I’m a reluctant fan of the Rambo movies. I didn’t see Rambo in the theaters. I didn’t think that another was necessary. I didn’t like the follow ups to the original, First Blood (1982). First Blood had something to say, sad commentary on the state of veterans who return home damaged, shunned, and looking for acceptance in a world they don’t know any more.

However, when I rented Rambo this week, I found myself really liking it despite what the movie had to say about trained combat soldiers. The movie, at a very base level, was about a group of people, people of faith, that wanted to help the Burmese subsistence farmers who were being slaughtered for their land. These silly people went into Burma, with Rambo’s help, but against his recommendation, to give ad in a war zone. Of course, they are captured, giving Rambo his chance to rescue them.

The best scenes are when Rambo and a crew of mercenaries are aboard a boat on their way into Burma. They are hyped up and talkative, well, that is except for John Rambo, who stoically operates the rudder. The mercenaries shoot the shit and tell bravado stories of their escapades. They are all experts in their fields.  They are all killers. They enjoy talking the lives of their enemies. There is no place in normal the society for this crew.

Flash forward, Rambo swoops into save these mercenaries with his bow, taking out a group of, I think it was 8 Burmese soldiers. Rambo and the leader of the mercenaries get into a scuffle, and Rambo says, “[while aiming an arrow at Lewis' eye] Any of you boys want to shoot, now’s the time. There isn’t one of us that doesn’t want to be someplace else. But this is what we do, who we are. Live for nothing, or die for something. Your call.”

One more quote, the inner monologue that motivate Rambo to go with the mercenaries: “You know what you are. What you’re made of. War is in your blood. Don’t fight it. You didn’t kill for your country. You killed for yourself. God’s never gonna make that go away. When you’re pushed, killing’s as easy as breathing.” What this tells me is that some trained soldiers end up like Rambo, trained killers with a blood lust. Bit all, but there is not one example of soldier in this film that does not fit that scenario.

But it was a fun action film. If you get a chance, I’d say rent it.

The Soulless Machine