Seriously, that scene when the mercenaries are cowering in hiding, afraid to do anything to help the people the Burmese soldiers are herding across a mine-laden paddy, and Rambo jumps out and pwns the whole Burmese squad in five seconds with his bow -- sweeeeeeeet.

I would be very surprised if this movie wasn't in my top three at the end of the year. And a Director's Cut is something we should all be glad for.

As far as character development goes, we've had 3 previous films to find out who this guy is. Here we learn everything we need to know: he's become so jaded with his own country that he now lives in Thailand and keeps to himself mostly. He's not trying to make a difference anymore because he realizes that change has to occur on a worldwide scale, not localized like the missionaries are attempting to do.

I'll get skewered for saying this, but what Sly did with the character in under 90 minutes was brilliant.

i wanted more of him going at it alone against everyone.

i guess he wanted to return both rocky and rambo back to their somewhat realistic roots.

Watching Sly utilize the most impressive esplodin' body effects this side of the Mississippi and seamlessly slap it together with unreal editing and cheering the whole time does not mean I sit in my basement jerking off to faces of Death.

I will buy both editions, just because I can't sit around and wait.

Um, that's your opinion. That doesn't make it true. I have seen neither movie, so I cannot comment on them.

Rambo was a quality action movie for many people. While I have not seen it, from that clip above, it certainly seems like the action was of high-quality.

And no where is it written that one must like "artistic" and "unconventional" movies to be a movie fan/geek. That's ridiculous. I love the Evil Dead movies. Are you telling me I'm not a movie fan because I like those movies?

How about the Indy films? Do those qualify as "quality" movies, or are they not intelligent/artistic, etc enough? Since you do like them, are you still a movie fan?

Fuck, Rambo is the type of movie FANS go ga-ga for.

It is the very reason why movies thought to be terrible in one era, are suddenly 'discovered' to be masterpieces.

It is why there are so many lists of greatest movies of all time, and no one can agree on all of them. Not the so called experts, and not the average movie goer.

Why? Because it is ultimately a subjective viewpoint.

Yes, there are some movies that seem to transcend the debate, and their greatness is beyond question. But, can you really say that the two movies you mentioned belong in such a class?

And you were being condescending as hell.

Take it one step further, these TB's have shown that some prefer TOD over Radiers, and some even think TLC is the best.

Most would put Raiders over all of them, but a sizable portion thinks TOD is best.

That is pure subjectivity.

But that is the beauty of free thought!

Hmmm, methinks that's harsh. So I gotta put Ratatouille on my neutral list?

I own Ratatouille, and found when he was controlling the chef quite funny.

The CoC code does not quantify movies on the same basis as critics. Witness the Leprechaun & Tremors series, Beastmaster, Evil Dead series, etc. These are the pillars of CoC.

As for fans of Eastern Promises, yeah that would have been an awesome piolet (so would have History of Violence) but as stand alone movies they are weak. And for anyone that says they are crazy violent, has not seen any of Croneburgs other work.

Besides, best of lists are all nonsense anyway. How many people don't put Kanye West, Gnarls Barkley and Arcade Fire on their music lists year after year and I wouldn't have that sewage piped in my coffin.

And since this is becoming a I LIKE THIS WHY DON'T YOU fest, I think 07 was total shit for movies, everything I've seen this year has been head and shoulders above 07 (save for TWBB but I saw that this year so I count it for this year. Yes I know it came out last year, whatever). Just 07 was full of movies that got all this hype and got there balls cuped and in the end they never really delivered. Like nothing in 07 pushed cinema to the next level. All the summer movies where crap, I finally found a Pixar character I didn't really care about. No Country for a single critic with a different opinion. 300 was cool and all, but after one viewing of the trailer you'd seen it all. Transhumans. Any movie with 3 in it, was useless. The few movies from last year I liked: Simpsons and TMNT were great cartoon TV to cartoon movies, which normally doesn't happen. Superbad was the only comedy from last year worth remembering. Sunshine and Daywatch were amazing Sci-Fi (whatever you wanna call Daywatch) movies. And DH4 was the only summer movie worth seeing again (yeah it was retarded, but how did Bruce have a more bad ass actioin scene then Optimus?). 30 days of night was better then it should have been. Beowulf is what 300 should have been. Bridge to Terabithia started to make kids movies watchable again. I am Legend, while still way to on the safe side, Will Smith gave a pretty damn impressive performence. I say last year was the best year for the critics, because for some reason everyone just fucking ate up the crap they copied from each other. 08 may end up having more crappy movies then 07, but the high points (so far) have been a lot higher then last year.

Oh wait, I saw Cloverfield too. And it doesn't deserve to stand in Rambo's shadow.

As for Micheal Clayton, I did enjoy it and I usually hate Clontang, but it wasn't any better then A Civil Action or (insert any John Grisham legal drama here).

And Fassi. You didn't like TMNT or Sunshine? Did you not see Sunshine in theaters? I like Sunshine because there hasn't been a good Sci-fi in forever. And if you didn't like TMNT then you probably didn't like the show growing up, also it had the most bad ass fight scene with Leo and Mike in the rain. Yeah saw the Kingdom, I think I was expecting too much going into it. Plus the use of the Mr. West song in the trailer was killing me. It was pretty damn good, thought Bateman was kind of out of place in the whole thing. But it continues the trend of Peter Berg making movies a lot better then they have any right to be. I am calling his best director Oscar within ten years now. If anyone is looking for anyone who will remotly resemble the "NEXT" Steven Speilberg, watch Berg career. Between him and Danny Boyle man those two can probably direct any type of movie and make is good to great.

The ending of Cloverfield bothered me. This 30-story monster snuck up on them? Swallows a guy and spits him and the camera out, intact? And Rob runs back for the camera witht he monster standing right there? Ehhhhh, they lost me. But I enjoyed much of it.

The way they handled Moss' death in No Country bothered me. We got to see peripheral characters bite it but not the central one? Maybe that randomness was the point but it still bothered me.

I'm the only guy on this site that openly admits his love for Clooney. What others see as ego and annoyance, I see as charm and a guy I want to have drinks and talk politics with. Flame away.

Killzone was great and to think I had my shrink wrapped copy collecting dust for over six months until recently.Invisible Target is right up there and now I had no idea that it will soon be released by Dragon Dynasty so I already have it pre ordered. What's odd is that there's a(Bare bones?) Region 1 copy for $7.00 on Amazon.Like HOD, I highly recommend IT for all Asian action fanboys and collectors alike.

And that's spectacular news about Invisible Target coming stateside. I hope all the regulars (you know who you are) add it to their queues.

HBD I know what your saying, fucking, who else here is at work right now?

Time to go though. Gotta pick up the kid at daycare.

The Karen they rescued presumably parted ways with them afterwards.

Your definition of the inviolate status of "quality" is also completely false. Lesson number one of cultural anthropology is: "there is no such thing as objectivity."

He doesn't decide to go to Pankot until he finds out the rocks are the Sankara Stones. Fortune and glory. He doesn't give a shit about the kids.

So he drags a child and a semi-retarded woman into the depths of hell because he's "not leaving without the stones". He never mentions the kids. He was ready to bail. Only after he heard the screams of the children did he get the least bit curious about the stolen kids. THEN he becomes the hero, not before. That's why ToD is a prequel. In Raiders, he's still obsessive but much less mercenary. He's still willing to leave his girlfriend to the Nazis in favor of getting the ark. Only at the end is he willing to give it up for her.

Then by Last Crusade, he's pretty much a pussy. He doesn't care about the Grail at all until the second his father is shot. That's the character arc of the movies.

And anyone who can't get excited about flying hamburger and blood sprays needs a cold Sam Adams and a hand job while watching it. Let's see your excitement level be anything less than a 10 after that.

Way I see it is, if a leaked movie is good and I watch the leak, I'll pay to see it big and without annoying studio watermarks on the screen. Let's just say I watched Rambo screener...and didn't go to the theatre after.

Sly was thinking of us, so we wouldn't have to say "Excuse me, dumb fuck, it's not RAMBO it's FIRST BLOOD thank you very much." Now we can just assume they are talking about the newest film (but we secretly know they aren't)

On the other hand, I can say as a student of the holy scriptures of the Church of Chang that Evil Dead 1 is not the best of the series, and anyone that thinks it is is a sanctimonious little fungus infested clit-ring with delusions of grandeur and an overinflated sense of their own worth. Evil Dead 1 has the strongest horror content of the three, but lacks the humour, charm, arse-kickingness, brilliant central character, and quotable script that its sequels have.

Didn't make that connection before today about Vern taking issue with elements in Rambo and yet being a huge Seagal fan.

Last Seagal movie I saw was with DMX and I thought it was trash. Has he put out anything good recently I should watch?