Rebel: The Director’s Cut

Rather ironically, the first movie featuring Sylvester Stallone as a lead actor was re-released in the UK to capitalize on the popularity of First Blood. The roles are almost inverse opposites. John Rambo was a Vietnam veteran who resented the abuse and demonization he suffered from the anti-war movement. Jerry Savage was one of the New Left activists doing the vilifying. However, Savage tired of talk and now intends to take direct, violent action in Robert Allen Schnitzer’s director’s cut of Rebel, which releases on VOD and in select theaters this Friday.

Student activism was not cutting it for Savage, so he hitchhikes to New York to join a cell of militant guerillas, led by Tommy Trafler. On the way, he meets Laurie Fisher, who sells crafts in the City with her hippy-dippy commune.

Savage feels the chemistry with Fisher, but his new roommate and co-conspirator, Estelle Ferguson obviously feels something for him. The plan is to bomb the corporate headquarters of a kitchenware conglomerate to expose their defense contracting sideline. Marlena St. James, also known as “The Black Bomber,” will craft the explosives, but Ferguson must plant them within the Midtown tower. The idea is to set the explosion for an early Sunday morning, to avoid loss of life. (Here’s a pro-tip: if you do not want to kill anyone, do not blow-up any buildings.)

However, the FBI has an informer within the domestic terror cell, but much to Special Agent William Decker’s frustration, the CIA has taken defacto operational control. As most historians would agree, J. Edgar Hoover was not at all turf-conscious and never minded sharing jurisdiction on big cases. Yeah, right.

Frankly, Rebel lands awkwardly in the wake of Boulder’s antisemitic domestic terror attack. In some ways, Schnitzer critiques the extremist mindset, but he also clearly invites sympathy for Savage’s cause.

Schnitzer’s screenplay, co-written with Larry Beinhart, is confused and raggedy, but all sides of the pseudo love triangle exhibit strange, unlikely screen presences that make Rebel oddly distinctive. Obviously, Stallone was the only cast-member who was going anywhere, but Vickie Lancaster is acutely sad (in the intended way) as Ferguson. Antony Page also has such a Dennis Hopper thing going on as Trafler, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Easy Rider thesp had been a model for the character and Page’s portrayal.

Regardless, the best part of Rebel is the funky soundtrack composed by Joseph Delacorte. If you dig Sound Library grooves, you will yearn for a vinyl release of the Rebel score.

Weirdly, you can see echoes of the original, alienated First Blood Rambo in the existentially angsty Savage, whose very name sounds like a commentary on his extremist milieu. The film is flawed but also fascinating for many reasons (in both respects). Recommended as a curiosity piece, Rebel: The Director’s Cut releases this Friday (6/6) on VOD and in select theaters.