Why I Like Rambo

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Rambo was the quintessential hero back in the day (that’s the 80’s). Of course now when you look back at the story line and you begin to analyse the propaganda behind the entire franchise. US Imperialist agenda all over the screen. But back when I was 3-4 years old and I was begging my Dad to get me cartoons from the video store… he came back with Rambo. So in effect, my first exposure to the world of action movies was this muscle bound Sylvester Stallone with the trademark red band around his head and a rocket launcher swinging from his back.

I can’t remember the movie now, but I remember the feeling after the movie… it was something like… “OMG, that was so AWESOME!” Maybe it was just a typical excited reaction of a hyper-active male child. Still, for me, Rambo was the shit.

Now some 20 years later we’re seeing Stallone still at it, being a hard-core action hero, the red band and the testosterone. It brought back some memories. And the movie wasn’t bad at all. Burma is one of the world’s most under-reported conflict zones, and seeing someone kick the shit out of those genocidal maniacs was greatly satisfying.

From a marketing perspective, Stallone has kept Rambo true to the Brand. The only change was that he made the story entirely relevant to today’s context, and not hinging on the over-used war in Iraq, not that the war in Iraq is irrelevant. It’s just that the media is so oversaturated with Iraq that we have become immune to the war and its consequences.

Burma also plays well into the Rambo story of him being involved in Vietnam in his previous movies. The story does have the feel of an action hero, getting old, but not giving up. As he said in the movie “You know what you are… and when you’re pushed, killing is as easy as breathing.” Okay, it IS very clichéd and very old-school action movie type dialogue… but I enjoyed it. Sometimes, I feel it just ruins things to over-analyse.

Technorati Tags: Rambo, Movie, Nostalgia, Burma

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