Rambo - In My Unsolicited Opinion
Deborah Venable
06/06/08
Okay,
I’ll admit it straight up – I have always been a Rambo fan, well, ever since
the second movie in the series, that is.
I wasn’t all that thrilled with “First Blood” because it forced me to
take much too close a look at some of my stupid fellow Americans of my own
generation. It was a story much better
told than a lot of Vietnam Vet films of that time, however. But number two – my personal favorite, was
great. And it contained some of the
greatest lines any actor ever had to utter.
Suffice it to say, Stallone does that job right. Three was very good also as it put a face on
the still tortured soul of the aging Vietnam Veteran and his continuing
commitment to the guy that made him into the great killing machine. That soul that resides in us all should
touch anyone with sense enough to see it.
Last
week the latest edition of Rambo was released on DVD, so I finally got to see
it. WOW! As for dialog, it doesn’t touch the others – save for that line
being uttered by righteous revolutionaries all over the world now, “Live for
nothing or die for something!” But as a
vehicle of the art form of moviemaking, Rambo is practically unequaled in my
mind. It is a feast for the eyes and
ears, and it tells the story all Rambo fans wanted to see – a hero that could
finally go home.
Small
minds may call this latest Rambo, Sly’s refusal to grow up and grow old, but I
say, more power to a powerful American icon.
They may also say that he’s nothing without the blood and guts, but I
say, for anyone who has met a ruthless enemy head on, that’s life.
This
is a film about the ultimate in Christian persecution and the only way to fight
it. Christian soldiers must take two
forms. They must either be missionaries
of peace or the tortured, Rambo souls that must protect them. If understanding between the two is to ever
be reached, it must come in the form that was depicted in this movie. Excellence unequaled, in my humble opinion,
of course!
The
underlying theme of this Rambo brings much needed attention to the effects of a
heartless regime allowed to wage war on its own people for decades – for
absolutely no reason but to fulfill the dark agenda of naked, evil power to
control every aspect of human existence.
In a land where human rights do not exist, the cruel plunder of
potential human resources provides a sick reminder that evil such as this will
not be changed except through total destruction of the regime.
Stallone and Rambo are banned in Burma, but it is far more a badge of honor to be proudly displayed by the actor and the character and a glimmer of hope for those fighting the regime than it is a negative take on the battle that must be waged. When cyclone Nargis slammed into Myanmar, (Burma), a few weeks ago, world attention was focused on the human suffering caused by an out of control government and punctuated by the natural disaster. Initial aid, much needed by the people of Burma, was withheld, banned if you will by the same government that banned Rambo. If such an evil regime had a brain that was not diseased with evil, perhaps it might suspect that God was trying to tell it something. But as usual, the innocent are enduring the most suffering. God bless those Christian soldiers that are continuing to wage this battle.
For the thumbs down critics of Rambo’s story, forgive them, for they know not what is best in the world of entertainment or reality.