It is extremely hard to watch this movie clearly in modern times. To push aside all the messaging and iconography and effects the later Rambo movies had on culture and just watch this movie on its own terms.
Learning that this movie was originally a 3½ hour mess that got cut down to 90-ish minutes isn't super surprising. So much of what you'd expect to be in a movie like this–backstory, insight into Rambo's psychology, etc...– just isn't there. And…
I've come to realize that in general sequel movies to anime series are not worth it. Anime series based on long sprawling manga have enough trouble resolving into a satisfying ending. Opening that all back up for 70-some minutes to try and resolve a little more of the broader plot seems to rarely succeed.
This one in particular is *very* not worth it.
For watching it on a sheer whim, I was shocked at how much I liked the Arpeggio…
A movie I watched all of just to see my effects and name in the credits.
I spent about a week punching up a series of shots where Beethoven wrecks a bratty girl's birthday cake. I shot new elements out of cheap cake and shaving cream, I added blood spurts tinted white to look like frosting, I added enough camera shake you'd think the cake had a landmine in it.
The sequence lasts like 3 seconds.
A movie I worked way too hard on. The shots were way more difficult than what we bid for, so we spent a month on what should've been a week's worth for the same amount of money.
So I watched through the sequence I worked on and skipped to the credits.
They spelled my name wrong.
