Craig Zablo’s StalloneZone

Archive for the ‘Rambo’ Category

Jesus Antonio is an artist who lives in Mexico.  Jesus posts on quite a few sites and is always positive and complimentary of the artwork of others and humble about his own.  When I had the opportunity to get a few Stallone sketches and a sketchbook from Jesus, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.  You can see more of Jesus’ art here!

Just received these photos and the following message from SZoner, SlyStalloneFan

The Expendables posters are on almost every corner of the STREETS OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA. Here are FRESH HOT OFF THE GRILL pictures!

This was by far the biggest banner I’ve seen so far. it is HUGE and they were just putting it up and I was able to get a few pictures while they were installing it.

Here is another poster. And as you can see, this is the headquarters office for Nu Image.

Here is another seat bench on Wilshire Blvd with THE EXPENDABLES on it  And by the way. having THE EXPENDABLES posters on benches and bus stops made it a lot more fun to take the bus.

Here’s another picture and you can see me in it wearing my Rocky shirt.

+++++

Thanks to SlyStalloneFan for sharing!

Alex Owens did the cool Rambo piece above.  I discovered Alex’s art through his Deviant Art site.  I commissioned this and a few other pieces last year.  You’ll see more of Alex’s work on the StalloneZone, but in the mean time, check out his Deviant Art gallery and send him some love.

On June 2, 2010, Winona 360 posted a piece titled, “Why Rambo Matters’ written by Nathan Wardinski.  Here are a few excerpts from the well written article:

First Blood Part II didn’t win any Academy Awards; the Best Picture Oscar for films of 1985 went to Out of Africa. But First Blood Part II did take Golden Raspberry Awards for Worst Picture, Actor, and Screenplay. With the amount of effort and emphasis placed on the Hollywood awards circuit, we would expect the Oscar winner to be enshrined in cultural immortality and the Razzie “winner” to sink into obscurity. But, 25 years later, nothing could be further from the truth.

Is First Blood Part II a good movie? Perhaps, in its own way it is. But that’s really beside the point, which is that First Blood Part II is an important movie. I would go so far as to argue it is among the most important movies of the last 25 years.

First Blood Part II stands out in several ways, not the least of which is its impact on filmmaking itself… Later action films like Die Hard, Bad Boys, Braveheart, Black Hawk Down and even Avatar owe their style in whole or in part to First Blood Part II.

You can read the rest of Nathan Wardinski’s piece here.

Mark Pennington graduated from the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art in 1985. Upon graduation Mark became a toy designer at Hasbro. Mark created designs for the G.I. Joe line of action figures including a Rocky Balboa GI Joe that never saw production! Mark’s first work as an inker in the comic book industry was for SQP on Judge Dredd! When I started collecting original sketches of Sly, Mark was one of the first artists that I approached.  I was excited to get this Rambo head sketch from him.  In the next few weeks I’ll post Mark’s take on an “older” Jack Carter.  Like today’s Rambo sketch, it’s another winner.

SZoner, Stefano Rondinella is an artist and Sylvester Stallone fan from Sicily.  We’ve featured Stefano’s art before and he’s back again with another painting of Sly as Rambo.  Stefano paints on stone lava of Etna!  Thanks to Stefano for sharing his talents with us.

The image above is of a poster that is showing up around the Cannes Film Festival.  The back of the poster has the words Coming 2011.  So it would seem that earlier reports that Sly had decided not to return for another Rambo were wrong.  But were they?  Not according to this report from Harry at Ain’t It Cool News.  Harry says…

… Stallone told me in no uncertain terms - At the end of JOHN RAMBO - when he sees his home, those horses and he looks back at that road… for Sly, that was a road he is never walking down again.

Truthfully, I liked the idea of Rambo going into Mexico to rescue some kidnapped girls. Of course I also thought that the ending to Rambo was a perfect capper to the series. If Sly asked for my advice, I’d say, you can’t top perfection. Rambo has come full circle. Let’s end the series and do Hunter and another Expendables. After that, let’s see what else is out there. Perhaps Poe?

Before we leave the topic of another Rambo.  There could be another Rambo with another Rambo.  “Huh,” you say?  It has been floated that perhaps the series will return with someone else playing the character.  I do think that Rambo would be viable as an on-going series and different actors could step into the role… if enough time passes between Sly stepping down and the new person stepping up.  RIght now, I think it would be too soon.

Great news!  A release date of July 27, 2010 has been announced for the Rambo: Extended Cut.  SZoner, Alex Lamprey, sent in a link to this Digital Bits announcement that the Rambo: Extended Cut would be nine minutes longer and contain a 90 minute video production diary.

According to this report at Inside Pulse Movies,  the new edition will be a…

complete recut of Stallone’s film…

Cliff Stephenson, who worked on the new release says…

“…the movie no longer begins with the “contest” the soldiers force upon the Karen villagers. There are lots of little tweaks, restructuring and changes throughout (including the removal or shortening of some of the more questionable FX shots). I happen to think it’s a far superior version of the movie when directly compared to the theatrical cut…”

The Rambo: Extended Cut Blu-Ray is set to retail for $19.99, but Amazon is discounting orders here.

Hey SZoners!  Mark from Hollywood Collectibles wanted us to get a heads-up…

The Rambo statue is now up for pre-order;
http://hollywood-collectibles.com/rambo_18.html
If your guys use the code “Rambo” at checkout, they will get a 10% discount!

How cool is it that the Rambo statue is once again created by Edinho Maga who was discovered here at the StalloneZone?

Thanks to Mark and the good folks at Hollywood Collectibles for giving us another discount.  Remember that the last Rambo statue sold out quickly.  So put in your order, or drop some hints for a birthday, Father’s Day or even Christmas gift!

As always, any SZoner who orders one and sends me a photo with it, will have it posted on the StalloneZone!

From the Hollywood Collectibles website:

“Heroes never die……..they just reload”

Standing an impressive 20” tall including base (to top of head – not including bow), this Quarter Scale statue captures Rambo’s raw intensity, as the “boatman” reveals his true colors to the mercenaries he is accompanying.

Featuring an accurate likeness of Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo from the latest Rambo movie, this amazingly detailed statue portrays Rambo with his now iconic bow in hand, poised to dispense instant justice with another arrow!
This incredible piece of art is constructed from heavyweight polystone and then hand painted to the finest detail.

Limited to just 500 pieces worldwide

There is no HCG Exclusive version of this piece. However if you like low serial #’s, we are reserving # 1 to # 100 for retail customers only. So the first 100 retail orders will receive the desirable low edition numbers!

Sculpted by Edinho Maga.
Painted by Dan “Danno” Cope.

Today’s sketch of Rambo was created by Patrick Thomas Parnell.  I first met Patrick at MegaCon earlier this year.  I don’t think I’d ever even seen his art before.  Patrick was doing these really cool, tall/thin color sketches for a reasonable price.  I asked him if he’d be interested in doing a Stallone piece for my collection and he chose Rambo.

If you’d like to see more of Patrick’s art, then go here.