47 replies to this topic

[Peter T Chattaway]

Link to interview with First Blood director Ted Kotcheff in the thread for The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz.

[utzworld]

Y'all are just now hearing about this? This one's been on the books for a couple of years now. It may have been 02-03 when I first heard about this.

[Jason Panella]

I really think First Blood is a good film, and First Blood: Part Two has some, uh, mildly entertaining action sets. But a fourth one? Should I gouge my eyes out now, or wait a bit?

[SZPT]

Maybe Golan and Globus can re-team with Stallone for this one.

[Peter T Chattaway]

What I've always found interesting is how Leonard Maltin gives First Blood (1982) only 1.5 stars, Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) 2 stars, and Rambo III (1988) 2.5 stars -- the less seriously the franchise takes itself, and the more it commits itself to the "Idiot Action Movie" genre, the more Maltin (and/or his assistants) seems to enjoy it.

(Maltin specifically complains that First Blood "Throws all credibility to the winds about the time [Rambo] gets off with only a bad cut after jumping from a mountain into some jagged rocks." And of the second film, he writes: "Never boring but incredibly dumb; if one were to take it seriously, it would also be offensive, as it exploits real-life frustrations of MIA families and Vietnam vets." Whereas of the third film, he writes: "A definite improvement over RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD PART II, this one remains firmly rooted in the genre of Idiot Action Movies..." So the problem is not that Maltin dislikes serious films, but that he dislikes serious films that aren't really serious, whereas he does like not-serious films that remain not-serious -- and he seems to waffle on the middle film because he seems to think it's a not-serious film that might be taking itself seriously.)

(I suppose one might also ask why Maltin doesn't seem to think Rambo III exploits the real-life frustrations of the mujahedin.)

Anyway, to go by this trajectory, the new movie oughtta be worth 3 stars out of 4!

[BethR]

Whoopie! Just it was starting to be safe for ordinary people named "Rambo" to cross international borders without enduring jokey comments by customs inspectors or having their luggage inspected forty times...

[BethR]

Hah! I'd forgotten about that connection. It must be really tough for guys with ordinal names (i.e. C. Rambo IV)

We try not to go any further than "Jr." in our family, but we do have some traditional given names that can be rearranged in a variety of combinations and confuse everyone at family reunions and weddings far into the future.

Now returning you to your regular discussion of rocket launchers and Really Big Knives.

[Peter T Chattaway]

Christian content alert!

[Buckeye Jones]

Oh cool--Rambo learns its okay to shoot first, then forgive!

[Thom Wade]

Shoot first, Pray Later.

[Peter T Chattaway]

IGN.com and Focus on the Family's Citizen Link pass on Stallone's comments about the movie's spiritual content (both stories use the words "rekindles something in him").

Edited by Peter T Chattaway, 29 November 2006 - 07:53 PM.

[Peter T Chattaway]

LatinoReview.com reviews the script, and JoBlo.com describes how some of the characters meet their gory deaths. No reference to anything being "rekindled" here, but maybe they consider THAT a spoiler.

[Peter T Chattaway]

FWIW, the buzz making its way around the 'net now is that Stallone intends to call this movie John Rambo, just as he called his last film Rocky Balboa. I ... am not sure about that. About whether it's a good idea, I mean.

I mean, at least all the Rocky movies had the word "Rocky" in the title, and we all knew that his surname was "Balboa". But the first Rambo movie didn't have the character's name in it at ALL -- it was simply called First Blood -- and there is something about tacking a first name onto a surname that doesn't work so well for me as taking a surname onto a first name (or onto a nickname, whatever "Rocky" was).

Tacking a first name onto a surname is especially kinda iffy if the first name is as generic as "John". "Balboa" is an unusual last name and helps to make "Rocky" sound more grounded and particular. But if Rocky's last name had been Smith, I wouldn't have called that movie Rocky Smith, y'know?

[Peter T Chattaway]

Our first glimpse of the blood-soaked, sure-to-be-R-rated footage. My first thoughts.

[theoddone33]

Our first glimpse of the blood-soaked, sure-to-be-R-rated footage. My first thoughts.

I heard mention that this "trailer" was "rated NC-17", but I didn't see any verification of that on the AICN wall of text accompanying it.

[Peter T Chattaway]

The "trailer" was produced for Cannes and not for American theatres, so I doubt it's been rated at all. In any case, I don't see how the trailer could get a worse rating than the film. (And surely the film is only aiming for an R?)

[MichaelRay]

Just watched "First Blood" over the weekend at my in-laws. It had been years since I'd seen it and I was really surprised at what an homage it was to the Vietnam vets, and how scathing to the civilians who looked at them with disdain. I've been to Burma, not the northern part where the fighting is, but to Rangoon. If nothing else I hope this film raises some awareness of the atrocities being perpetrated by that government in the ongoing civil war with the Karin people. I don't think any American missionaries have been kidnapped, but the horrid acts of genocide are true.

[Peter T Chattaway]

Release date: January 25. That does not exactly bode well, given that January is a movie dumping ground. Rocky VI at least managed to score a Christmas release.

[Peter T Chattaway]

Sylvester Stallone's 'Rambo' crew witnessed Myanmar killing aftermath
Stallone is now editing "John Rambo," which will be released in January, and said he Is trying to strike a balance and grapple with the question, "Are you making a documentary or a 'Rambo' movie?"
Associated Press, October 1