I watched Rambo *grin*
I’m quite horrible when it comes to famous Hollywood films of the past that everyone else seems to have seen - especially the action films (I still haven’t seen the Terminator would you believe :]). So it is with great delight that I announce I have finally watched Rambo ;)
{FILM DIARY}
Rambo: First Blood (USA, 1982)
Seen: 12th December 2008 (DVD - magazine copy)
Runtime: 97′
Director: Ted Kotcheff
Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna, Brian Dennehy
Plot: (from imdb)
A mentally unstable Vietnam war vet, when abused with a small town’s police force, begins a one man war with it.
Trailer
Impressions In Short
I only decided to watch it because I had a copy of it from a magazine lying around - I assumed it would be awful ;) To my surprise it wasn’t half as bad as I expected (not that I particularly want to watch the sequels or anything :]).
Some Details
So, er, I guess my biggest surprise was how current the film is and that it actually was trying to make a point. I rather thought the only purpose of the film would be to show as much gore and macho action as possible ;) So it was nice to find out that it had a little more to offer than I expected. I mean it *is* mainly gore and action ;) But it’s also the story of a veteran soldier, who has been completely mentally destroyed by his experiences in the war - quite current considering the wars of today I think. Sure - the film is a bit cliché, but it still has something to say.
My other big shock was that I actually liked Sylvester Stallone ;) Somehow he has always been the synonym of bad acting for me (despite not watching any of his films in the last 10 years or so during which my taste for actors has most certainly changed ;) ). I will have to find a different actor to abuse now :] I seriously thought he was pretty good in this.
I mean I guess my problem with many action hero type actors has been that they’re too macho (I’m a Shahrukh Khan fan - that says it all, right? ;)). I hate it when it feels like they’re unable to show weakness on screen - for me that’s a major part of the fun of watching actors. The strong and macho moments aren’t nearly as fun if you don’t have the weak and fragile moments in there. And the shock for me was that Stallone was allowing himself to look fragile on screen - I always associated him with not being able to do that lol At the beginning of the film when he gets to know about the death of his friend and then a little bit later when he gets mistreated by the police he really is very fragile (we also get to see his naked butt at this point in the film which I wasn’t quite expecting either :]). He even has a crying scene in the film and it’s not one of those awful scenes where the actor is trying to cover up the fragility by making it more theatrical (that’s what Mel Gibson and Dustin Hoffman do :] maybe I’ll just abuse one of them from now on instead ;) ).
Also, I wasn’t expecting to see any nice cinematography - again it’s not what I associate with 80s action movies and yet there were some very nice shots in there :)
Recommended?
Amazingly enough - yes lol I mean not a very emphatic yes, but still - it’s a classic and it’s not nearly as bad as it sounds ;) Unless maybe you’re one of those people who completely cannot stand violence or something like that.
