Opinions
Talking Points: Fans and Critics Are Divided Over Rambo!
Posted by Neil Miller (neil@filmschoolrejects.com) on January 27, 2008
It’s been an interesting ride for ‘ole Rambo over the past few weeks. The fourth film in the Rambo series has been met, since its inception, with a diverse range of opinions from fans, bloggers and film industry pundits alike. Some have absolutely loved the idea of a carnage-heavy, all out war homage to the first three films — raising Rambo’s body count into the stratosphere. While others debate the need and/or the purpose of going back and re-hashing another has-been Sly Stallone character, a la Rocky Balboa.
Personally, I thought Rocky Balboa was a well done, respectful way to end the Rocky saga. And not having seen Rambo, I find it difficult to comment. My instincts tell me though, that it is probably not a very good film — but that doesn’t mean it can’t be enjoyable.
And now that Rambo has driven his way into theaters this weekend, he has been met with an almost ridiculously diverse amount of responses. The critics say it is a rotten egg, with the film earning a 35% rotten rating on RottenTomatoes. Our own Loukas Tsouknidas called it “sad” and “ugly”.
On the other side, we have the fans, who have given the film very high marks on IMDB’s user rating scale. As of today (January 27), Rambo is currently at an 8.5 out of 10 rating (4,244 voted), placing it 195th All-Time… Yes, that is “In the History of Film” All-Time! Our own Kevin Carr seems to agree, saying “Sylvester Stallone may be eating at the 4:30 buffet and paying with his AARP card, but he can still make one hell of an action flick.”
So there you have it — fans and critics are deeply divided over this film. Now it is time for you to voice your opinion in this weekend’s Talking Points article!
Talking Points: Did you see Rambo? What do you have to say about it?
Read more articles by Neil Miller
3 Comments
January 28th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
I saw Rambo on Friday night with low to no expectations, albeit with the abundance of quality craftsmanship displayed in ‘Rocky Balboa’ strongly in mind. The more I think about it, the more I absolutely loved the movie. I can certainly understand why certain people don’t enjoy it. This movie is not glamorous in any sense of the word. It is extremely violent and, in my opinion needfully so. It brings to light the argument that, you know what?… some people CANNOT be reasoned with. Period. Now, I’m not necessarily saying that using a 50 caliber mounted machine gun is the way to go at it, but there are times when the bad guys, who are sometimes CLEARLY defined, need to be taken out of this earth. This is a guy movie. It is testosterone-fueled and Stallone knows that. It does not purport to be anything than what it is. An action film. I thought it was made superbly and was entertaining, shocking and a total blast.
February 8th, 2008 at 11:48 pm
saw it first night out couldnt find a seat in the theatre and i was 20 min early. the more i watched this movie the more i loved it. john rambo is VERY realistic pretty much as real as you can get w.o being in war. It was also very grotesque, if you dont like blood this is not the movie for you. but i have to say this is a action packed hell of a movie for guys.. it also kept me guessing which i like , i just dont like everthing to be jst thrown out there. so yes i give this movie a 10 and i am seeing it again this week.
February 25th, 2008 at 8:15 pm
stuff the critics they think they know it all its the fans that count we send brilliant movies like rambo to the top