If you're looking for the lowdown on the fifth Rambo film, you're in the right place.
Before you head out to see Sly Stallone lay waste to some bad guys again, here's everything
you need to know about what the soldier is up to in ​Rambo: Last Blood.
Remember: he'll give you a war you won't believe.
"...death is coming."
While the Rambo series is definitely one of Stallone's babies, there are still a lot of
other people helping to bring the latest story to life.
Adrian Grunberg is in the director's chair for Last Blood.
It's only his second feature film as director, following the 2012 Mel Gibson vehicle Get
the Gringo.
However, Grunberg has served as an assistant director or second unit director on several
films since the '90s, including Apocalypto, Jarhead, Man on Fire, and The Legend of Zorro.
Last Blood's screenplay is credited to Matthew Cirulnick.
Like Grunberg, the writer doesn't have a ton of credits to his name his most high-profile
credit to date is as creator of the Amazon series Absentia.
Unsurprisingly, Stallone also had a hand in writing the film.
David Morrell receives the standard "based on characters by" credit for his 1972 novel
First Blood, though the author has clarified that he's had no involvement with the Rambo
films since the first three.
We'll be able to see what happens in the new one when it hits theaters on September 19,
2019.
Rambo has evolved quite a bit over the decades.
What started as a somewhat quiet, psychological exploration of the effects of war has turned
into a massive spectacle of revenge and blood-soaked slaughter as the films have progressed.
Last Blood will continue to ratchet up the body count when John Rambo takes on a violent
Mexican cartel.
Reportedly, the movie's plot will feature John Rambo as a ranch hand in Arizona struggling
with PTSD and keeping busy by taking odd jobs.
He learns that the daughter of a long-time friend has been kidnapped while partying in
Mexico, and he crosses the border to rescue her.
He teams with a journalist who is investigating a series of kidnappings, and the two uncover
a sex trafficking ring run by a drug cartel.
Naturally, he then goes Rambo on everyone involved.
From the look of things, Last Blood will feature a slightly different tone than the series
has featured in the last few entries.
For starters, it seems like they are dealing with the fact that Stallone is in his 70s
in a smart way John Rambo looks to be going back to his roots a bit with his tactics.
The trailer shows off a series of traps that the wily soldier has set up to fight off his
enemies, utilizing the same guerrilla tactics he used back in his heyday.
It also looks to be leaning into the Western motif, with an epic trailer remix of "Old
Town Road" inexplicably playing throughout.
You really can't get away from that song.
Interestingly, Rambo: Last Blood looks to have little to do with previous entries in
the series.
The film has been compared to Logan, the definitive Wolverine movie, showing what happens when
a pop culture hero stops adventuring so much as he nears the end of his life.
Going along with this theme, there aren't many returning characters from previous Rambo
films in this fifth entry.
It makes sense: 2008's Rambo was set in Burma, halfway across the world from the American
southwest and Mexico settings of Last Blood.
Obviously, the one common thread here is John Rambo himself, Sylvester Stallone.
Like Logan, it appears that Stallone's character is still struggling with his past the things
he's experienced as well as the things he's done and this looks to be a chance for him
to silence some of his inner torments.
The story surrounding the war veteran has evolved throughout the film series, so it
will be interesting to see what Last Blood adds to the backstory of John Rambo.
Almost all of the cast of Rambo: Last Blood is new to the franchise, but one in particular
we need to point out is Sergio Peris-Mancheta, who will play Hugo Martinez in the film also
known as at least one of the movie's villains.
The character has been described as the leader of the cartel that Rambo crosses paths with,
and it looks like he will make the hero go through hell and back to win the day.
The Madrid-born Peris-Mancheta is more well-known to Spanish audiences than American ones.
But American viewers might recognize him from Resident Evil: Afterlife, the movie Life Itself,
or the FX series Snowfall.
There are plenty of other strong actors who will appear alongside Sly Stallone in Rambo:
Last Blood.
Paz Vega will play Carmen Delgado, the journalist who teams with Rambo to track down the kidnapping
victims.
You might have seen her before in projects like The OA and Spanglish.
Some of the other big names that stand out include Oscar Jaenada from The Losers, The
Shallows, and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Louis Mandylor from My
Big Fat Greek Wedding.
Finally, one other cast member we're really excited about is Adriana Barraza, previously
seen in movies like Babel, Thor, and Drag Me To Hell.
If you've come late to the Rambo game, you may not understand the significance of the
title "Last Blood."
It works in a few different ways, but the most obvious is what ties it back to the original
film.
"But the time has come to face my past."
The first film didn't even have "Rambo" in the title, instead like the novel it's based
on simply being titled First Blood.
The second film added the character's name, bringing us Rambo: First Blood Part II.
So it seems like this latest release is trying to tie itself more to the tone of the original
two films than the more over-the-top styles of the third and fourth movies.
It also could signal that this is Stallone's last go as John Rambo.
On the other hand, it seemed unlikely that a fifth film would even happen, and Stallone
has said he'd be glad to reprise the role if Last Blood is successful.
So don't take that title too literally.
"New Blood," anyone?
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