The first trailer for the Netflix film “Rebel Ridge” looks like a modern retelling of the legendary 80s action film “Rambo” and I’m totally into it
Netflix has some pretty solid choices in its catalog of action and crime titles, including films like Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman (2019), and it gets even bigger with the addition of a new crime thriller called Rebel Crest. The film comes from the mind behind A24s Green space (2015), Jeremy Saulnier, who has reprised his role as writer and director for the new Netflix film, which is scheduled to be released on September 6th on one of the top streaming services.
In the trailer (see below), which came out yesterday (August 7), Aaron Pierre appears as Terry Richmond, who arrives in the small town of Shelby Springs to pay his cousin’s bail and free him. It’s not long before his mission becomes complicated when the police wrongfully take away his entire life savings and police chief Sandy Burnne (Don Johnson) and a team of colleagues stand in his way of rescuing his cousin. Sound familiar? You’re not alone. The trailer makes it seem like a modern take on the ’80s classic Rambo.
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Amid the chaos, Richmond meets court clerk Summer (AnnaSophia Robb), and together they become fixated on a mysterious conspiracy in the city. The trailer hints at the lengths Richmond will have to go to ensure justice is served for his family and the surrounding community. Saulnier told Netflix Tudum: “For this film, I wanted to show how the rest of us react to these systems, how infuriating they can make us – from corrupt politicians to the endless loop of a customer service call gone wrong.”
Rambo experiences a new splendor in the 21st century
From the little taste we get in the trailer, it is clear that the action thriller elements are reminiscent of the 80s. Rambo film series starring Sylvester Stallone. And since Saulnier spoke to Netflix about his admiration for gritty action films, the reference makes perfect sense. He shared the following:
“As a filmmaker, I love down-to-earth action films from the 80s and 90s that are not only spectacular, but also manage to combine the chaos on screen with a real emotional component. Smaller scale, bigger impact. Less facade, less artificiality.”
But Sauliner’s next action film seems to offer more than the typical violence we know from crime films. It overlays the narrative with a social commentary in the form of a dig at current injustices within the police force. The trailer alone evokes the right dose of emotion, against the backdrop of a corrupt political climate in which the authorities threaten local communities instead of keeping them safe.
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