Following Sylvester Stallone's success at reviving Rocky Balboa, the man is now ready to do the same with John Rambo. We have our first look at the new Rambo movie and Sylvester Stallone in the title role. As had been confirmed in some previous set images, John Rambo will be going with a bit of a cowboy look this time around. Check out the first image from Rambo V: Last Blood.
For a single image, this one certainly tells a story. We see John Rambo, looking grizzled and tired, standing in the rain. We have no idea what he's looking at, but based on the tagline included in the tweet from Lionsgate, which references an old line from Rambo: First Blood Part II, it will force Rambo to "become war" once again.
Based on the title of the film, one assumes that everybody is going into Last Blood with the expectation that it will be the last Rambo film. The franchise started in 1982 with First Blood so the title is an obvious attempt to bookend the series. The original film starred Sylvester Stallone as a Vietnam War veteran suffering from PTSD who finds himself fighting against a small town after a conflict with the local authorities goes bad. It was followed by a pair of sequels in 1985 and 1989 that saw Rambo go back into service overseas rescuing POWs from foreign lands. Then in 2008, we got Rambo, the fourth film in the franchise. Now, more than 10 years after the last installment we'll get one final adventure with the character.
In addition to being tied to the first film by its title, the new Rambo V will also follow the original in that it's a story about a more domestic battle. The report is that the new movie will see Rambo living at his family's ranch in Arizona, where he will come up against a Mexican drug cartel. Sergio Peris-Mencheta is on board as the leader of the cartel
While the Rambo franchise isn't quite as old as the Rocky movies, which Sylvester Stallone is also continuing with Creed II, which will be in theaters later this month, it's the other reason that Stallone became a huge star in the 1980s. Both are franchises that Stallone not only starred in but helped create. Stallone co-wrote every entry of the franchise and Rambo V: Last Blood is no exception.
With a title like Last Blood, one has to wonder what John Rambo's ultimate fate will be. While seeing the character live in peace is a nice thought, peace and John Rambo have never had much of a relationship. At the same time, Rambo is ultimately a man who was damaged by the events of the wart that he served in, and it would be sad to see him fall victim to that damage by dying in yet another war.
Rambo V: Last Blood is currently without an official release date but expects to hit theaters sometime in 2019.
