I'm still waiting for it to load but I figured everyone (Marty!) would want to check this out:

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/32721

EDIT: Just finished it...OH MY! Stallone is certainly one angry man. This looks like a splatter movie. I uploaded it to YouTube to make it easier for people to see:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoDAoCUkIgI

Daaammmm. Stallone is back, with a vengeance.

THAT should be the trailer.

Holy moly.... I guess it's refreshing in these PG-13 times, but that looks the whole other way, I can see some of that footage being troublesome for an R!

Looks like they even found a popular veteran television actor to play the Trautman surrogate. Go, Ken Howard! The IMDb claims Sam Elliott is in this movie, but I wonder whether Howard is actually playing the role Elliott was originally signed for.

Rambo in Burma/'Myanmar"--that ought be push a few buttons. Maybe he'll rescue Nobel winner Aung Sun Suu Kyi while he's lopping off the heads of soldiers.

Apparently, the Burmese are the bad guys in this one. Why isn't Rambo going after Al Qaeda? The first three Rambo films worked because they dealt with enemies the U.S. had legit grievances with--redneck cops (:D) harassing Viet vets, the Vietnamese, and the Russians. What the hell did the Burmese ever do to us?

It's good to see Paul Schulze again, I've missed him since his untimely death in 24 (not seen ZODIAC yet).

As for the trailer, it's the most inappropriate use of the St. Francis of Assisi prayer since Thatcher came to power.

Burma's military regime has long been a thorn in the side of the international community. That it is at somewhat of a remove from US interests helps Stallone side-step charges of opportunism, which came up with RAMBO II and the ridiculous Reagan-era "crime is the disease" COBRA. This time it's maybe a little impersonal; Rambo fighting jihadists is too on-the-money, and easily heckled. And I guess he figures the Burma situation won't get any worse, or better, by the time the movie comes out; as I recall the Soviet bear had folded its tent in Afghanistan before the unsuccessful RAMBO III was released, leaving the cold warrior with a little egg on his face.

Seeing as he was helping them in part III, it might be a little tricky to concoct that plotline.

William, thanks for that. I guess appropriating the Land Of The Dead soundtrack goes well with the splatter. (Too bad they didn't think of that for the LOTD trailers!) And now we know what happens to Rambo's enemy when they are directly in front of his mounted machine gun. Answer: everything bad.

No more than it has been in real life.

Couldn't they have just done a story in which that annoying kid from RAMBO III grows up to become a prominent Al Qaeda terrorist, inspired in part by Rambo's example (and possibly methods)? Rambo gets sent to go after the terrorist he inspired (went back and trained?) in a way that is somewhat resonant with the way Trautman got dispatched to deal with him in FIRST BLOOD (though with obvious differences). Play up the ambiguous, antiheroic nature of Rambo, engage with his being a sort of relic and symbol of a different time, a figure that is not trusted by his own government on the one hand (a situation made worse by Rambo's former collaboration with people who became our enemies), yet is also a symbol of certain trends in that same government's foreign policy. I think it would be very possible to still make a big fun action blockbuster engaging these aspects in a way similar to how ROCKY BALBOA addressed the character's aging. While I am not an unreserved fan of his, I think Oliver Stone unleashed on something like this would have been pretty interesting.

Oliver Stone directing Stallone in JOHN RAMBO...my head just exploded. :) But Stone did flirt with directing a MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE.

I like that scenario, but it's likely too complex for the blockbuster crowd and would follow on too directly from III, a flop.

I think that all sounds terrific.

Bob, Jeffrey: thanks for the kind words. And Bob, I'm sure you're right--as far as Stallone and the money people are concerned, I imagine RAMBO III is considered radioactive. (Though not so radioactive that it won't be included in every RAMBO box-set, however. Maybe by featuring a payoff like this, it might sort of retroactively make RAMBO III a little more interesting.)

Another random thought about this impossible film: maybe the hook that would get the government to recruit Rambo could involve the necklace that Rambo gives the kid (the one that his Vietnamese lover had given him in RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD PART II). Perhaps someone at the beginning of IV (Kurtwood Smith's character from III?) recognizes the pendant in an Al Qaeda internet video as being the same as Rambo's and they initially arrest him as a collaborator. (Yeah, okay, maybe I'm pushing it with that contrivance...)

RAMBO III made $189 million worldwide, which was three times its budget. If I was a producer, I wouldn't mind a few "flops" like that.

You sir are quite right. Damn, that would be the perfect plot but even Stallone wouldn't want that kinda storm. Nicholas' idea is a great way to have done it but audiences probably wouldn't remember that kid or want to confront the idea of that past true life relationship. Maybe if they prefaced it with "A long time ago...in a galaxy far, far away..."

A few years ago, the rumored plot was that John Rambo is, once again, used by the government to infiltrate some anti-government militia types. After he gets in, he finds out one of the leaders is Brian Dennehy's character from the first one. Personally, I would have loved to have seen that. Perhaps for JOHN RAMBO II, but I doubt it because the vibe this trailer is giving off is that he bites the big one.

RAMBO III's worldwide gross, though, was a long fall from the second part's $300 million. And it was undeniably a flop in the US, grossing $53 million, vs. three times as much for FIRST BLOOD PART II (Stallone's biggest US hit). The foreign market covers a multitude of sins, but perception is often reality in showbiz, and III sputtered (so did the next summer's LICENCE TO KILL, the meager US grosses of which helped keep James Bond off screens for six years). If it was perceived to have been a hit, surely a IV would have followed in less than 20 years, an eternity between sequels. Which is why a more modestly scaled and plotted JOHN RAMBO, like ROCKY BALBOA, makes sense.

did he just PUNCH that guy's head off?!

Naw, Rambo has a machete-looking blade in his hand, which he drops as soon as the head goes flying.

If that promo is a real indication of the kind of violence we'll get to see, this movie will stomp so much ass that they'll have to import colons from other countries to meet the demand. Looked like an unholy mashup of SAVING PRIVATE RYAN and ATOMIK CIRCUS, a prospect that'll certainly get me to buy a ticket.

BTW, if the clip looks squished in QuickTime, I used VLC Media Player to get it to play in the proper aspect ratio.

Interestingly, I watched Brune Mattei's STRIKE COMMANDO 2 (1988) last night and the plot involves Michael Ransom (Brent Huff) heading into Burma to save his old commander (Richard Harris). Who's ripping off who now Mr. Stallone? :)

Why would Stallone want to sidestep charges of opportunism? Let the critics charge opportunism all they want, the audiences turned out in droves for RAMBO II and COBRA. If RAMBO II had been set in Burma, nobody would've gone to see it.

As for his fighting Jihadists being too "on the money," again, why not? Doesn't Stallone need to be "on the money" again? So what if he's heckled? RAMBO II was heckled in plenty of quarters, but that didn't keep the crowds away. In fact, the controversy helped it. The Nation may have panned it, but Reagan himself embraced it. The only reason RAMBO III didn't do as well is because the Soviets caved right before the movie came out. Had the movie come out a month earlier it would have been a bigger hit. And then the Russians leaving Afghanistan would have seemed to the public like a result of Rambo's actions.

So why is Stallone so timid all of a sudden? Right now, for Rambo to be relevant again, he needs to be kicking Hamas or Al Qaeda or Taliban ass. No one cares about the Burmese military. (Besides, didn't Patricia Arquette already fight that battle in BEYOND RAMBO? Oh, I mean BEYOND RANGOON.:D)

Well, Russians didn't do things like issue fatwas. I can't tell you how nervous I was for Spielberg when he announced MUNICH as his next project. I still say the fact that it wasn't a bigger hit was a blessing in disguise for the man.

Because it's hard.

Good point. It's easy for me to sit here and tell Rambo who he should fight. Truth to tell, given Stallone's career status and age now, I can't blame him for not taking unnecessary chances. :unsure:

Still, I'm reminded of the fact that during the Lebanese civil war, in 1985, RAMBO II was the most popular film there at the time. People braved death to line up for it.

But I wouldn't call MUNICH a big risk for Spielberg. It seemed to me to be more critical of the Israelis than anyone else. And the U.S. And the Germans. The Palestinians get off lightly in it. At least as I remember it.

If Catholic extremists don't have to see LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST to condemn it, then Muslim extremists don't have to see MUNICH to find Spielberg a tempting target.

Personally I think that's an awesome trailer. As for the Burmese military as villains, I'm neutral on it. At least Rambo's not fighting eco-terrorists. Or hackers. Or robots. Although I'd probably watch a movie where Rambo fought robots -- maybe in the sequel?

:lol:

As for why not Al Qaeda, I agree with everybody! But I lean towards a combination of a sadder but wiser Stallone trying to merely hit a infield single with this one and the uncomfortable reality of RAMBO III and the probable need, with a man so obsessed with his own iconography, to explain it away, which would necessitate swinging for the bleachers. And probably missing. Although I really like the story idea that was floated here, somebody should write that one up -- seriously. Not even as a Rambo piece, it would just make an excellent, topical action thriller.

I saw RAMBO II when it came out, as a teenager, and I remember some small amount of moral tut-tutting, but in general I don't think the audience cared much, except that the tut-tutting made it cooler to go see it, of course. Nowadays we live in a much more complex world, the amount of controversy a Rambo vs Al Qaeda movie would spark would make what met RAMBO II seem like your Grandma muttering under her breath. It strikes me, typing this, that the RAMBO movies -- maybe Stallone's famous movies in general -- were all about capturing populist sentiment, making movies that, whatever the critics said, people liked. If the populist sentiment isn't clear, perhaps better to play it safer. (Perhaps this accounts for the gore, an unconscious response/reaction to this? "If I have to play it safe here, I'll push the envelope there?" )

Just thinking aloud,

doug

For whatever reason--maybe, simply, that the movie was better, but maybe because the need to see Stallone in vengeance and bloodlust mode had been sated after RAMBO II (and ROCKY IV)--the US audience abandoned COBRA and RAMBO III. Stallone could conceivably prolong Rambo past a fourth, so it's better to test the waters before siccing him on Osama.

Because he's probably scared some terrorists will do what they tried to with Salman Rushdie!

How things have been handled in the region, sure... there's all sorts of heated debate.

But Al Qaeda/Hamas/etc. themselves? I doubt they have a big fan club amongst the action movie-going public of the Western world...

or what they did to Theo Van Gogh...

During the late eighties there was a tongue-in-cheek rumor of a “Rocky V/Rambo IV” project that would have put the prize fighter and the commando in the same film. Stallone’s Rocky Balboa would accept an invitation to box in Libya, where he would be kidnapped by terrorists and held for ransom. The day would be saved by the intervention of Stallone’s John Rambo.

It's nice to see that, with JOHN RAMBO and ROCKY BALBOA, Stallone has returned to the director's chair after a gap of two decades. Hopefuly his next project will be COSMO CARBONI, a sequel to PARADISE ALLEY (still his best film).

Interestingly, and boosting the controversy factor, Stallone says he plans to shoot some of JOHN RAMBO in Burma, which would indicate that its government doesn't care about how it's portrayed (or doesn't know), and might raise eyebrows in countries that have questioned Burma's government since the military took over. He's already in hot water over steroids he brought to Australia to help him bulk up for the role.

NYT: "Sylvester Stallone officially became a convict in Australia yesterday. Having already pleaded guilty to charges of importing restricted muscle-building hormones, he was ordered to pay $10,651 in fines and court costs in Sydney. He was not present in court. Paul Cloran, the New South Wales state deputy chief magistrate, said Mr. Stallone, star of the “Rocky” and “Rambo” films, had failed to establish that he had a valid prescription for dozens of vials of human growth hormone in his luggage when he arrived in Sydney in February for a promotional tour. Although prosecutors said he had legitimate medical reasons for carrying the drug, he also failed to declare the male hormone testosterone on a customs entry form. In an interview with customs officials Mr. Stallone, 60, said he was carrying large amounts of the growth hormone because he was about to spend three months in Thailand and Myanmar, formerly Burma, filming a new “Rambo” adventure. “As you get older, the pituitary gland slows, and you feel older, your bones narrow,” he said, according to court documents. “This stuff gives your body a boost, and you feel and look good. Doing ‘Rambo’ is hard work. Where do you think I am going to get this stuff in Burma?” "

The trailer just exceeded my expectations. I'd like him to make MARION COBRETTI next. COBRA needs a sequel. Its a shame they never made one.

Or... Deke DaSilva! 26 years after the events of Nighthawks, Stallone and Billie Dee train NYC's new anti-terrorist force how to wear blonde wigs and bathrobes!

Funninly enough, the "director's cut" version of Stephen King's The Stand includes a scene where two characters watch an "alternate universe" version of Rambo IV called "The Fire Fight" apparently made just after Rambo III in which he fights "dope dealers."

Or even STUD - after almost 40 years, Kitty and Stud are planning another party.

A friend of mine suggested Stallone make RAYMOND TANGO & GABRIEL CASH and I don't see a damn problem with that! They could take on Stuntman Mike.

If the next proper-named sequel ain't MACHINE GUN JOE VITERBO, I ain't seein' it.

Am I the only one who is annoyed about the lack of Jerry Goldsmith's Rambo theme in the trailer?