“LIVE FOR NOTHING OR DIE FOR SOMETHING!” Rambo

Posted By Not Luke

"LIVE FOR NOTHING OR DIE FOR SOMETHING!" Rambo

RAMBO, THE FIGHT CONTINUES      In case you haven’t seen it- My story synopsis without spoilers- American Vet never went home.  Rambo choose to live in Thailand hunting snakes and captaining his boat. Allowing him to be alone with his troubled and violent thoughts. A few hours upriver in Burma, the villagers were being slaughtered by drug fueled fringe rebels. Rape, kidnapping, dismemberment and death were common. Missionaries arrive to carry medicine and Bibles into the war-torn country.

Are you a blood and guts type of guy? You will enjoy the intestines flying through the air, the human bodies bursting into pieces as bomb explode under them, and limbs realistically chopped off living victims. Machine guns blast through hundreds of escaping natives, villages and boats are set afire with bombs and gasoline. (Must not be $4 a gallon there)   And then there are the pirates, mercenaries, missionaries, harmless villagers and crazed terrorists. This movie will get your testosterone pumping. A good movie just for the sake of two hours of entertainment.

But I see deeper then the enjoyment factor. Rambo made me think of the real situations happening around the world. While Burma isn’t AS bad as shown in this movie, it’s not good either. "The (current) regime, intent on dominating the entire country, has responded with brutal force raping, slaughtering, or forcibly displacing millions of ethnic peoples…. So far, in the past ten years, over 3,200 villages have been destroyed in eastern Burma." (http://uscampaignforburma.org/learn-about-burma)

In Rambo’s Genocide and bloody brutality I instantly saw the long struggle in Rwanda. By the time most of the killing was done, the UN estimates all told close to one million people died. I also saw the recent history of Darfur. Sudanese government officials say 5000 have been killed. Darfur activists say it is closer to a hundred times that number, 500,000 victims.

Rambo also reminded me of the (lack of ?)  treatment for those US Vets who come home with mental injuries. The new Rand Corporation study shows that 20% of those returning from the current war will suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and/or depression. Help and understanding isn’t here waiting for them. Paperwork and burocractic bullshit are.

Enough with the third world foreign countries’ civil war/genocide comparisons/ US Vet stuff  I hear you saying- Okay,  I like the fact that Stallone replayed this role well, and not just for the sake of a chunk of change, but for the love of a decent script, tons of action, an underlying political statement and to make some of us think.

Oh, the girls in the office have asked me to add- "Sly is hot, buff and as good as any male porn stars we’ve seen lately!"  Pretty damn good  when you remember that Rocky is almost a senior citizen!

Rambo- Watch for sure