Rambo (2008)

In Thailand, John Rambo joins a group of mercenaries to venture into war-torn Burma, and rescue a group of Christian aid workers who were kidnapped by the ruthless local infantry unit.

Director:

Sylvester Stallone

Writers:

Art Monterastelli, Sylvester Stallone

Stars:

Sylvester Stallone, Julie Benz, Matthew Marsden

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sylvester Stallone	...	John Rambo
Julie Benz	...	Sarah
Matthew Marsden	...	School Boy
Graham McTavish	...	Lewis
Reynaldo Gallegos	...	Diaz (as Rey Gallegos)
Jake La Botz	...	Reese
Tim Kang	...	En-Joo
Maung Maung Khin	...	Tint
Paul Schulze	...	Michael Burnett
Cameron Pearson	...	Missionary #4 (Jeff)
Thomas Peterson	...	Missionary #2 (Dentist)
Tony Skarberg	...	Missionary #3 (Videographer)
James With	...	Missionary #5 (Preacher) (as James Wearing Smith)
Kasikorn Niyompattana	...	Snake Hunter #2
Shaliew 'Lek' Bamrungbun	...	Snake Hunter #1

Storyline

Vietnam veteran John Rambo has survived many harrowing ordeals in his lifetime and has since withdrawn into a simple and secluded existence in Thailand, where he spends his time capturing snakes for local entertainers, and chauffeuring locals in his old PT boat. Even though he is looking to avoid trouble, trouble has a way of finding him: a group of Christian human rights missionaries, led by Michael Burnett and Sarah Miller, approach Rambo with the desire to rent his boat to travel up the river to Burma. For over fifty years, Burma has been a war zone. The Karen people of the region, who consist of peasants and farmers, have endured brutally oppressive rule from the murderous Burmese military and have been struggling for survival every single day. After some inner contemplation, Rambo accepts the offer and takes Michael, Sarah, and the rest of the missionaries up the river. When the missionaries finally arrive at the Karen village, they find themselves part of a raid by the sadistic ...

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Plot Keywords:

rambo | missionary | burma | mercenary | thailand | 

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Taglines:

Heroes never die.... They just reload.

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Genres:

Action | Thriller | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong graphic bloody violence, sexual assaults, grisly images and language

Details

Official Sites:

Instagram Official Facebook

Country:

Germany USA

Language:

English Burmese Thai

Release Date:

25 January 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Rambo IV: End of Peace

Filming Locations:

Thailand

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$18,203,876, 27 January 2008, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$42,754,105, 27 March 2008

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$113,244,290

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lionsgate, The Weinstein Company, Millennium Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min 99 min (extended) 80 min (cut) (FSK 16 rated)

Sound Mix:

SDDS DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first Rambo film where Rambo uses a pistol. Also the first Rambo film without a helicopter. Most notably, it is the first Rambo film completely without a scene in which John Rambo is without his t-shirt, showing his muscles. This is due to Sylvester Stallone's, extensive tattoo work on both shoulders, which he started getting in late July 2007.

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Goofs

When John Rambo is passing by the empty boat that had previously attacked his party, the motor is clearly not running in one shot since the front pulley is not turning (23:54).

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Quotes

School Boy: They call me School Boy. The name stuck with me since sniper school, my mates won't stop calling me it no matter how many people I shoot.

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Crazy Credits

Salad and Fruit Hand - Buakai Boonsri

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Alternate Versions

The 100-minute extended cut features the following additions and changes:

• The main title card shows as 'John Rambo' and now appears across the screen.
• At the beginning, Rambo traps the second snake followed by a new scene where the deckhands played with it on the boat.
• While working on the metal for the new propeller, Sara visits him in an another attempt to persuade him to change his mind to take them upriver.
• While upriver, Rambo and Sara's moments are longer, as both get to know one another better.
• The bad guy who laid dying on Rambo's boat only has a bullet shot on the head. In the theatrical cut, there were multiple gunshots all over the body.
• While passing the armor boat on the way back from Burma, Rambo takes out his knife in the hidden compartment.
• After driving the armor boat to the shore, there is an additional scene where he burns it along with his knife.
• During the village massacre by the regime, there were alternate shots of villages in cages and the hazing of the young boys.
• When the pastor seeks Rambo's help, he was actually instructed to pray while Rambo forges his blade. Later, the pastor watches the mercenaries head downriver.
• While escaping the military village, Rambo notices lacerations on Sara's feet and bandages them.

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Connections

References Platoon (1986)

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Soundtracks

Chock Muay
Written by Chuck Jonkey (as Charles Jonkey)
Performed by Chuck Jonkey & Lugsil
Published by Jonkey Music (ASCAP)
Courtesy of Jonkey Enterprises Sonic Safari Music

User Reviews

tag line says all, the year's first great action movie.

A straight action film only Stallone could deliver. Nobody else could direct such an uncompromising pursuit of battle. The battle sequences of this movie are glorious and violent in a way that is special, a new extreme level of tension was achieved in my opinion and I don't say this in blind excitement.

This movie delivers a movie-high that is not often attempted. Movies usually hold back or simply fail at achieving visceral action and instead try to balance themselves between action, plot, drama, comedy, etc, and in many cases in modern films this only lowers the quality of the experience. The downfall of Rambo you could say is its small concern for character drama, indeed the scenes looking at the female lead and the mercenary group are pretty poorly acted (though this allows the scenes to focus on Stallone's disregard for their antics, it can get annoying to sit through).

The mercenary group's character were so over the top in acting however it came off like farce to me which was actually really entertaining, seeing their macho lines fall dead in the air, Stallone giving them no respect.

The battles were glorious even if the film has flaws, but it focuses on the battle as it should, and achieves glorious cinematic victory. Great experience.