Rambo: First Blood 9/10
This movie has aged spectacularly well. It was fantastic when it was new, and watching it now is like getting a cool drink of water on a hot summer's day in comparison to the dreck that fills the action genre these days. It's intense at times, and the action is great, but Stallone's performance really pulls you into the film. It has a clear message without being overly heavy-handed about it. And Stallone actually comes across like a real human being despite being a damned machine when it comes to battle tactics and survival. Little things like his slips and falls here or there are the type of thing that's basically been stamped out in hero roles over the last couple decades, but really add to the humanity of the character.

Just an absolutely terrific film all the way around.

In the silent heroes area, I thought I recognized the chopper pilot so I go look him up and he's literally played a chopper pilot dozens and DOZENS of times in big blockbusters and television shows. T2, China Beach, End of Days, the list goes on and on and on. So yeah, I do recognize him as I've seen him dozens of times over the years. Gotta say it's cool to see someone that does their job well enough to just silently keep doing that job working at that level as a background character. That's a talent that I can truly applaud.

 

Rocky:
Giving it a rewatch in trying to go through all the Rocky movies this time around. Still one of the best movies.

9/10

 

I’d personally consider Rambo more of a violent character drama. I mean the body count is all of.....two? And the climax isn’t a town levelling gun fight but Rambo breaking down emotionally because he’s sad, angry and even distressed that him just wanting to have a meal at a diner has turned into such a farce that if the stakes weren’t so high it would be comical.

I mean I don’t dispute your rating - First Blood is a magnificent movie and Stallone is stellar in the role - but I dunno if it’s an action movie. Certainly not when stacked up against say, Commando or First Blood II anyway.

 

I suppose that's actually true. I know it always get tossed into the action genre, but you're right, it's not an "action" movie in that vein. The later Rambo films definitely cross into that genre, but First Blood is just a great drama and really humanized the hero to the point it draws you in completely.

 

Rocky 2:
It did feel like a natural continuation of the first film. Rocky gets full of himself thinking he got the hang of life now, but reality hits him hard forcing him to go back to the ring.

One thing that I wished the movie did better was the ordeal of Rocky's vision. They kept telling us he's blind of the right side but nothing really did show how it affected his life. With the cue cards it showed he couldn't read well, and with the car it looked like he just didn't know how to drive well. We didn't see POV shots showing us how Rocky normally sees and not enough accidents to show us. You could take the whole eye thing out of the movie and it barely changes anything.

8/10

 

Next up....Pongo's review of Rocky 5......Thousand! Pongo...?

 

The Silence of the Lambs (1991) - Chuck Norris/10

"Awesometacular"

 

It really is. Unlike the sequels and their de-evolution into mindless gore, this one messed with your mind and kept you on the edge of your seat. That's what makes it a true horror. Gore can happen in any movie, even ones without horror, so it's a cheap throwaway, but once that haunt you and stay with you and are culturally relevant and speak across generations...those are the true horror films. Eli Roth can suck it, Jonathan Demme made one of the scariest films ever and he didn't even have to rely on horror tropes to do it, just a solid story and a stellar cast bringing their A-game. Crazy how quality works, innit?

 

Rocky 3:
What I consider the first real sequel as opposed to part 2 that continued after part 1.

There are some minor flaws, but they're very minor they don't affect the enjoyment of this movie. Mr. T was fantastic and made Clubber Lang such a scary man despite not having a clear character or motivation to antagonize Rocky that much beyond thinking he was nothing but a showoff.

8/10

 

That's what a sequel is. Rocky 2 picks up after Rocky 1's ending, but it's a completely separate story with new arcs for the characters. It (like 3, 4, 5, and Rocky Balboa) isn't as well written as the original, but oh well. Is Quantum of Solace not a sequel to Casino Royale? Is Austin Powers 2 not a sequel of Austin Powers? Back to the Future 2? Star Trek 3? Halloween 2?

 

What I meant was Rocky 1 and Rocky 2 both make for one continuous story when you watch them one after the other, making it a 2 parter. Rocky 3 on the other hand is a separate new story so it's a sequel, but not a direct continuation where part 2 ended.

 

Yeah, but all those examples I listed above also start up exactly from the moment the previous movie ends. Many of them, like Halloween, Back to the Future, or Austin Powers, actually include shots from the first movie to kick off the new story. And they're all sequels.

And I don't agree about Rocky and Rocky 2 being a 2-parter. Despite 2 following immediately after the events of 1, they have separate stories, and the characters have new journeys not directly connected to their arcs in the first movie. If you wanted to say that about Back to the Future, I could maybe go along with you. But not Rocky.

 

Return of the Jedi - 9/10

I don’t care what anyone else says, this is my favorite Star Wars movie. Has been since I was a kid.

I don’t want this to devolve into a debate regarding the Special Editions, but it is NOT the changes from the original that bother me (Lucas can make all the changes he wants, though it’s out of his hands now). It’s the fact that the “special” versions are forced on the public, and the originals reduced to bootlegs. Give the public the option to choose which one to watch instead of forcing the changes.

Adding scenes of Oola, fine. Adding scenes of the galaxy celebrating was a good thing. The new song sequence in Jabba’s palace is far too CGI’d, plus I miss the old song (Lapti Nek). I understand the need for extended music at the end because of all the new scenes, but the old victory song with the Ewoks was much better (Yub Nub). And I don’t think I like the added “NOOOO!” by Vader. Just my opinion on the version I watched on Disney+.

 

I love Return of the Jedi. All the changes you specify didn't really bother me, even the new Jabba's Palace song sequence. Not trying to turn this into a debate either. I agree with you that they should release all versions of the films and let the fans choose for themselves. Overall, I don't mind most of the changes made in the special editions. But the absolute worst change they made out of all the special editions is something that irks the crap out of me every time I see it.

The fact that they made a young Hayden Christiansen as the force ghost for Anakin at the end, instead of allowing Sebastian Shaw to stay in the film, is just so monumentally disrespectful IMO. Just, why? No other force ghost in any movie of the series appears as their younger self. Even if they tried to make the argument that Anakin retained his younger form from before he joined the Dark Side when he was still a Jedi, it still holds no water. Anakin redeemed himself the moment he saved Luke by tossing the Emperor into the reactor. He made that choice as an older, and as it turns out, wiser man when Anakin admitted to Luke that he was right that there was still good in his father all along.

Sebastian Shaw should not have been replaced as Anakin's force ghost because he earned it in that moment of redemption. Hayden Christiansen had his good and bad moments playing Anakin, but I just wanna knock that smug look off of his face every time I see him appear next to Yoda and Obi-Wan at the end of ROTJ.

 

Slow West - 7.5/10

Very solid little flick! Michael Fassbender is perfect as always, the shots are beautiful and the tension of living in the Wild West was palpable. Several scenes definitely moved me but perhaps not as much physically moved as I expect from an A24 film. A recommended from me.

 

I agree completely with your assessment, though I also love Troma films, so it's a "for what it's worth" sorta thing.

 

Rocky 4:
Yeah, this wasn't as good as the previous 3. The first 3 movies had grounded setting and very realistic in tone, but the setting of part 4 felt like it came out of a comic book. Normal boxer vs a super boxer is a little comic-y.

Then you have the whole Cold War stuff and James Brown's performance that totally dates this movie in comparison. The Cold War is even worse since it made the USSR conflict too over the top making it another point in saying it was like a comic book. Even the training montage felt like it was trying too hard to 1-up the montages seen in previous movie.

Apollo's death though, I might call it impactful and emotional, if the fact they didn't kill a main character just a movie prior. So repeating again underplays the impact.

Now Ivan Drago, he was the polar opposite of Clubber Lang (no pun intended). Lang was loud, rude, too personal in his fights, and was not given enough backstory as to why he was the way he was. Drago was calm, stoic, treated his fights like it's part of his job, and was given enough story to understand him and what makes him the way he is.

Of course, I know this part will play a bigger part in Creed 2, but I'm judging it as it is for now.

6.5/10

 

That was the change I forgot to mention, shoehorning Hayden in there. I get that Lucas was trying to tie into the prequels, but it was just a dumb idea. And you’re totally right about Hayden’s stupid smirk being completely inappropriate for the scene. Shaw as Anikin was smiling because he had just been redeemed, he shouldn’t be acting all smug.

 

I honestly forgot about Troma when I made that post, so I'll walk it back a tad, in that specific case gore can work and adds to the outright insanity that makes Troma work. So, that being said, aside from Troma, which is very indie and I'd say most people these days have zero idea what it is, movies such as the Silence universe don't need gore to be horrific, most of Hollywood doesn't.

Man, Troma. Toxie, what a weird but charming hero. lol

 

Hell, they could have left Shaw as an example of the man Anakin should have grown into rather than what happened to him in life.