Rambo has 263 deaths but is it the most violent film of all-time?
Sylvester Stallone’s ‘Rambo’ franchise may be one of the bloodiest of all-time
61 year old action star Sylvester Stallone is back as ‘John Rambo’ this weekend with the fourth installment of the “First Blood“ series with a film simply entitled “Rambo.” In the film there are a reported 236 deaths. This is pretty awesome as there was only one person killed in the original “First Blood” and 69 people were killed in the sequel “Rambo II” only to be improved upon with a 132 in “Rambo III.”Obviously this is a franchise which seeks to show-up each previous movie by killing more people than the prior film. In all four films we total 438 deaths or kills. That comes out to an average of 109 and a half per film. What great value if you are in the market to watch people get killed on film.When asked why make another ‘Rambo’ film Stallone replied with:
“I wanted to do something more spiritual and visually interesting.”
But the real question is, how does the ‘Rambo’ franchise stack up against other violent films?
Entertainment Weekly came out with this report on the 15 “Most Violent Films of All Time”
1. American History X
2. Irreversible
3. Hostel
4. Pan’s Labyrinth
5. A Clockwork Orange
6. A History of Violence
7. The Hills Have Eyes
8. Saw
9. The Passion of the Christ
10. Reservoir Dogs
11. Silence of the Lambs
12. Seven
13. Hannibal
14. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
15. Saving Private Ryan
And here’s the official BOPsy list of most violent movies ever:
1. Passion of the Christ - I have never watched a film that has made me so physically queasy and sick to my stomach. The sheer violence and the type of violence was so offensive I literally ran outside the theater. I mean its one thing to kill bad-guys with an AK47 machine gun, its another to smack a guy all movie long who practically did nothing wrong other than claim he was the son of God.2. American Psycho - The violence in this Brett Easton Ellis adapted film is pretty awesome because it contains a sense of humor yet its the sickest and most deranged kind. Christian Bale of course is genius as ‘Patrick Bateman’.
3. Rambo II - Sylvester Stallone realized that in order to capitalize on the booming international market of the mid 1980’s he had to take his John Rambo character from “First Blood” and give him a massive body count. I think he was on to something, he knew how to merge cinematic action with MTV-era attention deficiency.
4. Sin City - No doubt this is a visually stunning movie, but the comic feel to the film is lost when the sheer power of the violence and deaths in the film ooze out of the screen.
5. Natural Born Killers - There is no amount of weed that Oliver Stone can smoke that will make me understand the levels of violence in this film. Woody Harrelson, Juliette Lewis and Robert Downey Jr. star in a tripped out, freaked out film about the media and the media’s obsession with violence.
6. No Country for Old Men - This year’s Oscar hopeful is an incredibly violent movie, yet the violence is well served for the plot and adds to the sheer power of the Javier Bardem performance we tout as the most evil person on-screen ever.
7. Lone Wolf McQuade - At the same time that Sylvester Stallone’s career emerged, so did that of Chuck Norris and this film which pits him against the evil David Carradine has one of the most violent opening scenes. Texas Ranger ‘J.J. McQuade’ takes an uzi and shoots about 30 or so bad-guys dead against a Texas border desert. Awesome!
If you are as excited to see “Rambo” as we are you might want to know or remind yourself of some of these facts about the character John Rambo before viewing the film:
Birth Name: John James Rambo
Birthdate: July 6, 1947
Birthplace: Bowie, Arizona
Heritage: 1/2 Native American Navajo (mother) 1/2 German (father)
High School: Rangeford High School (Class of 1965)
Military Enlistment Date: August 6, 1964
Vietnam Duty: January 1966 to 1967, 1969 to 1971
Special Forces: Green Beret training at Fort Bragg, North Carolina
P.O.W. : 1971 to May 1972 (escaped)
Military Discharge: September 1974
Mental illness: Post-traumatic stress disorder
Awards, Medals: 2 Silver Stars, 4 Bronze Stars, 4 Purple Hearts, Distinguished Service Cross, Medal of Honor, Combat Infantryman Badge, Air Medal, Soldier’s Medal, Prisoner of War Medal, Vietnam Wound Medal, Distinguished Flying Cross, Army Service Ribbon, Vietnam Service Medal and Vietnam Campaign Medal
Social Security Number: 936-01-1758
Expertise: Expert Infantry, Aircraft Crewman, Senior Combat Parachutist, Expert Weapons Qualifications
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