Who's next for the Rambo 'liberation' treatment?

Last time it was Burma; before that Afghanistan. Who will our hero take on in his next outing . . .
    • The Guardian,
    • Jump to comments ()
Rambo III Photograph: Allstar/TRISTAR

Something of a celebrity diplomacy special this week, as we marvel at what a difference a year makes. Back in 2008, Burma was still in control of the military junta, and virtually unrecognisable from the fledgling democracy we see today. The thing that changed all that? A little picture called Rambo.

Set in Burma (though filmed in Thailand), the highly called-for fourth outing for Sylvester Stallone's bandana-swathed franchise saw Rambo travel to the country to liberate some missionaries. And in a publicity coup that probably earned some studio marketing executive a Porsche, the film's release happened to coincide with peaceful protests by hundreds of the country's monks, upon which the Burmese authorities cracked down brutally.

Yet it was a Stallone interview with the Associated Press that really showed you which way the tide was turning and why, with Sly claiming that the Burmese people had "gone crazy" over bootleg copies of the film, and that the line "Live for nothing. Die for something" was being used as a call to arms by real-life dissidents. "These incredibly brave people have found kind of a voice in American cinema," he declared, amid speculation the film would encourage the Burmese to call for American assistance in overthrowing the junta.

When you couple this with the fact that Rambo III effectively presaged the glorious liberation of Afghanistan by chronicling what happened when our American hero teamed up with the mujahideen, you should be impossibly excited by this week's news that Sly is to make Rambo 5.

But where? Well, last time he needed a setting, we were lucky enough to have a glimpse into Sly's process. "I called Soldier of Fortune magazine," he explained of the mercenaries' trade paper, "and they said Burma was the foremost area of abuse on the planet."

As yet, there is no word on which location Soldier of Fortune has earmarked for the new outing. But let's run with Rambo 5: Operation Pyongyang Freedom, then observe that Sly's worth a million Bill Clintons, and work out how we're going to divvy up the Dear Leader's nuclear weapons come the inevitable.

Today's best video

Today in pictures