Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2869 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-08-11
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 91 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
The clue to what Son Of Rambow is about is all in the title, minus that W, of course (which presumably keeps the lawyers at bay). For it’s the story of two young boys who, after watching Sylvester Stallone in action, decide that they can make a home movie addition to the Rambo saga, and ultimately set about to do just that.

This proves to be an inspired platform for one of the best British comedies of recent years. Directed by Garth Jennings (who also helmed the big screen adaptation of The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy), Son Of Rambow is actually at heart the exploration of a friendship between two young boys in the 1980s, and the highs and lows that go along with it.

Most, but not all, of the chuckles come from the reimagining of Rambo (replete with stunts and plenty of action), but Son Of Rambow also packs in some poignant, affecting drama without ever feeling like it’s in any way overstaying its welcome. And with a musical backing that catches the flavour of the 80s pretty much perfectly, this is a treat of a movie, and a very British one at that. Don’t miss it. --Jon Foster

Synopsis
Writer-director Garth Jennings and producer Nick Goldsmith, who as Hammer & Tongs have made music videos for such groups as Fatboy Slim, Supergrass, Blur, and REM, follow up their 2005 film, THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY, with the charming indie SON OF RAMBOW, a love letter to the movies.

SON OF RAMBOW stars Bill Milner as Will Proudfoot, a shy, reserved young boy who is different from the other kids because his family is part of the Brethren, a religion that shuns the outside world, not allowing him to have friends at school or to watch television. While in the hallway in school one day because he can't watch an educational film in class, Will gets into a fight with Lee Carter (Will Poulter), a tough kid who gets into trouble all the time. Lee forces Will to help him make a homemade version of the Sylvester Stallone film FIRST BLOOD, but after watching the original, Will is captivated by the movie and writes his own sequel, casting himself as the son of Rambo (he misspells the name of the character). Will and Lee use their imagination and lots of grit to get the project off the ground, bonding as only blood brothers can. But soon the entire school wants to participate in the movie, including ultra-cool French exchange student Didier Revol (Jules Sitruk), jeopardizing the integrity of the production as well as Will and Lee's growing friendship.
Milner and Poulter, both making their feature-film debuts, are engaging as the lead characters. Jennings sets SON OF RAMBOW in the 1980s, before cell phones, digital cameras, and YouTube changed the way people communicate. Amid a soundtrack that includes music from such seminal period bands as the Cure and Depeche Mode, the two young boys learn about family and friendship, jealousy and ego as their carefully controlled worlds threaten to implode.

Customer Reviews

Son of Rambow
The 1980s gave us the world many things - yuppies, shoulder pads, the Falklands War, and for the purposes of this review, the children's TV show Screen Test. One of the first `reality shows', it allowed kids to send their own short films into the programme, to compete against other kids, to win a plasticy, trophy thing - and more importantly, appear on TV.

So, after sneaking into a showing of First Blood, wild child Lee Carter (Will Poluter) decides he's going to win the Screen Test competition by making his own version of the Sly Stallone feature. Following a chance meeting in the school corridor, he manages to rope in the help of Will Proudfoot (Bill Milner) as his leading man, throwing him into lakes and sending him flying into pits of tar. However, Will's new found pastime does not go down well with his mother (Jessica Hynes), as her family are part of the Brethren, a group which forbids it's members from watching films or television, in an attempt to insulate itself from the outside world. Although the two boys come from completely different backgrounds, both are loners, and in each other, find their `blood brother'.

The baby of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy director Garth Jennings, Son of Rambow is a semi-autobiographical account of the director's childhood. The film is a homage to the 1980s which Jennings grew up in, similar to that seen in Shane Meadow's This Is England. From the music of Depeche Mode, to the language used ("Skill" as in "Skill on toast"), right down to the minute details, such as the guide-dog-shaped charity collection boxes outside the supermarket, Jennings is transporting many of his viewers back to the age they grew up in.

The performances of Milner and Poulter, who had never acted prior to appearing in Son of Rambow, are both great. They both capture the energy and fun they experienced when they're making their film and this is transferred straight to the audience.

For Will, a young man who has to leave the classroom whenever there is an education video being shown, due to his religious beliefs, the filming of the First Blood parody gives him the chance to finally express his artistic flair, which had previously been confined to his scarp book and the boy's toilets. There is a brilliant animation sequence, where we see the drawings from Will's sketchbook come to life in the fields outside the car window. We experience his mind moving at a million miles a second, with new ideas streaming into his head. He feels invincible - something which we all felt when we were eleven years old and on a mission.

For Lee, a tough nut with a soft core (a bit like one of those Cadbury Éclairs), the Screen Test competition gives him the chance to make himself known, in a world where he has been forgotten by most.

The middle of the film is slightly flat, with the introduction of French exchange student Didier (Jules Sitruk). The side story which keeps him occupied causes your attention to wane and more could have been made of this, as his character is essential to the rest of the film.

After so many spoof movies, it would be easy to be sceptical about Son of Rambow. But Jennings has produced a fantastic little film, which emphasizes the virtues camaraderie, friendship and most important of all, a wicked imagination.

Childhood... it ain,t what it used to be
Childhood.....it,s not what it used to be. That could well be the conclusion gleaned after watching Son Of Rambow .A well executed coming of age story set in Britain in the early 1980,s this is a film about friendship , loyalty , family, the power of cinema , the vacuity of being cool or considered cool and most importantly the wonder of children's imagination.
Written and directed by Garth Jennings ( The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy [2005]) it is based on his childhood remincences around the time that VHS tapes became really popular . Will( Bill Milner) is an introverted boy whose single mother Mary (Jessica Stephenson) had made the family part of a strict religious sect. This means young Will is banned from watching TV , even having to sit in the corridor outside the classroom at school when they show an educational film .It,s here one day that he meets Lee Carter( Will Poulter) the schools aberrant youngster. Lee lives in the old folks home his mother owns but which is looked after by his demanding older brother Lawrence( Ed Westwick) . Lee has borrowed his brothers home video camera to make his own film with which he intends to win the "Screen Test" young film-makers competition. When the imaginative Will , whose school books are full of fanciful doodles, inadvertently see,s some ofRambo: First Blood [1982] it sparks his imagination and the two set out to make the film centring around Will -dubbing himself the "Son Of Rambow"-saving his missing father from an evil scarecrow.
That brief synopsis does,nt really do Son of Rambow justice though. There is an amusing sub-plot involving a French exchange student and a more studious one involving the hold the religious sect has on the family . Mostly though the film is energetic, vigorous, colourful and just plain good fun though the ending is a beautifully judged slice of schmaltz that could have you blubbing like an X Factor finalist. ... i did,nt obviously .I just had an errant Pringle( prawn cocktail flavour) in my eye.
Films that truly capture what makes child hood magical are pretty rare but Son Of Rambow does it effortlessly. The kids all perform excellently ( especially Will Poulter) and the direction and editing give the film a child like vivaciousness.There is a modern perception that today's youngsters are missing out on what makes childhood special by playing video games, watching TV, DVD,s etc , that their sense of adventure and imagination is stunted by an overly protective cosseting by parents fearful of everything beyond their front doors. Son Of Rambow shows what they are possibly missing. Childhood i,snt what it used to be ( even taking into account the golden glow of nostalgia) but just maybe it can be again.

A film the entire family could enjoy together
Set in the 1980s with a school background, two very different boys, one from a Plymouth Brethren family, the other street wise and allowed to run wild, come together when the "nasty rough boy" needs an actor to play Rambo in his home movie. We soon realise the boys are more similar than first appears: Will, the shy religious boy, has no father; while Lee the brash loudmouth lives a lonely life with his uncaring brother.

Some of the funniest moments in the film take place in the school, particularly relating to the French exchange students and the super-cool Didier. I loved the scene where one of the teachers is doing things with a mirror, his nose hairs and a pair of scissors - you just know its going to end badly - and yes, it does.

Neither of the boys acts outstandingly, there is no really satisfactory conclusion to Will's mother decision to lose her self-righteous suitor (I was hoping she would end up in make up and heels and horrify him), and the ending is a bit of a damp squib; but it's a thoroughly likeable film and unusually, one the entire family could enjoy together.