Sylvester Stallone returns with a bang in RAMBO (2008)

I was pleasantly surprised at how well Sylvester Stallone was able to resurrect his Rocky Balboa character last year in ROCKY BALBOA and to my amazement he was able to do the same thing with his other iconic character John Rambo in the self titled RAMBO. In the new film John has lost himself within the mist of Burma and the genocide happening over there but that war is not his own as he only wants to be left alone and whither away in the rest of his existence. Like all the previous films Rambo has lost his faith - his faith in war, his faith in people, and his faith in himself. Then in steps Sarah (Julie Benz) and her group of missionaries who want to bring medical supplies, faith, and hope to a people who are mercilessly killed by an overlord general who kills and slaughters people with malice and steals innocent children to recruit for his army.
After helping Sarah's group cross the border into Burma, John soon learns that the group has been abducted by the general and he must enter into the confines of the jungle on a rescue mission. John isn't alone this time as a group of mercenaries have also been sent into the jungle to aid in the rescue.

The thing that differentiates this film from the previous films is that even though it brings out the same themes of the previous films - a man who has lost faith in the world around him and even in himself, this film brings the entire series home to a conclusive end. Like the Rocky Balboa films, this is series has finally come to a decisive end.This film will interest modern day audiences as it does not belittle or talk down to the audience by defusing the situation with unwanted and needless comedy or film commentary. This film is a relentless war film from beginning to end and has some of the most brutal violence seen in any of the Rambo films or any modern action film out today. This is no LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD, THE TRANSPORTER, or any Michael Bay film, for that matter. Stallone presents an engaging look into war and genocide and it isn't pretty, which is what war truly is. War is death, destruction, needless, and sometimes necessary no matter how much we all wish for peace and this film presents it as so and it is all the better for it.