This Ain't Your Grandma's Rambo

The Military Hollywood Insider - Mary McIntyre Brown

Jan 28, 2008

The Military Hollywood Insider - This Ain't Your Grandma's Rambo

When Hollywood goes to war or depicts military life, I always have a lot of questions… and often I get to ask them of the actors and filmmakers themselves. This week I want to share what Sylvester Stallone had to say about the new "Rambo" movie which he wrote, directed, and stars in…I got such a kick out of talking to Stallone, that I included a couple sound clips of the interview so you can hear what else he had to say…

This Ain't Your Grandma's Rambo

If, like me, you have fond memories of watching Sylvester Stallone kick ass and take names as John Rambo in "First Blood" and its sequels, this fourth installment of the adventures of our favorite bandana-ed veteran, may surprise you with its intensity. The violence is definitely amped up way beyond what I expected to see on the big screen.  But, Stallone feels that the brutality in his film really needs to be seen as the subject of the civil war raging in Burma for the past 60 years is largely unfamiliar to your average moviegoer.  And, I have to say, that even though I alternately squirmed, covered my eyes, and winced, I definitely got the message, Sly - loud and clear! 

Q: What made you decide to send Rambo to Burma this time around?

Sylvester Stallon: Overall, rather than trying to do something about Iraq or Afghanistan, which I thought would have been an insult to the rightful men who are fighting, to think that a fictional character can come and change everything, I thought this would be more real. And, I really like the jungle.

Q: Were you familiar with the political situation there and was that part of the attraction for you?

SS: No, I was going blind into it. I had called "Soldier of Fortune" magazine and the UN. And I said, "What is the most underreported case of human rights violations on the planet that no one knows about?" They said, "Burma. There's been one little enclave of these peasants that have been holding out for 60 years."  I went, "Now, there’s a movie."

Q:  Then, you must be a hero at "Soldier of Fortune" magazine for setting Rambo there.

SS: They were pretty happy about it, I'll tell you that, because they're going in there all the time. And no one pays attention to Burma. Burma is a very, very wealthy country, well organized, controlled by China. It’s incredibly complex and violent. 

Q: Did you have security to protect you and the cast and crew?

SS: What we did is make friends with the National Guard and the king's bodyguards. He sent over ten of his Special Forces people and the armored cars. And it was 24-7. It was around the clock outside our hotel.

Q: What was the most challenging aspect of doing this film?

SS: For sure it was the ongoing threat of the Burmese while we were shooting in Thailand. There were a lot of secret police over there and they knew exactly what was going on, and especially all these people, and I won’t mention names, doing drug dealing between the Burmese general and people on the other side of the river. So, when you step into their territory, life is very cheap over there. 

For awhile, we could not get any Burmese to work for us at all, until one man stepped up and it opened the flood gate. All you see in the movie is authentic, it's real canons, real amputees who had lost their legs in land mine accidents. The man who started to show the other Burmese that they had to do it was the one playing the villain in the movie. And, actually, in real life, he is a rebel fighter. But, by doing this film, his family was arrested and put in jail in Burma.

Q: Did you do your own stunts, and how hard was it this time around?

SS: Pretty hard indeed. I did everything but one stunt, the one where
I’m supposed to jump off the hill during the explosion when the big bomb goes off. I really thought the stunt guy was going to die! I felt bad. And we had to do it twice, and it was very slippery. 

You will have to look at the 'making of' when the video comes out because there were so many injuries during the shooting, like snake bites, cuts, and so on. But that made this movie such a great adventure because of all of these incidents. 

Listen to Stallone's Comments:

Everyone, at first, waited and was scared. I said, "I know," but I said this is like a war and you’re all going to be sad to go home. You're going to go home and look at your husband or your wife and kids and tell them: "You have it so easy, you don’t know.  So don't even complain to me again."

Q: What has Rambo gone through since the last movie?

SS: Well, last time we saw him, he was in Afghanistan and he was disenchanted about America. He felt America was like a big parent that had no use for him, who just threw him away. America used him and told him, "We don't need you anymore." He is this angry and disillusioned soul that believed in a cause and realizes it's all been a waste of time. I had a big speech in the movie, and I cut it.  I put in lots of philosophy about what's going on in Iraq and Afghanistan, about our senior citizens who are starting these wars but don't have to fight them. In the end, who wins? This one still has his house, his family, he is still a congressman, and this family over there is destroyed. So Rambo has had it, he is fed up with politics. He is a bitter individual. 

Q: And yet, even though Rambo's no Romeo, Sarah, a Christian missionary in the film played by the lovely Julie Benz, seems to soften him just a tiny bit…

SS: About the girl in this "Rambo," well, it was more of a love story in the first draft, and I just thought, `it's not right.` I just thought instead that some people are born to be protective, and his job is just to shepherd these people through this and get them out alive. And, maybe in the end, they understand how brutal this world is, and it's not this idealistic thing that we can all join hands and be a united world. There is always going to be a conflict, and it does not go away. Peace is an accident, war is natural. And, it's sad, and you may not agree with me, but look at how much time it takes to make peace and how in one minute you can make war.  Rambo learned that the hard way.

Q: This movie is very graphic compared to previous Rambo movies. Why did you make that choice?

SS: What really goes on in Burma is much more violent. They're getting into cannibalism, children being thrown into generals' houses -- the building foundations of their houses -- for good luck, I mean, alive. It just goes on and on and on.

So we made the decision in the beginning. We can't whitewash it. People are dying as we're making the film. So I said, "Let’s go all the way. Let's just try to push it completely to the point of where it's uncomfortable," because we were crossing that line. And, that's what we tried to do. So it was a balance between trying to tell a story, educate, but also provide an interesting action film. But, it was really violent. A lot of the stunt guys said, "You can't do this."  I said, "We have to. We owe it to these people. We do." And, if anything might help to get some attention, this would do it.

Q: How do you come up with the cool things Rambo does in these movies, like all the bow and arrow work in this film?

SS: I guess you lay there at night and you go, "Hmm, what would you do in this situation that’s a little bit different, a little off center?" And if it’s odd, if it's weird, if your wife doesn't like it, use it.

Q:  Do you feel attached to the characters you create?

SS: Oh yeah. The phenomenal thing that happened to me is that I was presented with two characters: one is the ultimate optimist, Rocky, and then you have Rambo, the ultimate pessimist, the dark side, the real killer side, the primitive side. It’s a blessing, and at the same time you're going to always be remembered for them, no matter what you do. So I thought that I should be true to who I am and not try to prove that I’m some versatile creature, and everything else. Do what you do well, and do it honestly.

Q: Is this the last "Rambo"?

SS: I would say yes, but I have this bizarre idea that really is - If I told you, you'd roll your eyes, but it's possible. The thing is, he can't do this anymore. He can't go out and find 500 men. The war situation, that was it for me because, especially since he's back in America, you could never get away with that. You just couldn't have mayhem like that, so it would have to be something a little bit more cerebral and darker and unexpected. And,  it's on the backburner.

Trailer: Rambo Available on DVD May 27th

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Prior Service…
The Oscar nominees have been announced, and I had to giggle when I saw that "Taxi to the Dark Side" has been nominated in the Feature Documentary category.  This is the second time that director Alex Gibney [Enron: The Smartest guys in the room] has been nominated in that category. 

Why did that make me giggle? You see, I met Alex Gibney years ago when I lived in Texas where I used to organize a local music and arts festival. One year, (before he was ever an Oscar nominee) Gibney showed up with a director and a camerawoman to film some of the festival, which was okay, initially. However, not everyone took kindly to being filmed without being asked for their permission.  And, ultimately, there were a few other issues as well, all of which resulted in me having to escort Mr. Gibney and friends out of the festival (what can I say, once a sergeant, always a sergeant, I guess).

However, it ended well the next day when all misunderstandings had been cleared up and I invited him and his crew back to the festival. I remembered we all shared a beer in their car. Rolling Rock, I think.

And, now that Gibney is a two-time Oscar-nominated director, I feel a little sheepish about the whole incident, although I can't imagine I'd do anything differently now given the circumstances at the time, although I might have been more pleasant about it. 

Gibney made a tough film with "Taxi to the Dark Side" which focuses on the controversial death of an Afghan taxi driver which occurred at Bagram Air Base and also examines the US policy on torture and interrogation. 

But, I wish him well…no hard feelings, right Alex?

Find more Military Hollywood Insider articles by Mary McIntyre Brown at Military.com.

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Copyright 2008 by Mary McIntyre Brown