Rocky & Rambo Villains (and other Stallone Movie Villains)

[00:00:00] This podcast is a production of Unfiltered Studios. If you would like to know more about joining Unfiltered Studios, please visit our website at unfpod.com for more information. Correct me if I'm wrong, guys. Sylvester Stallone was the one that really got you into bodybuilding early on? Yeah, what happened was I was up for Rocky IV and I realized after meeting him actually that he... On the Paramount lot?

[00:00:25] Yeah, Paramount lot. I met him and he said you got to put on ten pounds of muscle. So I started doing bodybuilding. And then when I finally got the role, we did bodybuilding together. And you still remember some of the choreographed scenes? Yeah, a little bit. I got a script. I got the movie script which is a hundred and some pages. And then I got another script with all the fights, all the rounds, you know.

[00:00:49] Left, left, left, left, right, left hook, slip, right, cross. I mean, I still remember some of it after, you know, 40 years. Explain how you get paid for Rocky and Rambo yet you only have to do one of them.

[00:01:07] Oh yeah. I was up in New York, I had an agent who got me up for a role in Rambo, Rambo II, as this Russian bad guy who ended up being played by one of Sly's bodyguards. So when I went out for Rocky IV and Sly realized that, hang on a minute, this is the same guy fighting me in Rambo II. So they paid me for that role. I think he got six grand or something.

[00:01:34] And then he kept me for Rocky IV. The last movie you did with Stallone, I understand it was important to you to confront him over a certain scene. Take me into that moment and how the conversation went. The film you're talking about is Creed II, where I play Ivan Drago again, my character from Rocky IV.

[00:01:59] And there's a scene, which is a wonderful scene in the script between Rocky and Drago, this scene over a table. And I love this scene in the original script, it was really great because my character finally kind of opens up about what happened to him after Rocky IV. What was he done for these past 40 years? And Sly had rewritten the scene. He was a good writer, he started rewriting it and I didn't agree with some of the writing.

[00:02:29] And the director is this young guy, Steven Capel, nice guy, but obviously he didn't want to get in a fight between me and Sly. He was, so he was, he got a little scared, so he stayed out of it. It was the first time I kind of stood up to Sly because he had always been my boss and older brother and I always deferred to him. But in this case I didn't. I stood by my guns, you know.

[00:02:55] And finally after about two hours of rehearsing and arguing, Sly finally says something like, Hey can we shoot this f***ing thing now? You know, and then it's like, I realized okay, I got on my way pretty much. And I think it turned out to be a pretty good scene. And, but he was, he was good about it.

[00:03:19] Afterwards he, you know, he came over and gave me a tap on the back and it was, it was a nice moment because it was the first time that we'd acted kind of as equals in the scene before he was always my boss, you know. You said that he never viewed you as an equal and that there were unresolved issues between the two of you. Yeah. Like what?

[00:03:44] He was married to Bridget Nielsen, who was a woman who played my wife in Rocky IV. She was unhappy with what was going on with him so she kind of used me a little bit to make him jealous. How so? The first day of shooting I'm in makeup and he just comes up and goes, um, we talked for a second. And he's director and producer and writer of this movie and my sparring partner.

[00:04:10] So, of course, I, I, I'm like all ears. He goes, uh, you know, um, stop hitting on Gita. And I'm like, excuse me? Stop hitting on Gita. And I'm like Gita. That was her nickname, Bridget. I'm like, what are you talking about? There's one, I was going out of grace at the time. I'm, and I was faithful too.

[00:04:35] So I think it started there a little bit. We had some good times and bad times, kind of like, like family to some degree. He was, he was very harsh on me in a scene in, uh, Expendables 1 where he kind of yelled at me in front of the whole crew and had me, had me do about 20 takes on the scene. And, uh, it was like, my grandmother could do better than that. What the f*** are you doing? You know, like basically in front of everybody.

[00:05:01] And there was press there that day too, international press, to a point where I, um, we took a lunch break and I remember I was kind of in tears. Uh, I mean, I was really upset and I called my wife at the time and I basically just told her, you know, if he says one more word, I'm going to knock him out and f*** this movie. I'm out of here. I'm just going to punch him out and f***ing leave.

[00:05:27] And I think when I walked on the set, people felt a certain, it wasn't such a good vibration. And then I had a tap on the back and, and it was sly and he was like, I'm sorry about that. Let's, let's just do another take and let's just keep moving on. And we've had a few run ins over the years, but he, you know, he's a, what can I say? He's a, he's a crazy Italian, you know? And I think he knows that I've always respected him and loved him. And I think that's why we're still friends.

[00:06:00] All right, gang. So we're going to have another fun continuing special for this Stallone theme September. We're talking about our favorite villains in the Rocky and Rambo franchise. There's some leftovers from the initial chat we had, and then I'll finish up with the overall take since we didn't get to talk about as much as we should have. But enjoy as we're talking about everything in the other chats from the Rambo comic books to the Rocky and Rambo video games. So enjoy.

[00:06:30] I have a very strange theory that I think the robot from Rocky four basically was the, the, the driving force behind rhinestone. That's how deep it eventually becomes Skynet. It wrote it. It wrote rhinestone. Oh, wow.

[00:06:55] It originally, it eventually becomes Skynet, which obviously that's why you have to use the Terminator because Schwarzenegger, Stallone hates Schwarzenegger so much. He makes the enemy of humanity Schwarzenegger. So they'll remember it. Yeah, it's a good thing apart though. You're skipping over the Hitchhiker's God of the galaxy. I also love how Paul is listening, listen to the chipmunk song on headphones in that movie. Oh God.

[00:07:23] We missed. We loaded it. We edited it. Sometimes we get so deep into conversation that we have separate segments worthy of their own place in the sun. Here is a reshuffled mini episode.

[00:08:01] Remember Jay Leno doing a joke. Yeah, yeah, Jay Leno. The Clue movie came out. He says, so here's a movie with three different endings depending on, then you get Rocky, four movies in the same ending. Oh. Which is incorrect because the loser's in one, you know. It was up to four movies at that point. Well, at the end of the day I was watching that Rocky movie.

[00:08:24] I gotta say this, you know, Tommy Morrison, they've done a blood test on him, see if he's, you know, if he's taking steroids or anything like that. He's a little too jacked up, you know. I remember Tommy Morrison fighting and all I could say was he was not good at a fighter. He wasn't. No. And then he said he got sick and then he said he cured himself of, of HIV or wherever, you know, he had HIV.

[00:08:52] He said he cured himself, but I guess... Imagine Johnson? Imagine Johnson. There goes our, there goes our sponsorship from Tommy Morrison that we have. Yeah, that's all good. I remember him like coming out and he's like, yeah, I'm gonna be like... Tommy gone. He was, he was, he was, he was John Wayne's nephew or something or grand-nephew or something like that. Like that's anything to be proud of. Oh my, he's gonna be doing...

[00:09:23] The Nepo baby of a draft actor. Nepo baby, oh my God. It's the four amigos. Got James and Colin from Movie Rankers back. How are you?

[00:09:53] Yeah, good to be back. Thank you. Thanks for having us back. Anytime. We got action movie undercover narc himself. John Mark is back on the show as always. Oh, it's great to be here. And I'm your host Sully. Uh, Stallone is still doing unusual vanity projects that no one knows what to expect. I don't think Stallone will ever stop. No, he can't. He's got a gadget. Yeah, he just won't, won't allow him to stop.

[00:10:19] Ever since he started rocking, when you hear the stories of how that film got made and what he had sacrificed to get that done. I'm not surprised he's still going at the age he is because... He must have some sort of, you know, juror self. And then it took him rebooting the character again to get another award now. It's just like, what do you do when audiences want to keep seeing you do the same thing again, regardless of whether it's formulaic or not. And it is funny how, yeah, I think you're right.

[00:10:46] He could easily be a part cyborg with a pacemaker that's not working and he'd still be trucking a lot. No problem. No problem. 500 surgeries later. Yeah. So this brings me to my next question. And I'll circle around. So... James? Barney Ross from The Expendables or John J. Rambo? Who wins the fight? Oh, Rambo. There's no... I know, but see... Sorry about that question. No.

[00:11:14] Barney stays alive for homages and comic book logic stuff. Yeah. And Rambo's also kind of a comic book superhero, so... Like the Punisher. I think with Rambo, you've got the full story by now, haven't you? You've got... You've seen more... You think he's got more machetes and gunplay to where eventually Barney's going to say, fuck it. Okay. I mean, you've seen him grow up. Barney, what do you really know about Barney? You don't really know a lot about him. You don't know a lot about his past. He was in Serbia. He led a woman trip on a landmine.

[00:11:45] He was miserable with Mickey Rourke and he got betrayed by Mel Gibson. So... Yes. Technically Rambo and Riggs. Yeah, they were working together again. Okay. So Colin... I never... I think I'm going to have to say Rambo. So I never... See Barney Ross as a major threat. Like when you see him... Rambo is pretty much... Indestructible, isn't he? You see all the stuff he's gone through mentally and all that.

[00:12:14] He's like Jack Bauer, McClane and... Yeah. Even John Rhys on Person of Entry. He's going to take 500. You can break his leg and basically skin him almost alive like the predator and he's eventually going to just persist. Electrically... And then you can look at Marge and in the film, he got his arse whooped by Van Dam and stuff like that. He's more human I think than... Not that Rambo isn't human but his characters... He can survive a rock fall. Yeah.

[00:12:44] All right. Stone Cold broke his back in that rock fall didn't he? In the first one. Oh, that was the first one and he's like we are not whatever... And fans wanted Stone Cold back and he's like no. Not wrestling with that giant prick anymore. All right. So John, who wins this scuffle? Hand to hand or in a gunfight? I would say Rambo as well. Just by default. The nostalgia is too huge. Okay, cool.

[00:13:12] Yeah, Stallone's been doing a few different things but they haven't always been 100%. I... I hope that's it from the Rambo character. I don't want to see him blowing up any more people. I think he's... I'll re-outled that. I think that was... I think that should have... I don't think that should have done number five. I didn't mind it. I liked it. I thought it was good. Yeah, but I didn't... It didn't feel like a Rambo movie I don't think. I liked the original idea they had for number five. The Savage Hunt story that they were developing. I thought that...

[00:13:42] That would have been more interesting to me but... I mean, I'm just glad the Predator franchise is like... I think he's alive again. Um, but... I love Prey. I... Yeah. I watched it the other day and it was amazing. Really, really good. I think I'll get to have one day. Oh, you'll love it. It's so wild though. The Specialist should work but yet... Both James Woods and Eric Roberts are chewing the scenery. They are just like... Let's just be... Do our best Scarface. Al Pacino and Scarface. Yeah. We'll pretend to be queuing.

[00:14:13] So gang, we did mention these in both... Favorite moments of Rocky and our favorite Rambo moments. And somehow I wasn't able to overlap or didn't have as much material as... I thought I did. So I decided, yeah, I'll... Just add a little more. Just a few more thoughts. And in this case, yeah, I mean... There's so many awesome villains in those initial... 80s... Rocky and Rambo films. Because, you know...

[00:14:42] I'll start with Rocky. You know, with Rocky... Again, it's an opponent. It's... And before Stallone's egos took over... To where everyone had to just be bad... And he wanted to dispose of you in a simple way... What was cool about these is they made it respectable. It's like, you don't hate Apollo Creed in that first movie. He's just the opposing force. It's a friendly rivalry. That's what's cool about it. And...

[00:15:11] Yeah, I mean... There's something about... Drago in Rocky IV... That I think the reason he's... Even if you don't like... That entry... He stands out because, again... I just... Compared to all the other Russian... And... Taking out the commies propaganda... The 80s... It just doesn't leave a shit stain. Because I'm just... You know, I hate him instantly...

[00:15:40] Because he's cheating. He's using steroids. He's... He's a big dumb meathead... Who doesn't realize he's being a puppet. You know, for the... Not only the Russian Empire... But, you know, no one actually loves him. They're using him. You know, Rocky... Is a whole different... In that... We... You know, he's been slowly getting better as a person. He's actually been growing a brain... Despite getting slugged a few times. He's... Now a family man... And...

[00:16:09] He's having to respect his wife's wishes. Be careful in the ring. You know, this might be your final... Fight. And... You know... You're putting food on the table... But you gotta really... Train... If you're gonna do these fights right... And not get killed... Or injured... Critically... So... And yeah... Ivan... You're just like... Yeah... When he does the whole... He dies... He dies... You're like... Ah... I fucking hate you... It's just like... And... In that final round... He's so fatigued...

[00:16:38] He has nothing left... So... As a result... He's unable to defend himself... So that's where the hero just... It's the classic trope... Of just... Just... Wait it out... And you'll find your opening... To where you'll knock him right in the... Kisser... And... He's got so many different names... The Siberian Express... The Siberian Bull... Death from Above... You're like... Man... And... I also liked how they redeemed this character... In the Creed movies...

[00:17:08] He decided... Hey... I've broken away from the Russian Empire... You know... I'm training my... Next of kin... But... I've... I've changed... And I will actually love him... As... An actual father... I'm not using him for just to... My career... And... Yeah... It's just... But... Yeah... Victor Drago... His son... Is also interesting... Because...

[00:17:37] Uh... He's the secondary antagonist... In Creed 2... But then they redeem him in Creed Free... And see... That's another one... Where he's like... He is just... Brutal... But... They chose the right kind of... Actor for this... It was... Florian... Montignino... Who's... A Romanian actor... And... Yeah... He's new to the scene... And... Yeah... I... He had good body language... And it's not what I expect from these kinds of movies... And so...

[00:18:06] I love it when... You know... An action... Or dramatic movie... Avoid seeming cliche... When they just... They have good staging... They have little small nuances... That... Give you an idea of what a character is... Instead of just... I'm a giant hunk... And... This Russian Ukrainian... Heavyweight is just interesting... In that... Yeah... He's not... Doing it to impress dad... He's doing it literally for honor... And he fights with honor... So it's like... Cool...

[00:18:35] Unlike daddy... I have honor... And I was like... That's pretty goddamn cool... Because... I don't... You know... As a viewer... You don't... This... This... The Creed movies... I was so worried... When they first came out... Because I was like... Oh no... You know... Has Stallone and company... Not learned anything... From how formulaic... Their franchise got... And I was... I will admit... I was proven completely wrong... That... You know... People who love Michael B. Jordan... And how he's so great...

[00:19:05] As Creed Jr. You know... Love these movies... People who love... Today's action... And drama movies... Dug it... People... Who like the original Rocky movies... Most of them find them... Pretty damn respectable... And I think... Along with the Planet of the Apes films... And... Some of the other action... Sci-fi and horror... Throwback movies... It's like... These really... Introduced them... So much better... Than say... The new... Mindless... American Godzillas... Which are just... So uneven...

[00:19:35] Even by those... Genre standards... And yet... Japan... Is still doing it properly... And America has not learned anything... From all the bad mishaps... And... In this case... You know... Rocky... Is an American franchise... But... They really did... I think... Learned so much... From how... Formulaic it got... In the 80s... You know... I avoided Rocky 5... For the longest time... Just because... It just wasn't very interesting... It still... Isn't...

[00:20:04] I can understand... Why it has fans... Or... Let alone so bad... They're good fans... Because there is some good acting... Even though... It ultimately doesn't come together... As a movie... And as we talked earlier... You know... There was something interesting... About Tobbing Gun... But that was a perfect example of... The person in real life... Is more interesting... Than the actual Rocky villain... So... Yeah... Uh... Drago just... I... Whether you take Rocky 4... As camp... Or...

[00:20:33] As a legit good movie... It works... Because... You know... Drago works... As an imposing force... He is everything you want... And someone you want to despise... He cheats... It... Introduced the world to be movie... Favorite... Dolph Lundgren... He has still called it... You know... In interviews... And on the street... And he's embraced the role... And he did so good... Coming back as that role... And... If he dies... He dies... You know...

[00:21:04] And... Again... You know... In a different movie... Rocky would have killed him... Right away... But it's like... No... I... You know... Apollo Creed... Didn't have the right defense... And... Wasn't able to... Hold it together... But you know... I'm not a murderer... I'm not gonna murder this guy in the ring... But I will... Fucking defeat him... And... Punch his face in... And win the fight... And... You know... Everybody can change... So... Yeah... But... Yeah...

[00:21:33] Clever Lang... Again... That would be my second favorite... Because he really is... Probably the first... Actual... Villain... In the Rocky franchise... Yes... It's a friendly rivalry... With Apollo Creed... And then a rematch... In part two of Rocky... But... Rocky Free... I just love that line... Prediction... Pain... And... Let's be honest... It's the only other role... We know Mr. T from... Other than his bad... Cartoon show... And the A-Team...

[00:22:03] And playing himself... In different movies... So... Yeah... He... This was my intro to him... I will always like this movie... He... He was well restrained... He had the right kind of just... Gonna get you, sucker... And... Yeah... I just... He had... He was a mixture of that... Trash-talking attitude... And... Uh... I like how they introduce him... As an undisputed heavyweight champion... And... Rocky has to team up with Apollo Creed...

[00:22:33] He has to get his training... And... And bromance... In order to get... Good at defeating him... And... He's a worthy opponent... Especially after you see that montage... Of other wrestlers... And boxers that Rocky's taken on... So... Yeah... I mean... And... He gets a great knockout... But he... I think most people will tell you... He's just their... Second or third favorite... Rocky opponent... And... Uh... Let me just talk about...

[00:23:02] Jonathan Majors... Again... Problematic person... I completely understand... I know some people don't... Uh... Completely... Buy into that... It's like... No... Enough people... We're on the stand... I have to buy it, guys... And... Fortunately enough... He's only been... In supporting roles... You know... He was a bad guy... And free... So that didn't impact the movie... It... Failed... But it was just... It wasn't good... But...

[00:23:32] You know... Lovecraft Country... He's just supporting... So that doesn't impact it... The Five Bloods... Is just a good movie... That again... He's part of an ensemble... And... Yeah... Apparently... He's just... Was really toxic... Behind the scenes... And yet... Actress... Megan Good... Was never quizzed on... Why the hell did you... Marry this... Shithead? Oh well... So... Yeah... Creed Free... I hate to say it... That's probably his best performance... He...

[00:24:03] Is really... Plant... Was best friends with... Uh... Michael B. Jordan in real life... Who casted him in this... And they played off each other pretty well... But... See... Michael B. Jordan has reportedly... Kind of just... Matured over the years... And just... It was so cool... How he decided... I'm gonna... Direct it... You know... Stallone could direct it... So can I... I'm like... That's fucking awesome... And... Sorry Stallone... You're wrong... This was a proper passing the torch... It's not too dark... It's not any less dramatic...

[00:24:33] Or over the top... Than the other Rocky movies... It's also way more mature... And balanced... And... Keeps the mood in check... And... Yeah... When he was in... Creed III... He... He killed it... Jonathan Majors... And I like how they introduced him... It's like... Hey Creed... Been a minute... It's like... Diamond Dame? What you doing here? It's like... Basically... Yeah... He went to prison... Did some hold up stuff... Some petty stuff...

[00:25:03] And... He wants... Revenge... Uh... For... You know... Creed... Making it personal... And it's like... Dude... You are just another... You know... Dent in the roads... Another layer of my past... That I've left behind... And so it's cool how... B. Jr. Played by Markle B. Jordan... Has to mature... And say... I have... What it takes to... You know... Take this guy down... For good... Because otherwise... You know... You know... I... I have to pretty much just...

[00:25:32] Mentally destroy him... Because he... Is just an awful person... He should never... Not even have a career... But he does right now... And once again... We assume that he's doing... All kinds of utter hackneyed... Training and everything... And using a mixture of his... Prison fighting as well... So he's playing dirty... And so... I hate to say it... The only forgettable... Rocky... Opponent... I think... Has to be...

[00:26:02] Uh... Uh... Ricky Conlin from... The minor character... In... In... Uh... The Creed films... Is an okay supporting guy... Uh... He appears in Creed Free as well... But... Yeah... Uh... I thought that was an okay character... But... Uh... The... The opponent in... Uh... Rocky Balboa... Uh...

[00:26:32] He was just okay... He looked the part... Because he was an actual boxer... But... He just didn't leave... Mason the Lion Dixon... And... Played by Antonio Tarver... And... It just... He didn't leave a... Uh... Just... We... Me with much... And... I can respect him as a... Boxer... And I'm cool... I'm glad they cast an actual boxer... That made it feel a little more real... But... I'm sorry... You know...

[00:27:00] While others really liked that movie... I understand... Because we hadn't seen Rocky in a while... I just find that... Still one of the lowest ones... The speech... That Balboa... And... Gibbs... And you can easily YouTube that... That's an A... But the movie is just... Ranging between... A... C plus... Or a B minus... It's just okay... And... Yeah... It's just... I gotta go with... Hubbard Lang... Played by Mr. T...

[00:27:30] Or Ivan Drago... Played by Dolph... And then followed by any of the... You know... Drago Jr. And Jonathan Major's character... In... The Creed films... Those are definitely the top four best opponents... It's like... Apollo Creed shouldn't even be a rival... He was doing... Literally... I look at it like heat... With Al Pacino and Rob De Niro... They're the same person on the opposite end of the law... Same deal... Apollo Creed was more...

[00:28:00] Seasoned and professional... But... An underdog... No less or different than Balboa... He was just more ready... And he won the first time... And again... It wasn't about winning... But what I love about the Rocky movies... Is while Stallone... Wants to keep just... Jiving on the success... It... It's ultimately not about him... Winning those fights as it is... Just his pride and honor... And... Being a better person...

[00:28:29] Being a better boxer... So I think that is why people... Can get through any of those cheesy... Or outdated segments... Of those first four Rocky movies... So... You don't have to agree with me... That's where I'm ranking it... As for the Rambo... Villains... Yeah... There's lots to choose... There's Sheriff Will Tysel... Played by... Brian Dennehy... He and his other deputies... You know... Played by Chris Mulkey... Pre-CSI Miamis...

[00:28:59] David Caruso... And some of the other guys... It's like... They're a mix between... You know... Bad Day or Black Rock... And High Noon type outlaws... And Hicks... As well as just people... With no regard for just... Following any kind of order... And... You dig it because... They just hint at the whole thing... That they're just not a... There's such a backwards... Southern town... They are not comfortable with... Any kind of people... Coming into their town... And... I have had actual stuff like that...

[00:29:28] Happen to friends and family... I've actually... I had a family friend... Who invited... I kid you not... A Black gay couple... To his place in Missouri... This was already a bad idea... Since it was really a... Backwards part... Of Missouri... And this is very recent... In the 2020s... But... They just got stopped... For no reason... Other than the color of their skin... By these highway patrolmen... Who had... Too much free time... So... You know... Regardless of how you feel...

[00:29:57] About law enforcement... It does need a lot of reform... In some capacity... Because... I mean... I do security personally... And I will get stopped... Just by... People who want to look at... What my... Lights and symbols are... On my company vehicle... And it's like... You know... You need to really be just going... After some bank robbers... Instead of harassing the underdog... Don't get me wrong... There's bad security guards... Who should totally be... Arrested or detained... Because they're... Not doing their job... I'm not one of them... And...

[00:30:29] So... Yeah... I just... What a cool... Taught... Suspenseful thriller... By having... You know... A sheriff who you love to... Despise... Because again... He thinks he's doing the right thing... He's been doing it too long... He's cynical... He's... He's disrespectful to... You know... A veteran... Who's minding his business... And in the wrong place... At the wrong time... And he fucked with them... And he got what was coming... And I like how... He didn't kill him... But he critically injured him... Got shot in the leg...

[00:30:59] By gunfire... And... And... They leave it ambiguous... But it's like... Pretty clear... Yeah... He's not coming back... He's no longer a sheriff... And... As the ramble villains go on... Again... The second best one... It's gotta be... Sergei Podofsky... This was the first thing... I ever saw Stephen Burkoff in... The second role... Would have been... You know... Beverly Hills Cop... The James Bond... Roger Moore movies... And... You know... Even his cameo in Red 2...

[00:31:28] It was hysterical... And... He's a Red Army... Interrogation officer... He's... Commanding a Vietnamese... Prison camp... And that's the other thing too... I remember George Chiang... From this... As the Vietnamese... Kill Squad captain... Uh... Unfortunately... Uh... Just... A lot of people... Like to remember the shit stuff... And it's like... No... There's... There's a lot of good stuff... And... Uh... Rambo Free... Uh...

[00:31:57] Colonel Zeisen... He's not as memorable... But... I kind of dug those guys... Because... You still see some of their influence... And... It's just... They're... They're stealing from James Bond... But then you get into... Chris Brosnan level... Let alone when you see an 80s show... Like... MacGyver and what have you... And it's like... Oh... It's so clear that... If they're not stealing those same actors... And put them in these movies... Then... You know... When I see... Even another show... Like a NCIS...

[00:32:27] Or 24 type show... It's like... They always are... Just that... That Soviet style... That... I will... Have great plans to kill you... You know... It's that same kind of moody... Kind of stuff... That you see in... You know... A Duke Nukem type video game... Uh... Any other kind of James Bond inspired stuff... And... It's just... There's something about... Just seeing these bad apples... And so... Yeah...

[00:32:57] First Blood has the better villain... But Rambo 2... Has the... My favorite villain... Because again... You just... You love seeing this guy... Just taunt Rambo... As he's trying to interrogate him... And... Unfortunately... You're not gonna remember Zison... But Rambo Free is a decent slugfest... And... The Soviet commander... Is running an occupied... Afghanistan... Prison camp... And... I love how he's just... He loves...

[00:33:26] He's taken much delight... In capturing Rambo's... Mentor... Colonel Trotman... And... And... I love when he's talking to Trotman... Interrogating him... He's like... Who is this terrorist? What makes you so valuable to him? This bastard tried to destroy me tonight... But he failed... A sunrise... Will hunt him down... And have his skin hanging on the wall... That's right... I'm doing my bad Russian accent... But... Yeah... I had fun with his comeuppance... And the different grenades...

[00:33:56] And... All the other prison guards... Were played by Stallone's actual bodyguards... At the time... So... I think that's why I find them awesome... Especially the one... Big one with a scar on his face... Who Rambo... You know... Kicks off of him... And plants a grenade in his suit... Making him fall to his death... While he gets blown up... That's... Again... That's what I like to see in those kinds of movies... It embraces the over-the-topness... Just like the different James Bond henchmen... I love it... So yeah...

[00:34:25] Podofsky from Part 2... Is the better Russian... Just because... He's both taking... They both do a good job of showing how sadistic... A war criminal he is... As well as just how he's... Exploiting... The Vietnamese POW soldiers... And using the Vietnam... Viet Cong... Remnants to work for him... It just embraces that over-the-top nature... And... Yeah... Part 3 though... No slouch...

[00:34:54] It really is fun in its own right... So... The 4th favorite... Maybe the 5th favorite... Would definitely be... The Burma... Kill Squad... Warlord... Major... Pod Team Tint... And... Again... He just doesn't have much backstory... But he does get a good comeuppance... Where he loses his... You know... Arms from Rambo's machete... But... Yeah... There's just not really much to him... You see a few...

[00:35:24] Lines from him... These boys are now our soldiers... And he does have cool shades... He almost looks... Like the... Crappy war criminal... Robert Duvall plays in Apocalypse Now... Almost at times... But... Yeah... But... But... But apparently the actor... Was actually familiar with the real life... Kill squads in Burma...

[00:35:54] As he was a Karen resistance fighter himself... And his family was imprisoned by the regime... As punishment for his... Negative role in the... In this film... Unfortunately... So... That's not good... Yeah... But... It's a good role... Obviously there's nothing memorable... About the Rambo 5... Last Blood villain... I hate that subtitle name... So much... That's just lazy... As far as I'm concerned... Rambo is the villain in that... Because it's a total betrayal...

[00:36:23] Of his character... He's just... A mindless... Nincompoop... With a... Walker Texas Ranger hat... And... I can't look up his name... Without looking him up... It's Hugu Martinez... Yeah... He's just a... Boring... Boring... Boring... Cartel guy... He looks like a... Drugged up Lucas Hosh... The actor himself has... Played villains in the Meg 2... And the TV show Snowfall... But... He was just very one note... I don't think he's a bad actor...

[00:36:53] But I also can't say he's a great actor... And... He has a brief speech... Talking about how... He doesn't... You know... Value any of the women... He prostitutes from his streets... But... It's just... You've seen it many times... And it's just like... Worse than... All the Death Wish... Knock... Or Taken knockoffs... You're just like... Shut up... It's just... So lame... So... Yeah... That's it for all the Rambo villains guys... I hope you enjoyed listening to it...

[00:37:22] As much as I enjoyed... Talking about them... We'll return... After these messages... We've got a 90 minute... Weekly Shack Stop... It's growing all over the world... Find it at 2pm... And 10pm... Eastern Time... On Mondays... Then 3pm... On Wednesdays... Then 7pm... On Thursdays... You can catch it on many more... Radio stations... 99.9 KERB... 1pm...

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[00:38:50] Hi I'm James Gabsey... And on the Who Would Win Show... Me and my co-host Ray... Ignore anything important... Happening in the outside world... And debate fictional battles... Between characters from... Comics, movies, and video games... We got a new show... Every week... And almost always... Am I the winner? Yeah... Not true Ray... In the past... We've discussed such matches as... Captain America vs. Darth Vader... Solid Snake vs. The Iron Giant... Classic matchups... Like Robocop vs. Terminator... And even the Muppets vs. Sesame Street... That one was crazy...

[00:39:20] So if you're a fan of geek culture... And love a spirited debate... Check out the Who Would Win Show... Wherever you get your podcasts... Or check us out at... WhoWouldWinShow.com... Follow us on the web... On Facebook... Twitter... And Instagram... The podcast is available on... Podbean... Spotify... iHeartRadio... Anchor... Apple... And anywhere else... Podcasts are available...

[00:39:49] Feel free to review our show... And leave comments on... Any of those sites... Thanks a million... For listening... It's a... Jack tough...つ Play with Matt Rozhmm... It's a jack tough... Hit It's a jack tough...