Rambo

The hardest action movie of all time delivers incredible brutality, presenting the legendary hero as we have never seen him before: full of sadness, anger, and resignation, only a woman will put him back on his feet and show what he is made of. Stallone knew exactly what to shoot and how to shoot it. The plot is simple, dynamic, and more than enough. The action is balls to the wall, and the fact that they highlight these killings as a result of the war-torn Burma only helps the cause. A film that is unbeatable for fans and a must-see. A success on all fronts for Stallone and confirmation that he is far from finished. And when he stands in a jeep behind an anti-aircraft machine gun, feeding it with fist-sized bullets and firing a salvo, you realise you have never seen anything like it before. So far, the best film of the year. (2008-02-22)

Sylvester Stallone is a special case. He started as an actor in a pornographic film and the professional critique expresses itself about him in the style of "master of monosyllabic sentences" or "master of one expression," but Stallone doesn't mind at all, and neither do his fans. For his work in front of the camera, which I wouldn't call acting, he has received an incredible amount of Golden Raspberries for worst acting performances. He has won it ten times and has been nominated thirty times. Among other things, I think he won one for Rambo 2. He is an honorable holder of the title of Worst Actor of the Century. Even the first Rambo movie is rough in terms of his acting performance, but it was compensated by a relatively decent screenplay that dealt with the post-war syndrome, and several character actors were involved. This Rambo has none of that; it's unnecessary to talk about the screenplay. The acting performances are practically non-existent, and the whole film can be reduced to an endless series of fight scenes in the most fairy-tale-like spirit of action movies. I didn't enjoy this kind of fairy-tale story for adults even when I was fifteen. It lacks even the slightest satire or realism. It's just a celebration of killing. It has relatively decent camera work and editing, so I'll give it one star for that. Overall impression: 15%. This kind of film is interesting more from a sociological point of view. People go to see it for the same reason that viewers once flocked to gladiator matches or why professional boxing or wrestling matches are so popular. It's not worth pondering why such productions have such high ratings and effortlessly defeat Oscar-winning films; it's more proof that any rankings are purely indicative, and one must continuously engage their brain. (2008-03-10)

The renowned humanist John Rambo is back with everything that made him famous in his glory days. There are more wrinkles and Rambo is no longer a handsome and brutal killer, but just a brutal killer, yet at the same time everything is compensated by a huge effort to prove that even at the blessed age of 60 a man can be an untouchable action icon. I don't know about you, but for me the 80 minutes full of brisk action, blood and flying limbs, in which the first ten minutes are spent talking and the rest uncompromisingly destroying "unfortunate" enemies, was proof enough. Sly rulez!! (2012-08-14)

A bloody band aid on the helplessness, suffocated hatred and frustration one experiences when watching more and more haunting scenes of genocide. Sly knows the artery of the action genre well and knows that when a person cuts into the right place, then the spilled blood and the lively flying intestines can have a strong therapeutic effect. All the more so because their authorship is the work of a man for whom war was the only known home. I appreciate how little Rambo bets on nostalgia – such conceived action in the 1980s would stand up only in the dream of a mad butcher – how little excess psychology we find in the film, and how few moral questions we can find. It's as bloody as the Old Testament, ethically, of course, completely crazy, yet cleansing and literally pressurized by the most idiotic and most seductive heroic romanticism. Rambo looking down on the battlefield (and his out-of-war defeat) is one of the best images of the series. The series went through some correctness to mature into a delicate meat cut, which is best described by John's "fuck the world". It's all about feeling, and mine was very euphoric watching Rambo. It's completely idiotic at its core, but it's not really about the core. (2010-08-09)

Rambo went back to his roots, literally. I mean that in the sense that Rambo is no longer just a hero who mows everyone down, but once again, he is someone haunted by his past. He is also pursued by people who want to take a trip down the river to Burma. Burma is a war zone, Rambo knows this, but there are still those who ignore his advice. The crew of those who want to help without weapons does not fare well; the soldiers who transport them later remind him of what he truly lives for. It’s realistic, gritty, and excellent. I'm quite curious if there really will be a fifth movie where this legend could end. (2013-12-01)