Rambo 4

Police in military-run Myanmar have banned DVD vendors from selling the new Rambo film about a Vietnam war veteran fighting the junta's soldiers, but that hasn't stopped people from trying to buy it.

Many customers keep asking about Rambo 4 but I dare not to sell it. Police have warned me I could go to jail for up to seven years if I sell the latest Rambo film, said one vendor.

Starring Sylvester Stallone, the blood-splattering follow-up to the classic 1980s film trilogy sees war veteran John Rambo fighting Myanmar forces to rescue captured Christian missionaries helping ethnic Karen villagers.

The film, which portrays Myanmar's military as sadistic and depraved, opened recently in the United States and Singapore against a backdrop of the junta's ongoing persecution of Karen minorities.

Vendors said there were some Rambo copies smuggled from Singapore, but said the audio and video quality was not good. They advise eager Myanmar customers to wait for pirated DVDs from China. Once this movie hits China, I think there will be a way for us to see it with much better quality, one vendor said.

Odeon, the UK's biggest cinema chain, will not show Rambo at its theaters citing undisclosed “commercial reasons.”

News has sent shockwaves around the local industry as Rambo is the most significant new release in the UK. News has also enraged online Sylvester Stallone fans, especially those who live in rural areas where their only local cinema is an Odeon.

Odeon is tight-lipped on the decision not to play the franchise sequel. Owing to commercial reasons, Odeon has made the decision not to scree  the film Rambo across its cinemas in the UK, said a statement.

An source told Variety that Odeon's decision to pull Rambo must be “over a disagreement over the terms. But to us, the film rentals rate seems reasonable enough for a release such as Rambo .

There has to be a time when neither player steps down. Both companies have their budgets and both are playing the game, commented Andrew Turner, Cineworld director of film booking, adding that: I can't remember the last time this happened in the multiplex era.

Update: Body Count Down

27th February

And indeed Rambo failed to capture the top box office takings slot. It ended up 3rd to Jumper and Be Kind Rewind