Rambo's Back & HCG Has Him!

In March of this year I posted about a Brasilian sculptor and a Stallone fan named Edinho. Edinho had sent in photos of a Rambo sculpture that he did that was simply amazing. You can see for yourself by clicking HERE.

Shortly after the post appeared I was contacted by Mark at Hollywood Collectibles Group. Mark felt the sculpture was good enough for them to produce. I put Mark in contact with Edinho and the rest as they say, is history.

I'm happy to report that the Hollywood Collectibles Group will be producing a limited edition run of 500 pieces of Edinho's sculpture. I'm also happy to report that Mark is working on a deal for SZoners to get a discount on purchases through the SZ! More news on the statue will be posted as it becomes available!

Congrats to both Mark and Edinho for making it happen! - Craig

Rambo Collector's Set Contest

On Tuesday, May 27th, for the first time, LIONSGATE will release all four Rambo films together in Rambo: The Complete Collector’s Set. To celebrate the release of these great action movies, LIONSGATE has provided me with three sets to award to three lucky winners.

Before we learn about how to enter the contest, let’s take a look at this 6-disc super set which comes in a limited edition metal tin and includes First Blood: Ultimate Edition, Rambo First Blood Part II: Ultimate Edition, Rambo III: Ultimate Edition and the latest installment, Rambo: 2-Disc Special Edition (which includes a digital copy of the film). Each film comes with bonus features (over 20 in all) plus the set includes a special bonus disc with 10 featurettes and the theatrical trailers for all four films.

First Blood: Ultimate Edition: DVD Special Features:

• Audio commentary with Sylvester Stallone
• Audio commentary with author David Morrell
• Alternate Ending
• Seven Interactive Military Special Operations Features
  

Rambo First Blood Part II: DVD Special Features:

• Audio commentary with director George P. Cosmatos
• Seven Interactive Military Special Operations Features
  

Rambo III: Ultimate Edition Synopsis: DVD Special Features:

• Audio commentary with director Peter MacDonald
• Deleted Scenes
• Seven Interactive Military Special Operations Features
  

Rambo: 2-Disc Special Edition Synopsis: Rambo Disc 1 DVD Special Features:

• Audio commentary by Sylvester Stallone
• Deleted Scenes
• “Legacy of Despair: The Struggle in Burma” featurette
• “It’s a Long Road: Resurrection of an Icon” featurette
• “A Score to Settle: The Music of Rambo” featurette
• “The Art of War: Completing Rambo” featurette
• “The Weaponry of Rambo” featurette
• “A Hero's Welcome: Release & Reaction” featurette
  

Rambo Disc 2 DVD Special Features:

• Digital Copy of the feature film

BONUS FEATURES DISC

• “The Real Nam: Voices from Within” featurette
• “Guts and Glory” featurette
• “The Forging of Heroes: America’s Green Berets” featurette
• “Rambo-nomics” featurette
• “Selling a Hero” featurette
• “Suiting Up” featurette
• “An American Hero’s Journey: The Rambo Trilogy” featurette
• “Drawing First Blood” featurette
• “We Get to Win This Time” featurette
• “Afghanistan: Land in Crisis” featurette
• Plus – Theatrical Trailers for all 4 Films

Now on to the contest:

• Simply post which of the Rambo movies is your favorite and why.
• E-mail Craig at stallonezone.com with your name and mailing address. In the subject line put RAMBO CONTEST.
• The contest runs from today until 12pm EST May 31, 2008.
• I will then randomly draw three names and forward the winners information to LIONSGATE who will then send out the prizes.
• At the request of the LIONSGATE, only U.S. readers may enter.
• Winners will be announced on the next update following the conclusion of the contest.
• Only one entry per mailing address will be accepted.
• If you can not wait to win, then click HERE.
  

First Blood Exclusive

On May 15th at 7:30 p.m. at select theaters nationwide, Stallone fans will be able to see a special showing of "First Blood." Then, following the film, the alternate ending (where Rambo dies) will be shown for the first time ever in theatres. Then to top off this one night event an exclusive, never-before-seen interview with Sylvester Stallone [who will discuss all of the Rambo films] will be screened. For full details, click HERE. - Craig

Rambo Scores in Vietnam

Sylvester Stallone poses during a photocall to promote the movie 'Rambo' in Madrid January 28, 2008. John Rambo is back in communist-ruled Vietnam on Friday, playing to a full house as cinemas showed the Vietnam War veteran going to battle in his latest film, this time against the Myanmar junta. (Susana Vera/Reuters)

Rambo's Essence

Michael Price for the January 21, 2008 Fort Worth Business Press says that "‘Rambo’ restores Stallone’s signature character to a near-original essence." Here are a few excerpts:

* “The thing you gotta remember about Sly,” a lifelong pal and fellow actor named Joe Spinell (1936–1989) said of Stallone during the 1980s, “is that he ain’t who he plays. He’s an artist of calculating intelligence and good humor, and a lot of the violence that the audiences take at face-value in these Rambo pictures — that’s Sly’s satirical response to the excessive tastes of the marketplace."

* Stallone invests the role with a realistic acceptance of the aging process, and with traces reminiscent of Humphrey Bogart in 1951’s The African Queen and Clint Eastwood in 1992’s Unforgiven...

You can read the full article HERE. - Craig

Live and Let Sly

On January 20, 2008, Reed Tucker wrote about the updated Rambo for the New York Post in his article Live and Let Sly. - Craig

MovieWeb Interview

MovieWeb has a nice interview with Sly HERE. - Craig

XBox Rambo Art

SZoner, Adam Shippee sent in the art above from the XBox 360 Rambo game! - Craig

Sly Interview

I received this e-mail and thought SZoners would appreciate it as well:

Hey Craig,

I run www.collider.com

And wanted to let you know I posted clips from Rambo and a new interview with Sly.

Take care,

Steve

-----
Check out his site -- it covers all aspects of entertainment! - Craig

Extra Death Threats

Extra covers the death threats Sly received while filming Rambo in Burma. - Craig

Extra Interviews Sly

Extra interviews Sly HERE. - Craig

Tough Guys for Tough Times

Alex Williams in an article for the New York Times says that we need Tough Guys for Tough Times. - Craig

Access Hollywood: 12 Movies for 2008

Access Hollywood.com posted the recent article "12 Reasons To Head To The Movies In 2008" and Rambo made the cut! Here's what they had to say about it:

January 25: “Rambo”

Posters are already cropping up featuring a spray painted imprint of Sylvester Stallone’s manly jaw and trademark “Rambo” bandana as the hype over the fourth installment of this film franchise begins to grow. Many doubted the box office legend could successfully revive “Rocky” as an over-50, but he did and he did to great effect. Now, it’s “Rambo’s” turn as the action packed Burmese jungle fighting journey hits the screens at the end of January.

For the full article click HERE. - Craig

MTV @ Rambo Rough Cut Premiere

Larry Carroll over at MTV.com takes a look at Sly Stallone's rough cut presentation of "Rambo." You can check out the article by clicking HERE. - Craig

Not to be Messed With

SZoner, Bill Pruitt checked in with... Hi Craig, Here's my latest creation combining graphics in photoshop and a teaser of my latest oil painting which will be revealed soon. I wanted to convey in this ad that Rambo means business and that he will NOT be messed with.
Bill
-----
Another great piece, Bill. As always, thanks for sharing. - Craig

Let the Fun Begin!

John Hutchins at UGO.com attended an advance showing of "Rambo" and Sly was in attendance. Sly spoke before the screening about why he choose to revisit Rambo now, the push for realism, and concluded with... "Maybe it's the last time I visit John Rambo, but I'm very glad you showed up tonight because we're proud of the film, and I'm proud of everyone who was involved with it and...well...let the fun begin!" For the full report, click HERE. - Craig

Rambo @ Times Square

A huge, nearly 80-foot-tall, "graffiti-inspired" poster for Rambo is currently on display at Seventh Avenue north of 47th Street in Times Square. You can read more about the poster HERE. - Craig

John Rambo is Everywhere!

The above photos were sent in by SZoner, and buddy Chris! - Craig

MTV on the John Rambo Bandwagon!

MTV has a movie blog and they have started to proudly promote "John Rambo." - Craig

SZ Exclusive: PH Opening Coverage

StalloneZoner, Randy Rousseau was able to attend the recent Planet Hollywood opening in Las Vegas. Not only did he and his family get to go, but they also met several celebrities including Sly!

Randy was especially excited to hear that John Rambo will premiere at the Las Vegas Planet Hollywood on January 24th! Hopefully Randy will be able to attend and send us back pictures and a report!

Randy's kids were able to get a photo with former N'Sync band member, Dancing with the Stars celeb and host of The Singing Bee, Joey Fatone!

Criss Angel was on hand for the festivities.

The great Sugar Ray Leonard posed for a shot with Randy and his son!

Milio Ventimiglia ["Rocky Balboa" and tv's smash hit Heroes] signed autographs...

... and posed for photos!

And of course Sly was there to kick off the festivities [He introduced Earth, Wind and Fire before their concert]...

... posed for photos with fans...

... spoke with friends and fans...

... and signed tons of autographs...

Thanks to Randy for another great StalloneZone exclusive! - Craig

Official John Rambo Site Live

The Official John Rambo site is live and updated. - Craig

USA Today Scores 1st Look

USA Today scored the first look at the Rambo photo above and some words from Sly about the film. Here's some of what Sly had to say:

Rambo "realizes his entire existence has been for naught. Peace is an accident, war is natural. Old men start it, young men fight it, everybody in the middle dies, and nobody tells the truth. He says, 'You think God's going to make it all go away? What has he done and changed in the world? He has done nothing. We are an aggressive animal and will never be at peace.' That's how he feels."

For the full report click HERE. - Craig

Rambo: Official Site Live

The official Rambo site has gone live with the first official trailer. Rambo walks softly and carries a huge knife -- check out the background picture on the official page. - Craig

1st Official Rambo Poster

IGN.com was the first to post this beauty. Rambo is back. -- Sorry, but I had to say it. - Craig

SZ Exclusive "John Rambo" Photo

The picture above is a StalloneZone exclusive photo taken on location during the filming of "John Rambo". - Craig

Sly: Witnessed Myanmar Genocide

In an article posted today by the Associated Press, Sylvester Stallone says that he and his crew were witness to horrible atrocities while filming "John Rambo".

Sly goes on to say, "This is a hellhole beyond your wildest dreams... I witnessed the aftermath — survivors with legs cut off and all kinds of land mine injuries, maggot-infested wounds and ears cut off. We saw many elephants with blown off legs. We hear about Vietnam and Cambodia and this was more horrific."

Sly chose the location of Thailand and Myanmar [formerly known as Burma] for the location of his latest Rambo adventure because it had been identified as "the foremost area of human abuse on the planet". Sly made his feelings clear about the situation when he said, "The Burmese are beautiful people. It's the military I am portraying as cruel."

Sly is currently editing "John Rambo" for an early 2008 release. You can read the full article by clicking HERE. - Craig

Sly in Burma News

SZoner, Anwar wrote in with the following:

Hi Craig,

I’m a big Stallone Fan, I came across this and thought I’d e-mail you the link.

http://www.irrawaddy.org/multimedia.php?art_id=8375

P.S. You do a great job with ‘StalloneZone’, keep up the good work!

Anwar, England, UK.

-----

Thanks to Anwar for the heads-up! - Craig

John Rambo Returns on Jan. 25th

Lionsgate has set the release date of January 25, 2008 for "John Rambo". Written, directed and starring Sly Stallone, along with Julie Benz, Matthew Marsden, Graham McTavish, and Jake La Botz.

New "John Rambo" Footage

Harry, over at Ain't It Cool News received a call from Sly Stallone saying that he was heading back to Thailand for additional filming on "John Rambo". Sly also sent Harry some new footage and I need to warn you, it is "R" rated for violence. So, if you're in the mood for some Rambo mayhem, then click HERE.

"Behind the Scenes" from Russia

A Russian fan sent in these two behind-the-scenes pics from John Rambo. You can see larger versions HERE and HERE. Cool stuff! Thanks to our fan in Russia! - Craig

Rambo's Gonna Knock You

SZoner, Alain from France, sent in a link to Hollywood.com's article titled "Stallone: "Fourth 'Rambo' Will Be Goriest Yet.'" Sly is quoted as saying, "If you thought other movies were extreme. John Rambo's gonna knock you for six." For the full article, please click HERE. - Craig

ComingSoon Scores

ComingSoon.net scored these two new pics from "John Rambo." You can see them in high rez at ComingSoon.net. - Craig

Rambo in August Empire

SZoner, Walker posted the picture above which comes from the August 2007 issue of Empire.

French Rambo Pictures

SZoner, Col.Trautman posted the above three photos that he found in a French magazine! - Craig