Amph Boom-Lay, Boom-Lay, Boom: The Expendables

Even though it's just supposed to be a sentimental happy ending, I'd like to know who the hell "R Rambo" was supposed to be.

 

If history is any indicator, Sly will say the movie is dead six months from now, and then six months later say he's working on a script where Rambo battles android leprechauns in suburban New Hampshire with the aid of a zombified Robert Palmer.

I'm all for a Rambo V if this is indeed the final go 'round and Sly can give the character the same sort of closure he gave Rocky... before he agreed to participate in a spin-off about Apollo Creed's son .

 

I would assume his parent's home or where he grew up prior to Vietnam.

 

That is is father. In the First Blood novelization, Rambo mentioned that his father turned mean when he got drunk and used to beat him and his mother. When Rambo was a teenager, his father attacked him with a knife during a drunken argument one night, but Rambo defended himself by shooting his bow at his father. (kind of/sort of explaining his connection to the compound bow) Rambo ran away that night and later joined the army. Rambo still corresponded with his mother until she died, but he hadn't directly talked with his father since then. The novel wasn't kind to Rambo's childhood. I don't think any of that was mentioned in any movie, but it provides some background Stallone had for the character.

Isn't in Rambo IV, on the boat, that the girl asked Rambo if he had a family? Rambo replied something along the lines that his mother died and that he hasn't spoken with his father since Vietnam? She suggested that he should go back home, but Rambo shrugged it off, preferring to be alone in the jungle. However, at of the film, he put everything aside and went home, where he saw his father's rusted mailbox at his farm, having finally moved on with his life. Assuming his father has moved on in the 40 years or however long its been as well.

I suppose that's why Rambo is supposed to fight drug cartels in the proposed Rambo sequel. Rambo's ranch was simply described as being on many acres in Arizona, but if it was near the border/potential drug smuggling route, movie-generated conflict would arise.....

 

Good post.

 

Thanks for the knowledge. Hopefully there's some angle here that Stallone has found that will allow for some emotional closure for the character. That final shot of Rambo was a pretty good way to say goodbye the character IMO. I just hope Rambo V doesn't undo that just so he can turn more bad guys into sausage.

 

This answers the questions I had, thank you.

 

I've got two words for Sly and Avi Lerner; "Cynthia--Rothrock".

No offense, but I don't want a bunch of MMA fighters. One or two to add some martial arts flavor would be fine (Gina Carano, Ronda Rousey), but not an entire cast. They should stick to the same formula and get actual actresses who had iconic action roles in the 80s-90s-early 00s. Sigourney Weaver is a great idea. Linda Hamilton is another. I've also heard Milla Jovovich's name mentioned.

And seriously, Cynthia Rothrock.



As for Expendables 3, I'm really curious to see how this fares. Reviews have been lukewarm, buzz muted. And then there's the whole 2 million illegal downloads thing. The Hollywood Reporter says it might not even crack $20 million domestic this weekend.

 

Lucy Lawless, Lynda Carter, Lena Headey, Lucy Liu, Pam Grier, Maggie Q, Famke Janssen, Cory Everson, Rhona Mitra, Grace Jones, Brigitte Nielsen.

Idk if this is common knowledge, I just found it google searching some of these actresses, but apparently there's a mock Expendables movie called Mercenaries starring Kristanna Loken, Nielsen, Vivica A Fox, Rothrock and Zoe Bell. I feel like someone already mentioned it somewhere here, though.

 

Huh. I'm sure it's awful, but I've gotta watch it.

I wonder if the struggles of Expendables 3 (last projection I saw put it around $16 mill domestic for the weekend) will have any effect on ExpendaBelles? Will the studio get cold feet now? And surely this is the end of the road for the Expendables franchise unless it flat tears it up over seas, which it may.

 

I sincerely hope we do. I've been pretty lukewarm on this series thus far. Great concept, but shaky execution IMO. But there's something to be said for what they're attempting to do with these, which is deliver an agenda-free good time, and I can't help but think that if they keep making them, perhaps they'll really nail it.

 

If the Expendables do take on time travel in the next chapter I have two words for Sly; Christopher--Lloyd.

 

BACK TO THE OCTAGON!!!

 

A Rambo sequel was almost an adaption of the novel "Hunter" Which is kinda sci-fi (it's about gene splicing animal genes into a human predator style creature). I read the novel (found it on sale for a barely 5 bucks at a clearance and I read that it might be adapted into a Rambo movie) and it sez Stallone said he wasn't going to make it Rambo but apparently kept that project in mind. But the book has a team of killer military folk band together and take the man/beast fella down. There's even a chick sniper character. My guess, if they can get Expendables 4 going, it could be an adaptation of that. It's sci-fi-ish but not, like, time travel fighting space aliens or what have you.

Also it's nice to see Stallone admit that E3 should have not been PG-13. And the "Lil' Young Expendables" plot that carries the middle portion of the movie really kinda sinks it. I honestly think Expendables 2 was pretty fantastic, had a great mix of cast and took a more comical approach to it but still had some heavy action beats when needed. And JCVD was pretty gold throughout chewing scenery.

 

Wow, I hadn't put 2 and 2 together there, but you're right, that could be it. For some reason Sly has a Jones for this story, and seeing as how a straight up adaptation might not sell without a brand name and I can't see him having Rocky box the creature, he might very well use it as the basis for Ex: 4.

I just hope the creature has shark genes, because if they go this route, that's what the Expendables franchise will be jumping.

 

Speaking of Terry Crews, I was channel surfing the other day and stumbled across Who Wants to be a Millionaire and who should be hosting but Mr. Crews. Now that's versatility.

 

Terry Crews is a goddamned national treasure and I'm not even American. Once again, bad move on E3's part by sidelining him for basically the entire flick.

 

Apparently they couldn't have two active black guys on the team at the same time.