Itās been years since Iāve seen the Rambo films. In fact, I may have never seen them all all the way through. Iāve now watched Rambo I and II in quick succession and they are bizarre. Everything about them is weird. The whole concept is a strange one and itās a big leap from Rambo I to II. In the first one, thereās a little logic to the filmā¦heās returned to America and instead of being a war hero he is shunned. Heās a drifter who gets no respect from the police and suffers from PTSD and he ends up kicking off. Silly, but fair enough. But by the time we get to Rambo II, heās being sent to get American soldiers who are still being kept as POW because the Americans wonāt pay the compensation they owe to the Vietnamese, except heās not meant to rescue them, heās meant to just take photos to keep everyone happy that no soldiers are actually there. I meanā¦what? What sort of fucking story is that? Which idiot thought of that? And which even bigger idiot heard this idea and then backed it? It ends with a rousing song that made me regret ordering the Chinese takeout I had earlier, as they were/are probably in cahoots with the Vietnamese and Russians.
Oh dear. 5th Wave. Was searching for something to watch on the flight here & thought Alien Invasion flick.
But it isnāt, itās a teen flick someone trying to kick off a low budget Hunger Games style franchise.
Could have been a cracker with an Invasion of the Body Snatchers feel but ended up being just shit & cheap.
Avoid like the plague. Polish soap operas are WAY MORE ENTERTAINING
Look, we all know that the Vietnam War, which ended up killing 3.9 million Vietnamese, Cambodians and Laotians, is really about the sacrifices of the 58k US Servicemen and the feelings on those left behind.
So First Blood is about the feelings of John Rambo as heās reinserted into a country that doesnāt want him back.
Rambo II is about a man whose country doesnāt want him back, going back to a country he doesnāt want to go back to, in order to rescue people that country doesnāt want to give back. If thatās confusing, just think of it as a film about the feelings of trapped GIs, and the injustice of them being imprisoned, etc.
Rambo III is Stalloneās assault on the Cold War, the left hook coming from Rocky IV. As we all know, the Berlin Wall fell just three years after Rocky made his āeverything must changeā speech. Rambo III was really the āstickā of those two movies. If people didnāt fall for the ācarrotā of a musclebound shortarse inexplicably felling a Soviet leviathan, theyād get the Rambo version instead.
Rambo IV is hugely violent, surprisingly good, and all the bad guys are Burmese military cunts.
Are you saying that Rambo is based on fact? I was unaware of that and feel foolish now.
It hangs off a historical framework, so to that extent, yeah.
The only thing stopping John Rambo from being perceived as just another US mass killer is his time in the Vietnam War.
Iām not sure quite how many American POWs were still in 'Nam during the height of 80s Vietnam POW films, though.
Well he saved about 6, so probably 6.
Great summary, Pap. Itās Fatherās Day - I reckon I can get away with ignoring the kids and watching back to back Rambos instead.
Well, ive just been reading up on the issue of soldiers left behind and itās very interesting. It seems there has been at least one or two real life Ramboās, but they werenāt very successful and accused of basically just attention seeking.
this is possibly the most interesting quote I could find in my brief search:
Interest in the matter intensified in June 1992 when President of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin told NBC News in an interview that some Americans captured during the Vietnam War may have been transferred from Hanoi to the Soviet Union: āOur archives have shown that it is true, some of them were transferred to the territory of the former U.S.S.R. and were kept in labor camps. We donāt have complete data and can only surmise that some of them may still be alive.ā
This man, Bo Gritz, is like Rambo. But he also seems to be more of a dick than Rambo. He is also, apparently, the person that Hannibal from the A Team is based on.
Watched Southpaw the other night. Good watch! Jake Gyllenhaal is a quality actor so it was always going to be worth a watch. I wonāt spoil it. I imagine most boxing fans will enjoy.
Watched The Interview at the weekend. Hilarious!
You know what youāre going to get with James Franco and Seth Rogen, though for me, Franco really makes it!!
Sing Street is fun movie bout kids+music+paedophiles i would watch it if i was you
Ghostbustersā¦
ā¦ugh, I really didnāt want to have to write this. Mild spoilers ahead I guess.
Mixed feelings. I wanted to go and see the film in the cinema to counter-act all the shit that the makers of this film have caught because I think itās been entirely unfair - the film looked ok from the trailers but I think it became popular just to shit on the film for no reason.
The first 2/3 of the film was enjoyable, funny in places and with a couple of quite good laughs. There were equally some jokes that really died a death, but overall it was pretty pleasant and harmless fun. The final 1/3 of the film is a complete mess.
Far too much CGI, a really confusing and not well explained villain and plot and over the top action which is about as far away from Ghostbusters as you can get - these are meant to be scientists not superheroes!
The original cast all have cameos throughout the film, but I wasnāt satisfied by a single one of them. They all made me cringe in separate ways. Really awful and you can tell that nobody really wanted to be there.
My feeling leaving the cinema was one of sadness really. There was definite potential here but I think this has to go down as a big swing and a miss. Kristen Wiig and Leslie Jones were fine, Chris Hemsworth was very funny but his stupid guy schtick was way overplayed, Melissa McCarthy was only mildly irritating but Kate McKinnon was trying way too hard to be āthe goofy oneā.
I would be interested in a continuation of this universe, but with a different cast and director. The fact that this was a film starring women in the main roles has absolutely no bearing on this, I just think that the brand is tainted now although it can be salvaged by the right people. Give it 3 or 4 years, get together a mixed team of guys and gals to play the Ghostbusters and make sure that the script is 100% before the film even gets greenlit - you can smell the rewrites on this thing from a mile off.
Overall, it wasnāt a complete trainwreck but very disappointing. Whatever credit was built up in the first hour of the film was pissed away really quickly in the last 30 minutes or so which is a massive shame. I think the blame has to go with Paul Feig and the studio who clearly didnāt care that they were putting out an inferior product, but rather just shunted the whole thing onto the world stage when it needed a hell of a lot more work.
5/10 bros
āThe Hunt,ā one of the best films iāve watched recently. Not an easy watch tbh, but the performances are incredible. Thomas Vinterberg, one of the Dogme 95 directors. Jeez he should make more films. Mads Miklesson is great in the lead. He was that bad guy in Casino Royale, Le Schiffre or something. Also played Hannibal Lector in the TV series.
Originally posted by @TedMaul
āThe Hunt,ā one of the best films iāve watched recently. Not an easy watch tbh, but the performances are incredible. Thomas Vinterberg, one of the Dogme 95 directors. Jeez he should make more films. Mads Miklesson is great in the lead. He was that bad guy in Casino Royale, Le Schiffre or something. Also played Hannibal Lector in the TV series.
Fantastic film - really speaks to the sensationalism of modern times. Very human characters, at times it felt more like a documentary than a film to me.
Incredibly affecting film. I could see how it would pan out but just powerless to stop things,
Eddie the Eagle.
Bloody great little film.
Watched Batman v Superman extended edition the other night.
3 hours of my life that I wonāt get back, turgid dross about sums it up.
I like Jesse Eisenberg and I think his Lex Luther was way OTT and probbaly the only bright bit of the film!
2.5 hours to build up to THE fight and for what?