Rambo IV and Rambo V
- Thread starter Khanzeer
- Start date
Actually the Rambo film that was set in Myanmar (Which was titled Rambo) was actually a 2008 film that was released on January 23, 2008 just to clarify that detail.
Rambo IV - The Aftermath. A realistic look at the last years of a Cold War warrior.
Opening scene: Johns in a VA hospital in Kansas being treated by a Vietnamese doctor that barely speaks English which in this case isn't a problem because John's fluent in every language in the world. Rambo explains to the doctor that his knees and shoulders are shot from all those years of awesome Army of One kicking serious enemy butt. He complains that that can't sneak up on anyone anymore because his knees pop loudly when he walks. He can't use his famous knife anymore because of the arthritis in his hands from all those years of punching things with a closed fist. He finds it hard to sleep at night because he's got to pee every few hours dur to the enlarged prostate. Also he's wearing two hearing aids because he's nearly deaf from all the gunfire and explosions. The doctor give him a proscription for a opioid pain killer which eventually leads to a heroin addiction for Rambo.
Middle scene: John's standing in front of his mailbox reading a letter from his lawyer. That damn little European NGO that has been dogging him for years had finally found his last hidden bank account and had it frozen. All because of what they call war-crimes he committed when he went on a one man LSD and creatine fueled vengeance rampage that destroyed of small country. He's now broke. Hs to sell him medals, and the custom bow with its explosive arrows to make the rent on his trailer. A car drives by and a bunch of kids throw eggs at him. John drops the letter and starts to move toward the road. He falls and brake a hip. His pill bottle of oxycodone breaks open and his pills are thrown throughout the gravel driveway. Rambo starts to cry and crawls to gather out his special friends.
The closing scene is John being wheeled down a hall by a mid-60's VA doctor (A guy that fled the US during the war to Canada to avoid the draft) explaining to him that his war is over. He was to fight his addiction just like he fought the commies. The doctor thanks him for his service and tells John that he'll have to use a walker with tennis balls on it for the rest of his life. He wheels Rambo into a small sad looking two bed room at a state run Veteran's home. A elderly looking gentleman who fought in Korea looks over at Rambo, and says this rooms for Marines only, no dogface pukes allowed. Rambo sighs, and looks at the rooms TV. Its playing a John Wayne movie. The Korean War era Jarhead asks him if he likes to watch Jeopardy or Wheel of Fortune or John Wayne because those are the only thing that played on his TV.
The credits roll as John quietly sobs in his wheel chair regretting being such a badass. His last words before the screen goes black are, "I should have stay in motor-T or learned a trade..."
Opening scene: Johns in a VA hospital in Kansas being treated by a Vietnamese doctor that barely speaks English which in this case isn't a problem because John's fluent in every language in the world. Rambo explains to the doctor that his knees and shoulders are shot from all those years of awesome Army of One kicking serious enemy butt. He complains that that can't sneak up on anyone anymore because his knees pop loudly when he walks. He can't use his famous knife anymore because of the arthritis in his hands from all those years of punching things with a closed fist. He finds it hard to sleep at night because he's got to pee every few hours dur to the enlarged prostate. Also he's wearing two hearing aids because he's nearly deaf from all the gunfire and explosions. The doctor give him a proscription for a opioid pain killer which eventually leads to a heroin addiction for Rambo.
Middle scene: John's standing in front of his mailbox reading a letter from his lawyer. That damn little European NGO that has been dogging him for years had finally found his last hidden bank account and had it frozen. All because of what they call war-crimes he committed when he went on a one man LSD and creatine fueled vengeance rampage that destroyed of small country. He's now broke. Hs to sell him medals, and the custom bow with its explosive arrows to make the rent on his trailer. A car drives by and a bunch of kids throw eggs at him. John drops the letter and starts to move toward the road. He falls and brake a hip. His pill bottle of oxycodone breaks open and his pills are thrown throughout the gravel driveway. Rambo starts to cry and crawls to gather out his special friends.
The closing scene is John being wheeled down a hall by a mid-60's VA doctor (A guy that fled the US during the war to Canada to avoid the draft) explaining to him that his war is over. He was to fight his addiction just like he fought the commies. The doctor thanks him for his service and tells John that he'll have to use a walker with tennis balls on it for the rest of his life. He wheels Rambo into a small sad looking two bed room at a state run Veteran's home. A elderly looking gentleman who fought in Korea looks over at Rambo, and says this rooms for Marines only, no dogface pukes allowed. Rambo sighs, and looks at the rooms TV. Its playing a John Wayne movie. The Korean War era Jarhead asks him if he likes to watch Jeopardy or Wheel of Fortune or John Wayne because those are the only thing that played on his TV.
The credits roll as John quietly sobs in his wheel chair regretting being such a badass. His last words before the screen goes black are, "I should have stay in motor-T or learned a trade..."
At least John is in a state that still has a veterans home. Indiana with a population of six million & a estimated 450,000 veterans has a single facility, funded by the state legislature to currently accommodate under 200 veterans. But John could not qualify for a bed in the Indiana Veterans Home. Those with a history of mental health problems are refused admittance as the state legislature does not fund any mental health workers for the staff. Back in the autumn of 2018 a friend of mine met a hysterical wife at the facility. Her sucidal husband had been refused admittance, no psychiatric staff. After several phone calls they got a bed at the federal VA facility in Muncie Indiana, a 90 minute drive away. The other two Fed VA hospitals closer, in Indianapolis and Danville Illinois had no beds available in their psychiatric wards.
John Rambo had better settle in Ohio. That state has a much broader and deeper health system for veterans, and the general population. Texas is even better. If you go to the web site Military.com and then the page for State Veterans Benefits < https://www.military.com/benefits/veteran-state-benefits/state-veterans-benefits-directory.html > you can compare the benefits each state offers. Those leaving service can plan their post career career accordingly.
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The state I live in still has government run Veterans homes. I visit one near me a lot to speak with my brothers and sisters, because they're more worthy of my time than other groups in my community. I' play a lot of cards, chess, and board games there. I get smoked a lot especially at poker. This one 95 year old sailor cheats somehow, but I can't figure it out. I hope he's around long enough for me to beat him just once. I'm not a retirement home expert by an means but it seems just as nice as a mid-level private retirement home. I just assumed every state had them.
Well, technically Indiana has one. Just no capacity. 186 residents with severe long term illnesses and a handful in a rehab program. The 'veterans homes' originated with a Federal mandate in the late 19th Century to care for aging Civil War veterans. The various states have evolved and devolved their facilities or systems since. For the past several decades Indiana has been screwing with its social service, aside from incrementally defunding its veterans support its been shutting down its mental health support, underfunded general public health like school nurses, public health & safety inspectors, child and adult protective services. A array of religious groups, other non profits, and some for profit businesses have moved in to pick up the shortfall, tho unpaid volunteers, and poorly paid healthcare employees are not skilled nor numerous to cover it.
My uncle lives in Ohio (he served in the Army during Vietnam, but was discharged before the deployment really ramped up), and I largely agree with you (it had been not perfect, but it is better)...
Honestly the best thing a Rambo film could do is place it in a VA center .. want to put the spot light injustice and craptastic bureaucracy that's the war right there. don't need violence or other things.. just the sad tale of how things are in America and how people are treated like cattle and dirt.
also I would have Rambo make a speech about how he is disgusted by the idolization of soldiers and war in our modern world. that many were drafted before .. but those who served.. served with out the need for a thank you and how the over the top lip service being paid to soldiers now is great, it doesn't mean anything since the actual treatment is junk by the government the served.
that would be fitting .. have him wearing medals .. signed pictures from democrats and republicans ( don't want to be partisan .. )
The constant bombardment of for our troops and vets is the biggest bread and circus thing since .. well its for the children crap. None of it is true and in reality the government doesn't give a rats shamolie about either, let alone the kids.
Rambo dies of cancer related to agent orange or asbestos at the end, his funeral with very few people to witness is simple.
also I would have Rambo make a speech about how he is disgusted by the idolization of soldiers and war in our modern world. that many were drafted before .. but those who served.. served with out the need for a thank you and how the over the top lip service being paid to soldiers now is great, it doesn't mean anything since the actual treatment is junk by the government the served.
that would be fitting .. have him wearing medals .. signed pictures from democrats and republicans ( don't want to be partisan .. )
The constant bombardment of for our troops and vets is the biggest bread and circus thing since .. well its for the children crap. None of it is true and in reality the government doesn't give a rats shamolie about either, let alone the kids.
Rambo dies of cancer related to agent orange or asbestos at the end, his funeral with very few people to witness is simple.
that is so sad.. because well. its ohio
but it is sad that one would even have to think that way - vet or civiI would like to see a scene where Rambo is told that he didn't rescue POWs in the second movie but they were drug traffickers instead.
The myth that were still American POWs left in Vietnam after the Cease Fire left a very toxic feeling in the American people and gave false hopes to the families of MIAs to be conned by gritters who said that they were raising money to find them.
The myth that were still American POWs left in Vietnam after the Cease Fire left a very toxic feeling in the American people and gave false hopes to the families of MIAs to be conned by gritters who said that they were raising money to find them.
The 634 'lost' PoW number corresponds closely to a estimate for those held by the Pathet Lao. That lot were extremely difficult to negotiate with. I'm unsure if any agreement was ever reached or if they ever provided a actual list of names. There are some claims those PoW were gradually trickled out of Laos 1975-1985 or beyond. I've no idea how many, but there were some stories of US soldiers appearing individually or in small groups at the border crossing stations along the Laotian/Thai border thru the 1980s.
There was a serious problem in the 1970s and 1980s of the US Army forensic lab on Oahu misidentifying remains. Congress forced a indedpendant group of forensic scientists on the Army to inspect the facility. They found records extremely poorly kept, remains from different recovery sites placed on the same exam tables. remains in containers with no documentation attached for connecting the container to records in the lab. Procedures for examination were sloppy & ad hoc. The facility was run by a DoD civil service lifer with no formal training in forensic science. I have not seen any estimates for misidentification, but several thousand remains recovered from SE Asia after 1975 passed thru the Oahu facility. If 5% were misidentified that could place over 100 recovered remains on the MIA list.
There were several efforts to accurately count the number of deserters recovered from SE Asia. I don't have any numbers from those, but some implied these indicated a portion of the MIA were men later identified as deserters who left their unit while in SE Asia.
Then there is the inevitable scrambled records. Even today the occasional Nam vet turns up with two sets of records in the DoD archives, showing two different fates. I interview 35-40 veterans a year & three or four have two legit DD214. Seprately each lacks a complete record of the serviceman's career. In two cases the DoD/VA had on file two entirely different DD214 other than the name & Social Security Number.
The scrambled records problem is aggravated by that in 1973 there was a fire in the central military service records archive. A large portion of the records were severely water damaged & funds were not allocated to salvage the mess. This meant many Viet Nam Vets records were reconstructed from secondary & incomplete sources.