In news that will surprise few Rambo: Last Blood has been given a hard R rating by the MPAA. The actor celebrated the news by sharing two new images from the sequel that tease just how bloody things are going to get in what will ostensibly be John Rambo's final outing.
The franchise that began in 1982, with Rambo returning home from the Vietnam war only to find himself the target of a police manhunt, has so far seen the release of three sequels - the most recent, Rambo, being released in 2008. Rambo: Last Blood's story will see our hero taking on a powerful Mexican cartel after his housekeeper's daughter is kidnapped, and the trailer promised action, explosions, and bloody fights to the death.
While some movies are carefully cut to avoid receiving an R rating, for others it's considered something of a badge of honor. Rambo is definitely a franchise where fans have come to expect R-rated action, and with several months to go before the movie's release, Stallone shared official confirmation that Rambo: Last Blood won't be suitable for children. The star's Instagram post promised that "What's coming is going to be unlike anything you've ever seen," and includes two stills of Rambo in the middle of bloody battles.
With this intended as the closing chapter of the Rambo franchise (at least, until an inevitable reboot somewhere down the line), many have speculated that Rambo: Last Blood might be the movie where Rambo himself dies - and the quote "Death is coming" is sure to only fuel that theory. John Rambo will be going up against Hugo Martinez (Sergio Peris-Mencheta), the leader of the Mexican cartel that kidnapped his friend's daughter, and the trailer for Rambo: Last Blood showed the titular character sporting significant injuries.
"Hard R" isn't an official MPAA rating, though the organization was toying with the idea of creating a "Hard R" rating back in 2007, as a slightly softer version of NC-17. For now it remains an informal way of describing a movie whose content pushes at the upper limits of the R rating. Given the action focus of the Rambo franchise it's safe to assume that Rambo: Last Blood's R rating is primarily down to its violence and gore, so expect to see some creative kills as Rambo wages another one-man war against his newest enemy.
