2 out of 5

Director: Ted Kotcheff

I, too, thought I would rate this more stars, Netflix rating-prediction-matrix. Oh well. So Im an old man, and Ive seen tons of films, but still havent watched Rambo. UNTIL NOW. And? I dunno. I wasnt expecting this – a Vietnam vet whos hassled to leave town by the local sherrifs, then arrested for really no reason, then roughed up during booking… which causes flashbacks and escape and a jungle rampage. Stallone plays John Rambo, the vet mentioned above, and during the initial scenes, the somber mood of him walking into town, the quiet anger, even the over-reaction to flashbacks of being a POW… I was with it. This wasnt the action I was expecting, but I like Sly, and he was giving the character the depth it needed. But it evolves into a lot of male posturing during the middle, with the sheriff continually upping the ante just to prove himself and Rambo going out of his way to show that he COULD kill these guys but wont. Its interesting on paper, but its shot as an action movie with a Jerry Goldsmith bombastic score, and to me, it unbalances it. This is especially apparent in a last confrontation between Rambo and his Green Beret general (Crenna) whos come to take him home – Sly has a breakdown and babbles about the inconsistencies of being a soldier that sums up everything the movie skipped over. It IS a surprising amount of thought for a movie of this type, but it never fully comes through in that middle portion, making it sort of exploitative. Still, the two stars doesnt do it justice – its more worth watching than Transformers, but perhaps more affecting for those who saw it when it came out.