In the US, the NC-17 rating is reserved for the most grisly or perverse of films. Rambo, with its body count of 236, was initially slapped with that rating but the studio was able to wrangle it down to a mere R. The Motion Picture Association of America attributes the R rating to the following: "Strong graphic bloody violence, sexual assaults, grisly images and language."

That description may be understating the case. Rambo is perhaps the most violent mainstream action film ever made. Just as an example, one poor chap is reduced to red mist by gunfire, another effectively has his larynx removed by our hero, yet another is disembowelled and, the cherry atop the sundae of carnage, an infant is thrown into a blaze. As for the 232 others that perish during the film's 91 minutes, they are disposed of through a mix of shots to the head, arrows through the head, throat slicings, dismemberments and - do believe the hype - one bloke is torn in half.

The script is rendered moot, as all exposition is overshadowed by the violence. Furthermore, the body count is well in excess of the number of words uttered by Rambo. None of the preceding text is meant to detract from the merit of this film, though. It is what it is - an OTT action movie - and if that's what you're expecting, you'll leave the cinema with your appetite for blood more than sated.