WARNING! MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
Released: September 2019, May 2020(Extended Edition, Amazon Prime Only)
Director: Adrian Grunberg
Rated R
Run Time: 90 Minutes(Theatrical Release),101 Minutes(Extended Edition)
Distributor: Lionsgate Studios
Genre: Action/Thriller
Cast:
Sylvester Stallone: John Rambo
Paz Vega: Carmen
Sergio Peris-Mencheta: Hugo Martinez
Adriana Barraza: Maria
Yvette Monreal: Gabrielle
Oscar Jaenada: Victor Martinez
Periodically, I like to revisit certain movies here at Major Tom’s. There are a number of reasons why I would do something like that. One: Enough time has passed that my views on a film may have changed or I have something more to say than I initially did in the first review. Two: There’s another version of a film that has been released that I haven’t seen before. I’ll look at it, but I’ll only do a post about it if there’s something significant that was either added or cut from the film. It happens. It’s all part of film-making. Stuff’s going to get left on the cutting room floor while other stuff will make into the final release. It’s usually done for pacing purposes and tightening up the story. Again, it happens all the time, from big-budget blockbusters to the low-budget indie film. But I have to wonder, sometimes, at why a movie studio would release an extended version of a film to the rest of the world while countries like the U.S, Canada, and the U.K get the shorter version. Not only that, a film studio has the audacity to finally release the extended version of a film to audiences months after the Blu-ray or DVD initially released. It also bothers me that a movie studio would not include said extended version with the initial home video release. My only conclusion is that it’s greed, plain and simple. What I bring you today is not just another look at last year’s Rambo: Last Blood, but the extended version of the film as well.
The first thing that you will notice about the extended version of Last Blood is that the opening sequence is vastly different from the theatrical release that was given to the U.S, Canada, and the U.K. In the theatrical release, the film opens with John Rambo on his farm in Arizona working horses. In the extended version, the film opens during a major storm with rescue teams looking for a group of missing hikers. Rambo often volunteers to help look for people, so this shouldn’t have been any different. Rambo finds the mangled body of a woman, but finds two survivors further upstream. The guy, whose wife was found dead, takes off trying to find her while Rambo ties himself and the girl to a rock when the river really starts coming down. Afterwards, he brings her to safety and discovers that the body of the man was found. Rambo returns home to deal with the fact that he could only save the one and not the other two. Why this sequence was cut from the original release, I will never know. It’s a ten-minute sequence that actually further humanizes Rambo and the fact that he’s no longer in peak physical condition to help everybody. There are themes in the scene that are actually rather important in the rest of the film and why he fails more than he succeeds. Outside of a couple of minutes of added footage, the story plays out like before, with Rambo having to track his niece down after she’s been kidnapped.
A lot of the stuff that I’ve said about Last Blood in my initial review still stands, but I would like to reiterate those points. The acting is still really strong across the board, especially with Yvette Monreal, Sylvester Stallone, and Adriana Barraza. I honestly still like the dynamic between Stallone and Monreal. It still feels like a father/daughter relationship, even though we don’t know a whole lot about her or Maria, outside of the fact that they were allowed to stay at Rambo’s ranch. Unfortunately, Paz Vega still gets the short end of the stick here as Carmen, who also has a personal vendetta against the Martinez brothers. She’s good, but she’s not given a whole lot and even less screen-time. While I can’t say that the villains in this film are memorable, Sergio and Oscar really dive into the roles that they’ve been given, and because they are such good actors, I’ll remember them for this film. Stallone actually gives one of his best performances in the series here, especially in the scenes after he rescues Gabrielle. It’s actually a pretty powerful scene and bitter-sweet. He saves her, but she ends up dying from a drug overdose on the way home, which sends Rambo over the edge.
This extended edition doesn’t add new violence or more action. In fact, outside of the opening sequence, most of the added scenes don’t really add anything worthwhile. There’s a scene in which Hugo discusses his business with another cartel boss, and there’s a really short scene in which Victor allows police access to the girls that he kidnapped. It doesn’t add anything to the conversation about the sex trafficking business, outside of showing how corrupt the Mexican police can be. I’m not being racist about that, it’s in the news. But I know now why these minor scenes were cut: They add nothing to the movie. Ultimately, I think Sylvester Stallone was right in getting some of these scenes cut. The opening sequence, in my opinion, needed to be there. This all goes back to one of my initial points about multiple home-video releases. There was absolutely NO reason for Lionsgate to keep this stuff out of the original Blu-Ray release, except to milk people out of more money. All they needed to do was add a “deleted scenes” section, or god forbid, an extended option in the main menu. I’m certainly guilty of double-dipping, myself. I definitely have multiple copies of the same film, but more often than not, those releases are generally bolstered by a bevy of special features. What’s even worse, is that Lionsgate dumped this version of the film on Amazon Prime only, which means you have to have a subscription to watch it legally.
At the end of the day, I still really enjoy Rambo: Last Blood. I think it’s the weakest entry into the series, but as an action movie, it’s still pretty damn good. The last twenty minutes of the film are bat-shit crazy and super-violent. Most of the blood and gore is practical, so I definitely appreciate the effort on that angle. The music by Bryan Tyler is really damned good and pulse-pounding. The alternate opening sequence is pretty thrilling and sheds a little bit more light into Rambo’s PTSD. Not a whole lot, but it’s a sequence that I actually like. Ultimately, my recommendation is to stick with the theatrical release if you already own it. This isn’t the first time that Lionsgate pulled this crap. They did it with the fourth film as well, but I haven’t seen the extended version of that film yet. I don’t know if I ever will. The extended version of Rambo: Last Blood is the worst kind of double-dipping that a studio can do, in my opinion. I think they’re trying to keep the franchise afloat and popular. Given the response and critical drubbing that the film got by both audiences AND critics, I honestly can’t see another film being made. I know that Stallone has talked about doing an origin story of sorts, but I think audiences are sick and tire of origin stories. The original First Blood still remains the best film in the franchise, hands down. None of the following films can come close, but I don’t think there’s a bad film in the series. So, those are my thoughts on the extended version of Rambo: Last Blood. You can find the alternate opening sequence on Youtube, so you don’t have to pull up Amazon to see it. I’m thinking of doing a list of pet peeves that I have with the film industry later, so keep an eye open for that.
My Final Recommendation:
Initial Review: 8.5/10
Extended Cut: 7/10