Rated R for strong graphic bloody violence, sexual assaults, grisly images and language.
Directed by Sylvester Stallone (Rocky II, III, IV & VI)
Starring Sylvester Stallone, Julie Benz, Paul Schulze, Matthew Marsden, Graham McTavish, Rey Gallegos, Tim Kang, Jake LaBotz, Maung Maung Khin, Ken Howard
I know it may not be the most popular thing to say, but I really enjoy action movies. Unfortunately there is very little to enjoy about Rambo, whose violence is so gratuitous and graphic it shocked even me.
Twenty-six years after the world was first introduced to Rambo (Sylvester Stallone), the former Green Beret has retreated to northern Thailand. Its here we find him running a longboat on the Salween River, near the Thai-Burma border, that is home to the world's longest-running civil war. Rambo has stayed out of the fighting, choosing instead the solitary life of fishing and catching poisonous snakes. That all changes when a group of missionaries hire Rambo to guide them down the river so they can deliver medical supplies and food to the Karen tribe. When the missionaries don’t return, Pastor Arthur Marsh (Ken Howard) hires Rambo to help locate them.
I'm fairly certain when it comes to Rambo, you know what you are getting. The trailer shows Sly killing one helpless victim after another while the soundtrack delivers a beating from the band Drowning Pool, belting out the words “let the bodies hit the floor” repeatedly. And trust me, the trailer didn't lie. In the actual film there are plenty of bodies hitting the floor, the mountain, the trucks and pretty much anything else they could find.
There’s nothing new or original about the film although I was surprised they chose missionaries and a pastor to be part of the story line and portrayed them in a decent light.
No Oscar consideration here…just 2 hours of mind numbing violence. If you are asking me, skip it!
SHOULD KIDS SEE IT?
No Way!! The violence is graphic and non-stop and the F-word is used over 25 times and several other profanities. Here is a very brief description of the violence:
During an attack, men fire mortars into a village, several explosions send people flying through the air and one man explodes in a shower of blood and body parts; a man's leg is torn off by gunfire (we see the severed limb and blood sprays out), a man throws a child into a flaming building, and a man fires a flamethrower at several people (one man is shown on fire, and screaming in agony) and it goes on and on and on…
Side Note:
As said above, we don’t recommend your kids see this film. But on the occasion that they actually have already seen it, you may want to dialogue about the film with them. These questions below may be a help to you.
Conversation Starter
Three Simple Questions (with Answers You May Be Looking for):
- What are some of the messages or themes you observed in this movie?
- How do you suppose we—as serious Christ-followers—should react to this movie?
- How can we move from healthy, Bible-based opinions about this movie to actually living out those opinions?
