A while back I reported that Sylvester Stallone's plans for RAMBO V (THE SAVAGE HUNT) involved one man war machine John Rambo and a trusty sidekick tracking a genetically engineered monster. It was, honestly, one of the dumbest ideas I've ever read, especially considering that the last entry in the franchise, RAMBO, was a balls-to-the wall, thrilling throwback to FIRST BLOOD and RAMBO FIRST BLOOD PART II, and a great finish to the series, which may have thrived on unbelievable situations and action sequences, but never plucked the action hero against a damned MONSTER. Surprisingly, horror site after horror site trumpeted this as a "cool" idea, which only made me lose respect for horror site after horror site. When John Rambo returns to the states after 20 years, the character needs an emotional reason to fight again, not a ridiculous monster.

Stallone sent word to a fan site (Stallone Zone!) that he's regained his sanity, and RAMBO VS. JOHN CARPENTER'S THE THING won't be happening. Instead, "Johnny" will be going across the border to a country where women are enslaved. This sounds very similar to a storyline discussed earlier, before Sly decided he wanted to fight monsters, ala Lou Ferrigno in HERCULES. He's still going to fight the monster, just not as Rambo (or Rocky, thank God!). So Rambo gets to shoot up some white slave trader-drug lords, and an all new Stallone character will rip off PREDATOR. I bet Rambo creator David Morrell is relieved. I wonder if he had anything to do with this decision. Or maybe Fear Zone did? In any case, I can now look forward to both of these projects. "Go for it!"