rambo

Notebook Reviews: COMMANDO

Mark L. Lester – 1985. Somewhere, somehow, someone’s going to pay! Commando is pure entertainment. This Arnold Schwarzenegger actioner delivers everything that you would want from an ’80s action film. Explosions, stunts, [...]

September 10, 2021

It’s A Long Road: Sylvester Stallone Takes A Break On The Set Of FIRST BLOOD

First Blood introduced cinema audiences to John Rambo for the first time and the face of cinema was changed. An adaptation of David Morrell’s tense novel, Ted Kotcheff’s 1982 film was a cinematic gut punch, a energetic adventure tale with a [...]

August 5, 2020

Review: Sylvester Stallone Actioner ESCAPE PLAN 3: THE EXTRACTORS Is Surprisingly Good Fun

Escape Plan 2: Hades was a cinematic abomination, a woeful black mark on the career of Sylvester Stallone. The Steven C. Miller sequel to the enjoyable 2013 actioner was cheap and nasty, a visual void with a sleepwalking Stallone collecting a [...]

June 23, 2019

Stallone Is Back In The RAMBO: LAST BLOOD Trailer

Rambo: Last Blood seems to be something of a left turn for the 40 year old franchise. This fifth (and likely final) entry into Sylvester Stallone‘s bone-crunching, gun-blasting action series looks to be more of a modern day western and a [...]

May 30, 2019

Interview: FIRST BLOOD Author David Morrell Talks RAMBO – Part 1

The new 4K release of First Blood, Rambo: First Blood Part II and Rambo III afforded me the tremendous opportunity of chatting with author David Morrell. Morrell’s 1972 novel, First Blood introduced the world to Rambo and ten years later the [...]

November 14, 2018

Drawing First Blood: RAMBO

In 1982, First Blood introduced cinema audiences to John Rambo for the first time and the face of cinema was changed. An adaptation of David Morrell’s tense novel, Ted Kotcheff’s film was a cinematic gut punch, a energetic adventure tale with a [...]

November 12, 2018

Sylvester Stallone Gears Up For THE EXPENDABLES 4 & RAMBO 5

Long-time readers of Movies In Focus will know that I have a lot of love for old-school action flicks (hey, I grew-up in the ’80s and ’90s). I’ve been particularly taken by The Expendables movies – and I’m thrilled that [...]

May 22, 2018

Chadwick Boseman Falls Into The Kill Hole In The Taxi Driver Inspired KILL ZONE

Mischa Webley’s Kill Zone (also called The Kill Hole) is a weird hybrid of an action movie and a socially conscious anti-war thriller. The film may not be totally successful in its attempt to update the post-war vet drama and merge it with some [...]

July 4, 2015

Why THE EXPENDABLES 3 Is The Most Anticipated Movie Of Summer 2014

The Expendables 3 continues to be Movies In Focus’ most anticipated movie of this summer. Forget about battling Autobots, comic book sequels, updated fairy tales or young adult adaptations – Patrick Hughes’ action extravaganza is the movie [...]

July 9, 2014

Blu-Ray Review: MACHETE KILLS Is Balls-Out, No-Holds-Barred Schlock

You either go into Robert Rodriguez’s Machete Kills and accept it for what it is – or you don’t. If you fail to accept it then you won’t enjoy it (you’ll more than likely downright hate it) but if you do, you’ll dig it for being the [...]

January 26, 2014

Blu-ray Review: Kurt Russell In John Carpenter’s BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA

John Carpenter ‘s Big Trouble In Little China is a unique beast filled with action, comedy, martial arts, special effects and Oriental mysticism. They all collide to form a wonderfully unique film which shows a director at the top of his game, [...]

December 1, 2013

The Expendables: Icons Of Action Cinema

Action cinema defined Hollywood in the ‘80s and ‘90s. The titans of the action movement were undoubtedly Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, two box office powerhouses who fought it out for dominance, and who managed to change the [...]

August 22, 2012