Saturday, May 19, 2007

John Rambo Trailer

Aint it Cool have the premiere teaser trailer for John Rambo. What do you think?

[EDIT: You can also download the trailer directly - until Monday, when Aint it Cool are taking it down]

I happened to watch First Blood last night (thanks, BBC1) and enjoyed it thoroughly, mainly thanks to Ted Kotcheff, the director. The idea isn't a bad one, but it's hardly The Deer Hunter. Nor is Stallone John Cazale. But I really can't see how such a thing devolved into the Rambo and Rambo 3 (er.... that's silly) sequels. And it truly shows Falling Down up for the fascist claptrap it is.

I think there's not much suggestion John Rambo will bring the series back to the quality of the first installment, and indeed, rather than care about further films in the Rambo sequence, First Blood inspired me to revisit more Kotcheff.

Probably Kotcheff's best film, Who is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? was apparently getting lined up for a remake. This news popped up in the trades a year or two ago... but since then? Nothing. A shame, because it would have probably guaranteed a special edition DVD of the original. Or maybe not - the Fun With Dick and Jane do-over didn't do dick (or jane) for the DVD status of Kotcheff's original.

Around about now, you're probably ready to pounce on me, brandishing Weekend at Bernie's. Well, give it a go - but it won't stick. The badness of Weekend at Bernie's was no more Kotcheff's fault than, say, B*A*P*S can be pinned on Robert Townsend... Sure, neither of them should have signed up, really. They should have known better... but, heck, you know...

We all make mistakes. Like "this dodgy script can be rescued, I'm sure".

Kotcheff could have been another Alan Clarke, had things gone slightly differently. He too worked on Play for Today, and in English theatre. And there's a lot more Clarke to First Blood than is widely discussed. All the same, he doesn't need to be another Alan Clarke to be taken seriously. Forget about the guaranteed mediocrity of John Rambo, take a different route out of the First Blood family tree and explore not the history of the star, but the director. It's certainly a more surprising journey.

2 comments:

Mark Kardwell said...

Wassfuggin' wrong with the great WEEKEND AT BERNIE'S? It's got hidden socio-political depths, I tells ya.

Brendon said...

But, like, you can see him breathing and that, innit.