Did you know that there is a new Rambo video game being developed for release in 2012? Now you do!
And here’s more on it! And more! And more! And even more! Yes, there is more!
And if you want to look… even more places on the web with the news.
Category: Rambo
HCG: New Rambo Bust!
Rambo is back and the Hollywood Collectibles Group has him. From their website…
- Dirty and bloodied from battle, this bust captures Rambo’s raw intensity, as he moves in to dispatch another enemy.
- Featuring an accurate likeness of Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo from the latest Rambo movie, this amazingly detailed 1:2 scale bust portrays Rambo with his iconic knife in hand, poised to dispense instant justice!
- This incredible piece of art stands 16¾” tall and is constructed from heavyweight polystone and then hand painted to the finest detail.
- The HCG Exclusive version comes complete with a separate additional RAMBO nameplate, themed to match the bust. The HCG Exclusive edition is extremely limited – only 100 pieces will be available World wide! Only available directly from HCG, and not available from other sources.
- Also available – Standard Edition.
- Sculpted by Edinho Maga. Paint masters by John Allred.
As an added bonus for SZoners, thanks to the fine folks at Hollywood Collectibles Group, if you enter “RAMBOBUST” at checkout you will receive a 10% discount!
Jeremy Treece Rocks Rambo
Jeremy Treece has created art for comic books, trading cards, animation and independent films. Not too long ago, Jeremy was sketching live on U-Stream in a marathon session. My buddy, John Beatty called me to say that he’d ordered a couple of pieces for me. The first was his take on a young Rambo. [JB also requested a Barney Ross of The Expendables and I ordered up a Jack Carter — they’ll be posted in the future.]
You can see more of Jeremy’s art here… and definitely again here at the SZ in the future.
New Rambo Action Figures in the Works
Earlier this month is was announced that NECA has obtained the rights to make actions figures for The Evil Dead and the Rambo series.
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For Rambo, NECA is starting off with 7 inch action figures of Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo as seen in the first three movies. If all goes well, more are possible. These are scheduled to see release in 2012.
To read the full report, simply click here. Thanks for the tip to Michael Beckett.
Sylvester Stallone’s Rambo
On Febraury 23, 2011, Culture Mob posted a throughtful review by Josh Katz of Sylvester Stallone’s Rambo. Here’s a taste:
- To call Sylvester Stallone’s 2008 action epic Rambo “frustratingly watchable” mislabels the matter somewhat—the film is compulsively watchable. On an aesthetic level, it is a well-shot, well-cut, entertainingly-if-not-always-competently acted, and relentlessly paced piece of work. I’ve seen it five times, and it goes down smooth every time.
- I believe Sylvester Stallone wanted to make an important movie. If you listen to the commentary track on the theatrical cut of Rambo or watch his Production Diaries on the extended cut (and I recommend giving these a whirl, just to get a sense of how eloquent and thoughtful Stallone can be), he seems committed to bringing the plight of the Karen genocide in Burma to light.
- Stallone is a master of action movie filmmaking; that much is certain. He instinctively understands where the camera needs to go to maximize visceral and spatial impact, how to split the balance of exposition and action, and how to vary action scenes while marrying them to logical narrative momentum.
You can read the whole piece here.
Jesse Munoz Trifecta
Jesse Munoz Draws First Blood
I’m a fan of Jesse Munoz’s art. I discovered him though his DA site and then a web search to his website. Recently Jesse ran a contest where the person who could send him a screenshot of his DA site the closest to hitting the 25,000 page view mark would win a 3 card sketch set.
I watched as the days went by and the hits got closer to 25,000. I hoped to be around when the number was hit. I had been sick with a bronchial infection and woke up in the middle of the night coughing. I decided to get up and check my e-mail. Then I decided to check in on Jesse’s site. Guess what page view number I landed on? Unreal.
Jesse came through in flying colors with three cool Stallone themed cards. This Rambo piece is the first. I’ll show you the other two soon. Until then, why not visit Jesse’s sites and show him some love?
Brian Tyler: “Rambo” & “The Expendables”
Moviehole recently interviewed Brian Tyler [pictured above with Sly], the composer behind the scores for “Rambo” and “The Expendables.” Tyler is currently composing music for “Fast Five” and “Battle for LA” but took time out for the interview. Here’s what he had to say about working with Sly:
- Jonathon Urban: After a 20 year absence, Sylvester Stallone brought back one of his two iconic characters, John Rambo, in 2008’s “Rambo.” For over 25 years, Jerry Goldsmith’s name was synonymous with the epic scores for “First Blood”, “Rambo: First Blood Part II” and “Rambo III.” What was it like stepping into such a beloved franchise that also had such a well-known score?
BT: Daunting! I wanted to honor the Jerry Goldsmith scores and incorporate those great themes into my overall tapestry which had new themes as well. Rambo is now older and wiser and that evolution needed to be reflected in the score.
JU: There’s clearly a “hero theme” and not per se a “love theme,” but one that is clearly for the character of ‘Sarah.’ How did you come up with these?
BT: Well the themes for “Rambo” took awhile to come up with. Hmm. I think I sat down at the piano and just went for it!
JU: There are several classic Goldsmith cues that meld very nicely with your original work. Was there ever any challenge on working in the Goldsmith cues into your original pieces?
BT: Well I wrote my themes to be compatible with Jerry’s themes. They worked together by design. My biggest challenge was composing next to a giant’s shadow.
JU: And like you have done with several other directors, you scored your second film with Stallone, “The Expendables.” Before I ask you about “The Expendables”, it has to be a good feeling working again with a director you have worked with before. Do you feel that you and the director’s chemistry gets better with each film and that you’re able to compose a score that encompasses the director’s vision even more so?
BT: There are a number of directors that I have worked with a number of times. Bill Paxton, Sylvester Stallone, Jonathan Liebesman, William Friedkin, Justin Lin, George Gallo, Greg Yaitanes, and others. It is always great to grow closer with a creative collaborator.
JU: Okay, “The Expendables”, which was the macho movie of all macho movies. Were you Sly’s first choice to score the movie?
BT: I was indeed. At least I was told that. (Laughing.)
To read the whole interview, click here.
Welcome to Rockyland
On December 29, 2010, IFC News posted Matt Singer’s article, “Welcome to Rockyland: Sylvester Stallone’s Viagra Cinema.” In the piece Singer explores Sly’s resurgence to the top at an age when “action stars” have long since retired. Here are some excerpts:
- On July 6, 2011 Sylvester Stallone will turn 65 years old. At an age when most Americans are considering their Social Security benefits, Stallone’s career is the healthiest it’s been in decades.
- His latest film, “The Expendables,” was the first he’s headlined to gross over $100 million in the U.S. since “Rocky IV” back in 1985. Ten years ago, Stallone’s career was dead and he was a joke. Now he’s the world’s leading manufacturer of viagra cinema, movies designed to showcase the aging male frame as it performs unnatural but remarkable physical feats.
- What Stallone’s done is basically without precedent. All of his former rivals for action film supremacy have faded away or moved on; all of his predecessors turned to moodier and more reflective work by the time they were his age.
- …the world of Stallone’s viagra cinema: a place of physical and moral decay, the Philadelphia of “Rocky Balboa,” the Burma of “Rambo,” or the corrupt fictional island of Vilena in “The Expendables.” The heroes Stallone plays in these films refuse to concede to the decay around them or bend to the physical limitations of their age. The world may decay; Sylvester Stallone does not.
- Given Stallone’s age, and the fact that he surrounded himself in “The Expendables” with fresh action stars like Statham and Terry Crews, it seemed reasonable to assume that he was making the film as a symbolic passing of the torch; that it would be about what it’s like to realize you’re not faster than light anymore. Nope. Ross is correct about his skills… “The Expendables” isn’t about making way for a new generation. It’s about putting that new generation in their place and showing them how it’s done. Casting Stallone’s old contemporaries like Dolph Lundgren and Mickey Rourke was good for some chuckles; it was also good for showing how good Stallone looks in comparison to them.
- In “Rocky V,” when Rocky was forced into retirement (a first time), his constant refrain was “I didn’t hear no bell!” signifying that his life is not over and that he continues to endure. Twenty years later, Stallone is still fighting, still refusing to hear the bell. The longer he refuses, the deeper he gets into Rockyland, the more strangely compelling his viagra cinema gets.
Singer has written an excellent piece and I highly recommend it to all SZoners. – Craig
SZoner’s Rambo Tat
SZoner, Mr. Blackwell recently got his first tat to celebrate, well, let’s let him explain…
Hi, new to here but a BIG Sly fan since 1977…I was 12 and saw Rocky at a school film club. Since then, I watched all of his movies and regard him as one of my ‘heroes’…..hell, I even watched Spy Kids 3 on TV the other day!
I went back into education in 2005 and got a B.A.Hons Degree in Creative Lens Media. My final year dissertation was entitled ‘Rambo, Reagan and Bush: American Politics and the Rambo movies.
I then did a Masters degree and promised myself that I’d get a tattoo if I passed it…which I did.
I thought it might be an appropriate tattoo to share with you folks. As you can see, it is from the publicity posters for the last Rambo movie.
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Congrats on the degree and the tat! – Craig