I was just watching this on Blu Ray, and the thought never occured to me before... why does he use a bow and arrow? Surely a silenced rifle would be more effective. Now it's true he was not sent in to fight, so that could be a reason but... why does he have explosive tipped arrows?
Moreover, does anyone know if explosive tipped arrows exist? lol I can't think of any valid reason for him to use a bow, except they say early on they say he is half Indian :) .
because a so called "silenced" (suppressed) weapon is not truly silent. There's still a quite audible report of the weapon, not to mention the sonic crack.
wouldn't matter anyways, since he lost his primary weapon (an MP5) when he jumped out of the plane
Rambo did not have to cut his gear while he was hung up, it was just an opportunity for him to get rid of as much of that technological junk as possible. The scoped gun, the camera and all that, so he wasn't forced to cut it free and his mission did not get off to a bad start.
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i summarize the points given by other users. here i wage the pro and cons.
+++ it's silent.
+it's precise. a shot from bow from a few yards away can penetrate a human skull easily, rambo is all about close to mid range.
++it can be fast, depening on the sitaution, a catridge runs out quick and a gun can only be used to use bash people's heads in once it runs dry.
with bow you could at least try to make new ammunition with very little at hand.
++an arrow can be used as a stabbing weapon too.
+you can reequip arrows that have been used at least two or three times.
+it doesnt weight too much and isnt as heavy as carrying a machine gun.
+it works even when it's covered with dirt and mud, there is not much too break. unless you cut the string but that can be replaced easily.
+doesnt't give away your position immediately. especially during twilight or night(then again you can't see jacksh+++ yourself during night without proper equpiment)
+doesn't jam unless you don't know how to use it.
+no recoil
--- slow.
an assualt rifle, mp or gun in general is much faster, you can send in rounds by the dozens while a bow relatively slow since you need to reload each arrow.
-- accuracy. once you miss your screwed. with a gun you can at least try to shoot again more rounds then one in a split second. if your good with the bow as a marksman with his rifle it will nullify this point.
- size. its hard to conceal bows and arrows. not that this matter to rambo anyway.
-- durability and force. you can't penetrate concrete and thick wood(like a a small tree). with a gun you can(depending on the caliber).however reflex bows a capable of giving an arrow so much velocity to actually penetrate light steel plates(kiss your kevlar good bye).
- distance.
yes you can shoot arrows far but not as far and precise as a bullet(depending on the rifle though) in general a bullet travels faster and has less trajectory then an arrow(technically). on short distance it doesn't really matter, the point of penetration is more important.
-breaks easier then a gun, well technically.
-difficult to use
- shooting with a bow is harder then with a gun, again it depends on what type of gun and what rifle your using. a kid can use a 9mm or an ak. a sniper rifle is difficult to use.
to sum it all up it's almost even but technology prevails and makes killing easier and quicker, there are many varieties of guns for different purposes that it is ahrd to balance against the rather...small selection of bow types(we jsut sue rambos bow in this scenario), needless to say until scientists are able to make modern weapons quieter and almost noiseless, an arrow could be a nice alternative in an enviroment like a jungle. in urban scenarios the bow will lose certainly.
nonetheless a bow is cool and a corner stone of human engineering, where would be without the invention of the bow? it's almsot as old as mankind.
and finally the discussion about explosive arrows, this could work. however i don't know how...like a grenade from a grenade launcher perhaps? or like a proximity mine? if so it would be an incredible dangerous weapon. again not for a long distance, since the cap of the arrow would pull the arrow down quite alot during the flight.
i have never seen explosive arrows in practice...it's really a bada## idea.
I seem to recall that when the movie first came out there were questions raised about the bow and arrow and someone (maybe Stallone) said in an interview that in Vietname they did sometimes use bows and arrows in combat, presumably situatios where stealth was required.
I'm no authority, but I read someplace that silencers on a gun only work for a few shots, then they're fairly useless for suppressing sound.
"My girlfriend sucked 37 d*cks!"
"In a row?"
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It's a mythic weapon. Rambo is a larger than life mythic character like an ancient Greek hero or Robin Hood. Once the sequels kick in he's a much grander character.
In addition to what other posters have said about the versatility of the bow and arrow, I also think that it just makes Rambo look cool and, and makes him a different kind of soldier, like someone else said, primal. The cinematography in the scene in the river makes him look like a mythological warrior.
shareIn short: It looks cool.
Plus, has the concept of explosive tipped arrows ever been seen before (in real life or film)? That must've been totally original.
He was my C.O. in Nam. CIA listed him as MIA but the V.A. ID'd his M.O. and put out an APB.