When the credits roll on Rambo: Last Blood, many people have died, and a significant chapter of John Rambo’s journey ends. Last Blood was an incredibly violent movie, exposing the potential barbarism inherent in humanity. As stated in an earlier entry in the series, “When you’re pushed, killing’s as easy as breathing.” It was a surprise when the film was announced. Rambo served as a definitive ending for the long-running war-themed franchise. That film ended with Rambo returning home to Arizona after decades away from his country.
However, even after the journey home, the battle continues. In addition to all the righteous blood-letting and testosterone-fueled declarations of murderous intent, Rambo: Last Blood is filled with important developments for the character of John Rambo, as well as the politically charged themes that have defined the series since its inception. Despite the Mexico/Arizona setting, the film doesn’t make any polarizing statements regarding the real-life political showdown at the US/Mexico border, but that doesn’t mean it has nothing to say.
Is Rambo Dead At The End Of Last Blood?
John Rambo Was Still Alive At The Movie’s End
Many Neo-Westerns see their heroes head off to their final battle without expecting to get out alive. Last Blood feels different because, while Rambo is prepared to die, he is confident enough in his skills to tell his adopted family that he’s going to return to his old life as a drifter after he leaves his old family farm. During the final battle, he brutally eviscerates the gang attacking his homestead. He’s only injured due to his pride; he denies himself the quick and efficient kill of the gang leader, Hugo, opting instead to “make him feel his rage.”
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While this leads to one of the most shockingly violent kills ever captured on film, with Hugo’s heart being ripped out of his chest, it also leads to Rambo being grievously injured by his final opponent. Rambo struggles to maintain his composure as he makes his way to the front porch of his modest house before collapsing into the embrace of a rustic rocking chair. He looks as though he might die, but his inner monologue muses about how he has to live because it’s the only way to keep the memories of everyone he lost alive.
The final images show Rambo getting on a horse and riding away.
From his Vietnam buddies to his adopted daughter, Rambo holds them all inside his heart, and he has to keep going for their sake. It’s not enough to kill for revenge. He lives on their behalf. The closing credits of Last Blood feature a dramatic montage of Sylvester Stallone’s iconic character across all five films in the series, and the final images show Rambo getting on a horse and riding away. He’s wounded, so whether Rambo could still die is ambiguous. However, it’s a safe bet he’ll live on to appear in another sequel.
How Last Blood Continues (& Ends) Rambo’s Journey
Rambo Uses The War Tactics Learned In Vietnam To Defend His Home
John Rambo’s story began seven years after he returned to America after fighting in Vietnam, one of the most infamous armed conflicts in the history of the world. It’s arguably impossible to fully understand the damage done to America as a result of the Vietnam War, and Rambo represents all the guilt, pain, suffering, and trauma of that dark chapter in American history. At the end of Rambo, the eponymous war hero returns home. The closing shots showed Rambo walking down the long road back to his family’s farm.
In Last Blood, Rambo seems to be in a positive place, but as he describes it, he hasn’t conquered his demons – he “keeps a lid on it, every day.” It’s implied that his self-prescribed therapy includes building a network of tunnels under his farm. Early on in the film, he gets a brief Vietnam flashback, and the imagery of his tunnels is indicative of the tunnels used by the Vietnamese to elude detection by American forces and launch sneak attacks.
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Ironically, Rambo concludes his Vietnam journey by employing the same guerrilla tactics used against him all those decades ago. As the Mexican gang attacks his farm, he pops out of spider holes, blasts a few foes, and immediately returns underground, completely disappearing before his enemies even have a chance to react. Inside the tunnels, he destroys his opponents with hand-made traps, including a spike pit, which evokes the imagery of punji sticks, which were used to devastating effect against Americans in Vietnam.
It’s a provocative way for Rambo to end his journey by using his nightmares to overcome his latest foes.
Like the Vietnamese during the war, Rambo is outnumbered and outgunned, but he’s defending his home. He knows his land better than his opponent, so they never stood a chance. From this perspective, it’s a provocative way for Rambo to end his journey by using his nightmares to overcome his latest foes. In a way, it could be seen as his way of making peace with his past.
What Rambo: Last Blood Says About Modern America
The Movie Ignores Most Political Issues About The Border
One of the biggest concerns about Rambo: Last Blood was how it would handle its setting, the border between Mexico and the United States. Rambo lives in Arizona, near the border, and his adopted family are Mexican immigrants. The story of Last Blood doesn’t make grand declarations about the political situation between America and Mexico; it just uses the circumstances as a backdrop for a personal story of revenge and man’s proclivity towards brutality.
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The story is kicked off when John’s close friend Maria’s granddaughter, Gabrielle, crosses over to Mexico to find her birth father, who abandoned her years before. Most of the characters in Mexico are portrayed as villains, but that’s because Rambo is explicitly looking at all the seediest places. There are several Mexicans who are shown in a positive light, from Rambo’s new family to Paz Vega’s character, a journalist seeking justice for her sister’s murder at the hands of the gang.
Several scenes involve border crossing.
Several scenes involve border crossing: the first shows Gabrielle crossing through a legal checkpoint, but one shows Rambo simply driving through a thin fence, and another shows the Mexican gang using an underground tunnel to travel between countries. Ironically, for those who decried the movie as wall-building propaganda, a wall would have hindered Rambo, while the villains would have been unaffected.
What’s Next For Rambo After Last Blood
Could there be a Rambo VI? To quote the tagline from 2008’s Rambo, “Legends never die; they reload.” Rambo is a distinctly American character, and there will always be more stories to tell about him. In his world, warriors are needed to protect the innocent, punish the wicked, and aid those in need. As long as there is life in his bones, John Rambo will meet that need. Assuming he survives his wounds, Rambo ends Last Blood as he began in 1982’s First Blood.
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John Rambo is alone, drifting across the country, looking for meaning in a country that would rather pretend he never existed than admit it was a mistake to send him and his generation off to die in the jungles of Vietnam. The national tragedy of Vietnam is still embedded deep in the American collective unconscious. It’s part of this country’s DNA. As long as this remains the case, Rambo will always be relevant, and more stories can continue to be told using the character.
The Real Meaning Of Rambo: Last Blood’s Ending
Rambo Never Had A Chance To Live A Peaceful Life
The Rambo: Last Blood ending showed how far the bad guys pushed John Rambo this time. He has always found himself fighting immoral and evil men, but in this movie, he had things get much more personal. When Gabriela was killed, he saw someone close to his family die, the granddaughter of a woman he considered a sister. After 2008’s Rambo, it seemed John finally got the ending he deserved ever since First Blood. He was finally able to return home and find his peace for the first time since the war destroyed his mind.
The ending showed that he would always be an outsider, destroyed by his own country.
However, there is no peace for men like John Rambo. The United States military complex turned him into a killing machine and stripped him of his humanity. He never had a chance to live in peace until his death. Much like William Munny in Unforgiven, Rambo’s past would never stay buried, and his sins would never allow him to live like a regular American. This movie saw a loved one die, and Rambo showed how remorseless he was when pushed to the wall. The ending showed that he would always be an outsider, destroyed by his own country.
How Rambo: Last Blood’s Ending Was Received
Critics Hated It While The Audience Loved It
Rambo: Last Blood was a movie that received a very polarizing reaction between critics and fans. The critic Rotten Tomatoes score was a rotten 26%, while the audience Popcornmeter score was a positive 81%. It all came down to what the specific person came into the movie wanting to see. For one audience member, the ending was what they look for in Rambo movies, writing, “One of the best Rambo movies. The ending is beautiful revenge on the cartel. that ending never gets old and repeat viewings.“
However, many critics pointed out the problem with the movie’s ending and the current political landscape regarding border issues. They also criticized the lack of characterization for all characters except Rambo and the overly violent climax. Peter Dubrugew of Variety wrote, “This character is a mess of contradictions, representing on one hand the permanent damage that military service can do to one’s soul while simultaneously suggesting what the ideal soldier looks like. Rambo wins the wars that America can’t.”
However, there were also audience members who saw the film’s ending as one that shattered Rambo’s world. In a Reddit thread, one fan wrote that “When Gabrielle died, Rambo died. He no longer had any attachments to the world. He would finally realize that he’s destined to lose those that he love no matter what he does to try and prevent it. And that as long as he lives and breathes, he will always be a soldier.“
Rambo: Last Blood
3/10
- Release Date
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September 19, 2019
- Runtime
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89 minutes
- Director
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Adrian Grünberg
