Sylvester Stallone helped America overcome its Vietnam demons with this over the top wish fulfillment action fantasy where everyone's favourite PTSD poster boy, John Rambo, is called to rescue American POWs in Vietnam (something very common in cinema at the time, eg Missing in Action, Uncommon Valor). And if Rambo's arguments sound a lot like right wing Germans after World War One - we could have won if we'd been allowed, etc - it is true to character and does give this resonance.
The basic structure of this is very sound - James Cameron co wrote the screenplay. It's not original, mind, but there are decent twists: falling off target, deciding to take a POW back, being betrayed, the death of the girl.
The action scenes are over the top and spectacular rather than memorable. I've seen the film a few times and am struggling to recall them - I can remember the dialogue, both campy ("I've always believed the mind is the best weapon") and genuinely moving ("all we want is for our country to love us the way we love it"), I recall the montages (Rambo getting ready for battle), the silly excessive images (Rambo's flowing hair, firing a machine gun), the solid support from Charles Napier and Richard Crenna and Steven Berkoff, the stunning photography. But the actual action just seems to be explosions and increasingly unrealistic acts.
Politically and sociologically this is fascinating, especially considering how popular it was at the box office - it says a lot about America at the time. It was a phenomenon. As an actual movie it is competent but flawed. Worth seeing.
No comments:
Post a Comment