Trailer Tuesday: Rambo
Coming 25 January 2008, believe it or not, is the 4th Rambo movie. Yes, following in the steps of John McClane, Rocky Balboa, the Terminator and Indiana Jones (also returning next year), yet another 80s action icon is making a comeback 2 decades later.
Now I bought Rocky Balboa's comeback quite happily... I've always prefered that character to Rambo. So perhaps I'm being a tad critical when I say that Sylvester Stallone's look in the new Rambo trailer kind of disturbs me. He seems to have developed a weird combination of an overly hulking body and bloated, sagging face... When you recall what Rambo used to look like, it's something of let down.
Of course this change is obviously age related (ol' Sly is 61), but sometimes I do wonder if it's better not to leave things in their prime instead of pandering to geeky film audiences while simultaneously trying to reclaim glory years - soiling memories and losing all credibility in the process. Could a bulky senior citizen really lumber around the jungle, stalking his prey without being detected?
But such is the ego of actor-directors I suppose... Or it could be that whole "Rage, rage against the dying of the light" thing.
This said, while Stallone's Rambo may no longer have the body of a lean, mean, killing machine, he certainly seems to retain his killing machine focus. The trailer suggests that the new Rambo film is going to be a complete throwback to brutal 80's actioners, like Commando. In this case we have retired soldier Rambo ditching his new career as a cobra breeder to rescue aid workers captured by rebels in the Burmese jungle. And that means audiences can expect a hefty helping of vengeance, dished out with knives, machetes, bows, explosives and mounted machine guns.
And, honestly, if they can pull that off, elbowing aside political correctness and refusing to pander to a PG-13 audience, well, I may just have time for John Rambo's return.
Now I bought Rocky Balboa's comeback quite happily... I've always prefered that character to Rambo. So perhaps I'm being a tad critical when I say that Sylvester Stallone's look in the new Rambo trailer kind of disturbs me. He seems to have developed a weird combination of an overly hulking body and bloated, sagging face... When you recall what Rambo used to look like, it's something of let down.
Of course this change is obviously age related (ol' Sly is 61), but sometimes I do wonder if it's better not to leave things in their prime instead of pandering to geeky film audiences while simultaneously trying to reclaim glory years - soiling memories and losing all credibility in the process. Could a bulky senior citizen really lumber around the jungle, stalking his prey without being detected?
But such is the ego of actor-directors I suppose... Or it could be that whole "Rage, rage against the dying of the light" thing.
This said, while Stallone's Rambo may no longer have the body of a lean, mean, killing machine, he certainly seems to retain his killing machine focus. The trailer suggests that the new Rambo film is going to be a complete throwback to brutal 80's actioners, like Commando. In this case we have retired soldier Rambo ditching his new career as a cobra breeder to rescue aid workers captured by rebels in the Burmese jungle. And that means audiences can expect a hefty helping of vengeance, dished out with knives, machetes, bows, explosives and mounted machine guns.
And, honestly, if they can pull that off, elbowing aside political correctness and refusing to pander to a PG-13 audience, well, I may just have time for John Rambo's return.
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