The first trailer for the Netflix movie Rebel Ridge looks like a modern retelling of the iconic ’80s action film Rambo, and I’m totally into it
Netflix has some pretty good choices in its catalog of action and crime films, including films like Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman (2019), and it’s about to get bigger with the addition of a new crime thriller called Rebel back. The film comes from the brain behind A24’s Green Room (2015), Jeremy Saulnier, who has reprised his role as screenwriter and director for the new Netflix film, which will be released on one of the best streaming services on September 6.
In the trailer (below), which dropped yesterday (August 7), Aaron Pierre bursts onto the scene as Terry Richmond, who arrives in the small town of Shelby Springs on a mission to post his nephew’s bail and free him. It’s not long before his mission takes a turn for the worse when the police wrongfully seize his life savings and police chief Sandy Burnne (Don Johnson) and a team of colleagues stand in his way of rescuing his nephew. Sound familiar? You’re not alone. The trailer makes it look like a modern take on the ’80s classic Rambo.
In the chaos, Richmond meets clerk Summer (AnnaSophia Robb), and together they become fixated on a mysterious conspiracy unfolding in the city. The trailer hints at the lengths Richmond will go to ensure justice is served for his family and the surrounding community, with Saulnier narrating Netflix Tudum: “For this film, I wanted to chart how the rest of us react to such systems, how frustrating they can be – from corrupt politicians to the endless repetition of a failed customer service call.”
Rambo has a 21st century flare
From the sneak peek we get in the trailer, it’s clear that there’s something about the action thriller elements that hark back to the ’80s Rambo film franchise starring Sylvester Stallone. And since Saulnier spoke to Netflix about his admiration for gritty action films, this allusion makes perfect sense, as he shared the following:
“As a filmmaker, I love the grounded action movies of the 80s and 90s that not only deliver spectacle, but also manage to marry the chaos on screen with a real and genuine emotional component. Smaller scale, bigger impact. Less veneer, less artificiality.”
But Sauliner’s next action film looks to offer more than the typical violence we’re used to seeing in crime films, by providing the story with an underlying social commentary in the form of a dig at the current injustices within the police force. The trailer alone evokes the right amount of emotion, set against the backdrop of a corrupt political climate where the authorities threaten local communities instead of keeping them safe.