A few days ago, Erik Davis of Cinematical Tweeted that he was watching Rambo: First Blood Part II, and he made a comment about how if Robert Rodriguez’s Predators doesn’t work out, he’d get behind a Rambo vs. Predator film. I thought the idea was a little silly since that’s basically what the original Predator was, only with Arnold Schwarzenegger instead of Sylvester Stallone. Little did either of us know that Rambo V: The Savage Hunt would end up involving a half-human, half-beast adversary that does seem to be like what Davis had in mind.

One thing appears to be different, though. Apparently Rambo (Stallone) is going to the Arctic Circle to battle the creature, which aligns it more with the first Alien vs. Predator movie. Sure, it’s the wrong Pole but the same climate and terrain — superficially anyway. Oh, and here’s another thing that’s slightly different: the creature isn’t an alien; it’s a secret governement genetic experiment gone wrong. In the poster, made before the official synopsis was even revealed, it looks like a werewolf.

The only thing more ridiculous would be for Rambo to fight teenage vampires, though I think werewolves may actually be the hip new thing as dictated by Twilight, so that might not be any more silly or popular. Hey, going sci-fi worked for Indiana Jones, right? And Rambo is even getting a young “hunting partner” in this installment. Maybe it’s actually his son?

Check out what the other film blogs are saying about this crazy Rambo V scenario after the jump:

• Harry Knowles at Ain’t It Cool News received the goods from Stallone himself over the long weekend, and he’s sharing the voicemail audio with his readers, mainly because it’s the only way to do the news justice.
  

  Woke up to a voice mail from Stallone that he wished for me to share with all of y’all. This is the actual and complete voice mail from Sly as he explains that this isn’t UNIVERSAL SOLDIER, but something different. I thought about transcribing it, but honestly… Sly’s voice explaining his thoughts about RAMBO 5… well, it should be heard.

• Rob Hunter at Film School Rejects suspects there’s more to this movie than Sly is saying:
  

  And I died a little inside. Did you catch the supposed subtitle? The Savage Hunt?  This sounds like a mix of Predator and Universal Soldier to me, and if both of those series didn’t already have new installments in production (or soon will have anyway) I might just suspect an intentionally secretive crossover was in the works… and I’d forgive the silliness if it meant Stallone would be hunting Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren.

• Adam Rosenberg at MTV Movies Blog thinks this is too ridiculous even for the Rambo franchise:
  

  The “Rambo” series is about over-the-top action and outlandish military plots, but as silly as the happenings get they always stay at least SOMEWHAT grounded in reality. Putting in a “Predator”-esque sci-fi twist… I’m just not feeling it…we have officially left reality behind. Failed government experiment? A thinking feral beast? It sounds like a super-villain origin story to me, and it has no place in the reasonably grounded fiction of “Rambo.”

• Rodney at The Movie Blog doesn’t think it fits the series, either, enough to call bullshit on this news:
  

  Since when has Rambo ever tread this close to the supernatural or superscience like this. Part of the appeal of Rambo is that his conflicts are grounded in a real world. Granted his one-man-army takes a little suspension of disbelief, but would it really serve the franchise at all to have him battling something so unreal in a real world.

• Rob Bricken at Topless Robot also thinks it doesn’t fit the franchise, but he’s more excited:
  

  On the one hand, it seems obvious that Rambo works best when fighting (hundreds of) human opponents. We want Rambo to be not superhuman, but a human that’s superior to other (foreign-y) humans. On the other hand, I think “Rambo Vs. Werewolves” and that still sounds like the awesomest fucking thing ever to me.

• Tim Gomez at Cinema Blend feels it works well enough for what Rambo movies exist for:
  

  Sure, it isn’t all that creative, but the thought of Rambo hunting down the perfect human killer is completely intriguing. As with all Rambo movies, I’m sure both men (or maybe it will be GASP a woman!) will end up in torn up rags, bandanas and dirty faces, but no one watches a Rambo movie for the plot, character development and direction. You watch them to see people get blown up.

• The Foywonder at DreadCentral makes a fitting analogy to show how wrong this is:
  

  having a hard time wrapping my head around the notion of Rambo in a Predator-esque scenario. Crossing genres with this iconic character may not work. Audiences might not be willing to accept the notion of Rambo, the force of freedom, battling a sci-fi monster. Be kind of like bringing back Ralph Macchio for a new Karate Kid sequel where a middle-aged Daniel-san is called in to use his “wax on, wax off” skills to thwart a kickboxing Yeti.

• Harry Knowles has another post sharing the full synopsis and defending the sci-fi element:
  

  As for people that want Rambo to stay “realistic” - I’d just like to fire back… “ARE YOU FUCKING NUTS?” Because Rambo hasn’t been vaguely realistic since the end credits of the first film. RAMBO has pretty much proven that he can wipe out all 3rd world groups of would-be badasses… It is time for him to fight something he doesn’t know. Something that actually scares him. Because right now, I’d say Rambo is a man with no fear. He has nothing to lose. That looks to change with this film - and while I understand how it scares some of you - and how most of you feel that it is outside your comfort zone, but I’m pulling for this to work.

• Brandon Lee Tenney at FirstShowing is the most excited about this news:
  

  Well I’m sold. I don’t know about you, but having written and read all that back, I’m sold. I trust Stallone after witnessing what he was capable of bringing to his exceptionally affecting 2006 film Rocky Balboa and 2008’s Rambo-can-still-kick-ass fourth installment of the Rambo franchise. The guy knows his characters. And more so, he’s confident in his characters. Mix that with some classic government conspiracy, a dash of some sci-fi super soldier, and John Rambo doing what he does best in the forests of the good ol’ U. S. of A. — well, let’s just say I’ve pitched my tent outside the movie theater already.

• Owen Williams at Empire notes why it’s not exactly Rambo vs. Predator:
  

  A bit like Predator then, although Sly prefers Forbidden Planet (”where the doctor couldn’t control his mind and his subconscious took over and became a savage killing machine”) as an analogy.

• Meredith Woerner at i09 hopes that the genre switch doesn’t affect the body count:
  

  If you don’t remember how incredibly ridiculous the last Rambo film was please see this chart we stumbled upon. Basically, if trends continue, Rambo should be mowing down the wolf people at the rate of 3.2 bodies per minute… that’s if they want to beat the last film, which seems like an impossible task. But if anyone can up the body count, John Rambo can.