By Lynette Lee Corporal

BANGKOK, Feb 14 (IPS) – Clichés and stereotypes, blood and gore, and an attempt to throw in a progressive cause like Burma is the mix that viewers will see in the latest Rambo movie, where Hollywood actor Sylvester Stallone saves the day with his trademark grunt and his well-honed guerrilla tactics.

In the fourth installment of the Rambo films, Stallone resurrects the (still) lean, mean, sharp as ever killing machine that is John Rambo, the former Vietnam veteran who captured the hearts of action fans worldwide in 'First Blood' a generation ago.

Before coming to Burma, Rambo had forays into Vietnam and Afghanistan – problem countries for the U.S. government at some point. Now, he takes on a whole battalion of Burmese soldiers and saves the innocent from annihilation – although the jury is out on whether the film works as an effective tool for drumming up awareness about Burmese junta’s atrocities.

In his latest caper, a bored-looking Rambo ekes out a living catching cobras in the jungles of Mae Sot in Thailand, near the border with Burma. But the arrival of a group of Christian missionaries, whose idealism and naivete literally led them to a slaughterhouse, changes Rambo's zombie-like existence and brings back the days of gore and bloodbath.

The film is unapologetic in its use of cliches. It’s the same tired story: Everything is black and white, good and evil, with lots of do-or-die moments thrown in for good measure.

‘Rambo IV’ – which started showing in Asian cinemas in January and is due to open in mid-March in Thailand -- is replete with stereotypes, especially when it comes to pointing out differences between the east and the west, symbolically played out in the kindness, idealism and determination of the Caucasian missionaries and the uncouth, barbaric bad guys in the form of the Burmese pirates and military.

While reports of the cruelty of the Burmese junta have been well-documented, the depiction of these stereotypes glosses over much more complex issues too deep to dig up in a 90-minute action movie.

"The Burmese army in the movie is different from real-life," comments freelance Burmese journalist Phyo Win Latt. "The film is filled with exaggeration and inaccuracies. Army officers, for example, don't wear sunglasses while engaged in battle and although there are rape cases in remote ethnic villages, I've never heard of such things like ethnic women being forced to dance in front of the soldiers."

He added that an army major is not that powerful and does not have total authority of the kind shown in the movie.

Burma's military rule began in 1962 after Gen Ne Win seized power in a coup d'etat. Forty-six years and a succession of military rulers later, the South-east Asian country remains in the iron grip of the junta, called the State Peace and Development Council. Protests and attempts to win back democracy, such as the 1988 student uprising, the 1990 general elections and the September 2007 monk-led protests, haven proven to be futile so far.

Zin Linn, the National Coalition Government of Union of Burma media and information director who has seen portions of the film on YouTube, says that while the movie is not wholly accurate, it still somehow gives the world an idea of what the junta is capable of.

"It's quite shocking how villagers, women and children, suffer from the hands of soldiers. Refugees and internally displaced people (IDP) who get to watch this film will probably relate to some scenes in the movie," added the former political detainee, who lives in exile in Thailand.

The film has drawn mixed reactions. Some people, says Phyo Win Latt, view the movie "as a cheap attempt to depict Burma's complex issues, while others who prefer non-violent means to get back democracy think the movie encourages armed struggle along the border".

Meant for a mature audience, the film unabashedly shows bodies being blown up by bombs or high-powered machine guns, as well as scenes showing hacking throats being cut. One scene would make environmentalists cringe in their seats — Rambo detonates a bomb to kill enemies going after him and levelling a huge portion of a forest in the process. Suspension of disbelief is the way to do it if you want to get through the whole movie.

While the film could help spread the word about Burma to the world, Phyo Win Latt believes that the film offers little in terms of political solutions – but perhaps that is too much to expect a Rambo flick to do. "The most I can expect is increased assistance for IDPs and refugees in the form of fund-raising activities perhaps," he said.

Added Zin Linn: "At the very least, it can encourage the people's revolutionary spirit and, at the same time, get them to condemn the military regime's crimes against humanity."

Stallone fans in Burma will not see their swashbuckling hero in local theatres. Thanks to DVD pirates (kudos to Burma's economic ally China), bootleg copies are said to be circulating underground in the country, at the risk of an 80 U.S. dollar fine or three years’ imprisonment.

Zin Linn says that his friends in Burma have seen the film. "They say the copies are now available in cities and even in some villages. People are taking risks just to enjoy 'Rambo 4',” he added. “I think they see it as a kind of moral support.”

Exiled Burmese appear to have given it some positive feedback. According to a report by the Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), about 600 Burmese who watched the film in Singapore became very emotional, chanted slogans and distributed political leaflets at the screening.

The crowd "clapped non-stop for 80 seconds to show respect to the movie audience gathered there and to show unity" in their fight for democracy, DVB reported.

The Thai-based Burmese publication 'The Irrawaddy' reported that some viewers found the film an "eye-opening experience" because it showed the military's brutality, but that others, many of them university students, remained unmoved.

But no matter the differences of opinion, the film — or at least its pirated DVD version — is enjoying brisk sales.

Viewers would be wise to view this as temporary escape, or a safe release valve for pent-up frustrations, from the realities of the Burma conflict. After all, one of the movie's messages, as Rambo himself says several times in the film, is that "nothing (here) ever changes". Somehow, that expresses a sense of cynicism and resignation about the current situation in Burma.

So for now, don't be surprised if a famous line from the movie — "Live for nothing or die for something" — surfaces on blogsites, t-shirts, mugs, or even in placards future protests within and outside Burma. (END/IPSAP/LLC/JS/120208)