Rambo

Rambo

Summary
-Former Vietnam vet John Rambo now lives a simple life in seclusion in Thailand. One day, a group of missionaries looking to give aid to the Karen people of the region. They approach him with the hope he'll ferry them up river to aid the people from the oppressive rule of the vicious Burmese military

Cast
-Sylvester Stallone: John Rambo
-Julie Benz: Sarah
-Matthew Marsden: School Boy
-Graham McTavish: Lewis
-Reynoldo Gallegos: Diaz
-Jake La Botz: Reese
-Tim Kang: En-Joo
-Maung Maung Khin: Gen. Tint
-Paul Schulze: Michael Burnett

Did You Know?
-Julie Benz was cast because Sylvester Stallone was a fan of the show Dexter, in which she stars
-Maung Maung Khin, who plays the Burmese dictator Tint, fought for the Karen Rebels in real life. He was fearful of his family being murdered if he took the role, but took it anyway
-This is the first Rambo movie where he uses a pistol, the first Rambo movie without a helicopter and the first Rambo movie where he not shown shirtless. This last one is due to Sylvester Stallone's extensive tattooing on both of his shoulders and upper back, which he started getting in later July 2007

-This is the first Rambo movie where he works with a team instead of solo
-The darkest of all the Rambo movies

-Rambo III and this one are the only ones in the First Blood series where Rambo is not captured by the enemy. In First Blood, he's arrested by police. In Rambo: First Blood pt. II, he's captured by the Vietnamese

First Blood

Rambo: First Blood pt. II

-The only movie without the trademark music of Jerry Goldsmith, who died in 2004

-The only movie where he uses his trademark bow and not his explosive arrowheads. He didn't use a bow in First Blood

-The first movie with out a novel by author David Morrell, who created the character John Rambo. Morrell wrote the novel First Blood, which introduces you to the character of Rambo, along with novels for Rambo: First Blood pt. II and Rambo III

-Throughout the movie, one of the mercenaries refers to Rambo as "boatman". In Greek mythology, Charon is the boatman. He ferried souls to the land of the dead for money. Burma/Myanmar, which has a bloody 60+ year history of war and genocide, qualifies as the land of the dead. And ironically, the name of the rebels, the Karen rebels, sounds like "Charon". The legend says that when you die, someone leaves money on your eyes so you can pay the boatman to ferry you to the land of the dead. If you can't pay the boatman, your spirit is stuck forever between the two worlds

Quotes