I guess I'm more with the critics on this one. I didn't care much for this movie because I thought it was mostly pointless. It's just the same old stuff of Rambo arriving and killing everybody. It's not even until the last part that you even see Rambo wipe out a bunch of people. I'm annoyed by the clichés in this movie. You see someone trying to get help from Rambo and he says he can't make a big difference or something like that. There's this odd scene where we see a bunch of flashbacks that looks like trailer fodder that shouldn't be in a movie.There were rumors of a fourth Rambo movie made where he would fight Osama bin Laden. This is that fourth movie but he doesn't partake in the War on Terror. I doubt that if he did, the movie would be any better. It's mostly an excuse to constantly show death and destruction. Now the fight scenes themselves were actually pretty well done. It's just that character development is taken away in case of explosions. It's really no worse than any other big budget action flick. I've now seen every Rambo movie and it's been okay watching them. **

After nearly 20 Rambo-less years (1988-2007), I was a bit skeptical about what to expect from this film. Sylvester Stallone seemed a bit old to be playing the lead role, and the character had been "on the shelf" for so long that his viability in American culture was very much in doubt. Fortunately, though the writers/producers didn't get everything right, they pleasantly surprised me by providing a film that is quite enjoyable and worthy of the Rambo title.For a basic plot summary, this film explores a much darker side of the John Rambo (Stallone) character. Found in the deepest regions of Indo-China, an emotionally lost and severely conflicted Rambo reluctantly agrees safe passage to a group of missionaries bringing supplies to the war-ravaged region of Burma. When the peace mission goes awry and the mercenaries are called in, Rambo feels compelled to once again enter the war zone he has tried for so long to avoid.Really, the only glaring problem with this film is that the plot is very predictable. You know that things will get screwed up somehow and that Rambo will be called in to fix the situation, so some of the Burmese-territory exposition is a little tedious. If you can get past this, though, it truly is an entertaining film.The aspect that stands out the most is the brutalness of the entire picture. What the film loses in predictability it makes up for with some brutal scenes that will really make you despise the Burmese war force. The slaughter of women, children, animals, and the complete burning of villages are shown with no detail spared. Plus, it isn't as if the brutality is just being played for bloody special effects, either. Stallone did his research this time and tried to replicate the shock value of civil warfare/genocide, and the result are some very shocking scenes.What really sets this movie apart, though, is its focus on the John Rambo character. Whereas parts II & III of the series were just shoot-em-ups, this installment actually tries (like the original) to delve into what makes Rambo tick. In fact, a lot more time (the film is only 91 minutes long) could have been devoted to the inner-workings of the Vietnam Vet and it wouldn't have been boring.Thus, if you are at all skeptical about coming back to the Rambo franchise after such a long layoff, please dispel those notions and see this movie. It is easily the best effort in the franchise since the original First Blood.

Well holly hell Rambo is back with a vengeance here. Probably one of the most violent films I've seen but I will say once the audience got over the initial shock at the type of visceral, brutal and gratuitous violence we were witnessing we started cheering with each blood spraying kill. It was entertaining in a grisly sort of way.I've been a lifelong fan of the Rambo franchise and this fourth instalment is excellent, granted a very different type of film then the originals. It's a bit light in the plot department but set in a backdrop of real life atrocities in Burma. We join Rambo 20 years after his little Afghanistan extraction, John is living the quiet life in a rural village in Northern Thailand, he has given up fighting, found a shirt and now spends his days capturing snakes for local entertainers, and chauffeuring locals in his old PT boat.He's also gotten pretty bitter with age, world weary and tired so that when a group of Christian missionaries ask for his help in reaching their aid camp in war torn Burma he refuses, his response at one point being "fu** the world". After pretty blonde Sarah Miller tries again to get his help (this time giving him a necklace -seems that's all the girls have to do to get his attention) he finally agrees to ferry them upriver.Some time later the mission is attacked, the do-gooders taken hostage and Rambo is now asked to transport a group of mercenaries, on a rescue mission and that's when hell rains down. The violence from this point on is brutal and gratuitous, with video game style killings, bodies blown apart, blood spraying the camera, tons of explosions. After that savage attack on the village you don't have much remorse though.The closing scene is just perfect...the long road home. 1/5/16

With a gap of 20 years between "Rambo III" from 1988 and "Rambo" from 2008, then expectations were quite high for me towards this movie. And having grown up as a teenager with the likes of the "Rambo" trilogy, then the 2008 "Rambo" movie was long awaited.And now having seen "Rambo" a couple of times, I can with all sincerity claim that this 2008 movie was great. It is a good addition to the "Rambo" franchise, and it is right back in track and in tune with the old movies, although a hint of political correctness can be seen throughout the movie. But wanting to add a new layer to the "Rambo" movies, was an okay change of pace for director Sylvester Stallone (also starring in this 2008 movie).In this 2008 movie the story takes place in war-torn Burma. Vietnam veteran John Rambo is living a reclusive life in Thailand, away from his past and the life of a soldier. But trouble always has a way to slither back, and manages to do so again when Rambo is tracked down and asked to help a group of mercenaries trek into Burma.The story in "Rambo" was good, as it has been in the previous movies. But it is not the story which is the main attraction here, it is the abundance of action, of course. And "Rambo" offers more than enough action to satisfy us old fans of the franchise, as well as catering to a whole new audience.The acting in "Rambo" is what you would and could expect from a movie of this type. You know exactly what you get here, and people do not disappoint. Sylvester Stallone does what he does best here in this 2008 movie, and he proved that he was more than up for the task of bringing new life to the "Rambo" franchise."Rambo" was missing Col. Samuel Trautman (played by Richard Crenna in the previous three movies). But given his death in 2003, it was of course not possible. I just think that the Trautman character was almost as much a part of the "Rambo" franchise as John Rambo himself. But of course, it is a matter of personal preference.I thoroughly enjoyed this 2008 movie, and it is right at home next to the other "Rambo" movies in any movie collection.