectable reviews and very decent box office takings. The aging star had endeared himself by fashioning a poignant narrative that was not only a fitting and dignified concluding chapter to the cinematic life of a well-loved character, but within the film's narrative, managed to reflect his own place in the world at that time, just as he had when he wrote and starred in the original ROCKY as a struggling actor in the mid-seventies. Stallone the underdog had prevailed once more.
Back in the cinema-going public's collective heart and with vast amounts of money in the cash registers, Stallone decided to strike back, while the iron was hot, and revive his second most famous alter-ego: John Rambo. Unlike Rocky, Rambo has never been the most dimensional of characters and it is for this reason why RAMBO (the fourth part of the series, following on from FIRST BLOOD, RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD PART II and RAMBO III; yep, continuity of titles is most definitely absent from this particular franchise) doesn't work on the same level as the aforementioned ROCKY BALBOA. That said, this by no means suggests that RAMBO is not one hell of a good time...
RAMBO picks up twenty years after the events of RAMBO III, with our eponymous hero making a humble living collecting snakes for a performance artist in Thailand, as well as ferrying people up river on his boat. When a group of Christian missionaries approach Rambo and ask him to deliver them across the border into war-torn Burma, Rambo initially declines before his conscience gets the better of him. Leaving them at the border, Rambo heads home but is later approached by the minster from the missionaries' church; the group have been incommunicado for the past ten days and it is feared that they have been abducted by a militia. Rambo agrees to transport a group of mercenaries into Burma and it's not long before he's showing off his archery skills once more...
RAMBO is not in the same sophisticated league as ROCKY BALBOA. Ruling out the radical Right Wing types, the audience doesn't have the same kind of emotional attachment with Rambo as they do Rocky; this probably stems from the fact that the war machine is much more of an enigma than the boxer who wears his heart on his sleeve. There's less of an emphasis on Rambo's age too, whereas the premise of ROCKY BALBOA pivots on whether or not its aging hero can still hold his own. However, RAMBO is a truly exhilarating experience and the film flies through its brisk 90 minute running time with never a dull minute. The film harks back to the "80 body count" school of action filmmaking, the likes of which we haven't seen since the days when Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger were top of their game. RAMBO is unapologetic fun of the highest order and without doubt, the most enjoyable action film to arrive this year.
Sony Pictures has done a tremendous job with the high definition transfer that graces this Blu-ray release. The picture, framed at 2.35:1, is vivid in the extreme, with the unforgiving tight close-ups revealing every blemish and crease of Stallone's face. However, the stylistic aesthetic does lead to something of a mixed bag. While Rambo's introduction in chapter one is a visual treat, with the vivid colours of the Thai countryside looking astonishing, many of the action scenes have been filtered to give a desaturated look. This was obviously an intentional directorial decision, but while these sequences lack the vibrancy of others seen in the film, there's no less detail in the picture. Sound is presented in Dolby Digital TruHD and as one would expect from a contemporary action film, it doesn't disappoint. A great deal of attention has been paid to the sound mix, with the set-pieces commanding exceptional use of the sound field and each of the speakers given a thorough workout. Check out the attack on the village in chapter 6 for an example of just how excellent RAMBO's soundtrack is.
Sony has also assembled a cracking selection of extras, including five featurettes that can be viewed individually or via a "play all" option. When viewed together, every aspect of the film's creation is discussed in a frank and informative manner. Rounding out the package is an incisive video commentary by Stallone. Thankfully there's little in the way of repetition between the commentary and the featurettes, with Stallone waxing lyrical about everything from the project's lengthy gestation to the film's extreme violence. While fans of the series are most definitely in for a good time with the extras included here, there's plenty to entertain the casual viewer too. Stallone is a charismatic and intelligent host, and his enthusiasm for the franchise contagious.
While there are many that seem happy to dismiss RAMBO as gung-ho nonsense of the highest order, there's plenty to enjoy and it's most definitely the strongest of the three sequels. The disc itself is one of the finest examples of what the Blu-ray format has to offer, with many of the film's scenes rich in demo-worthy material. All in all, Sony's disc offers an excellent presentation of an enjoyable film. Recommended.
(Paul Alaoui)
