When I think of the tale of Sylvester Stallone’s Rambo, it’s funny that I only think of the original First Blood and the last movie that was simply called Rambo. As a fan of the movies, I never took the time to read the book but from what I hear his tale was meant to end after First Blood. Just a tragic tale about a war hero come home, harassed by some redneck cops and forced into a situation where he had to use his tools of war on people that he had fought and almost died for. This was the movie however, in the book the dynamic of Rambo was much different as he was suffering from PTSD and was arrested for vagrancy which landed him in jail and made him have flashbacks that led to many policemen dying by his hands. We are not talking about the book Rambo however (let me clear… [Read more]

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“I didn’t play a villain; I played a man doing his job” – Stephen Lang That is how badass actor Stephen Lang describes his role as Avatar’s antagonist Col. Miles Quaritch. It was a brilliant portrayal, lost to many moviegoers due to being blindly distracted by the blue giants dominating the scenes and the protagonist Jake Sully’s quest to score some blue booty (he got it too #beastmode). All it takes is one look at Colonel Miles to know that he isn’t the type of man that you go to begging for a day off. The man looked every bit the committed military type that has been in the dance for so long that he is harder than penitentiary steel. Quaritch lived in a time when the technology allowed for a man’s scars to be removed yet he kept a visible scratch across his puss to remind him daily that he can never let his guard… [Read more]

You’ve heard the saying “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” but if you want to apply a face to the saying you could easily use the face of Caterina Sforza. Here on The Hall we have 2 main historical sections in Badass of The Month and Hotties of History, Caterina is the first woman to occupy both. How To Raise A Tigress In 1462 Galeazzo Maria Sforza made love to the wife of a friend and got her pregnant, which lead to the birth of our darling Caterina. The scandal of her birth was no big deal at the time, as her Caterina’s father was a lord amongst man-whores and ran up inside any woman that he felt was hot (seriously). Ironically her birth coming from such a rebellious act as adultery was just a pre-cursor to her wickedly dynamic life. Unlike other girls that learnt lady-like things as they grew up, Caterina’s… [Read more]

There was a time when Kimbo had the web buzzing from his insane, bloody,  backyard fights and before long he was a household name known by any nerd with the ability to search for videos online. Then the man went on to try MMA and despite being a physical specimen, the old knee injuries and mobility handicap made him a joke to everyone who actually thinks MMA is real (ya I said it). Well the above video shows the arena that Kimbo should have tried in the first place being that his hands were what we knew to be his weapons. Sure MMA is the modern day WWE and has fans beyond measure but I am happy to see Kimbo tapping jaws in the “gentleman’s sport” of boxing. Hey big Kimbo if this doesn’t work out I urge you to holler at Micheal Jai White and get into Hollywood my man. If you saw the movie Blood and Bone you will… [Read more]

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While many view snipers as the hidden (safe) threats in war based on their forays in First Person Shooter video games and movies like Saving Private Ryan and Enemy at The Gates, the fact of the matter is that snipers like any other soldiers in war are very successible to danger – especially in the case of Sergeant Ed Eaton’s brave protection and rescue of comrade in arms Major Mike Perkins when he had fallen injured in a night assault during the Vietnam war 1969. Mike and Ed were part of a helicopter night mission when the Viet Cong shot down the chopper resulting in most of the men injured with near fatal wounds. Mike got the worst of it being pinned down under the helicopter and unable to get out. Now remember that at this time the men were still under attack and Ed Eaton in his own words said that he had the… [Read more]

Today’s entry is about the mighty elephant Hannibal, a man whose father instilled such a hate in him for the city of Rome that he would not only fight his entire life to try and destroy it, but took a draught of poison rather than be imprisoned within her halls. Hannibal absolutely loathed Rome, it was a deep, deep hate born and bred from the loss of his father, brothers and friends to their legions, and it all began from one legendary act. The act (that Hannibal reportedly loved to talk about) was when his father, the mighty Hamilcar held him aloft above a fire and made him swear to hate Rome or face the flames and oblivion. Being a young soldier within his father’s campaign, Hannibal at first fought whilst witnessing his father and older brother expand Carthage into Spain and beat back Rome like nobody’s business. He was sharp and ambitious which eventually… [Read more]

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“In stature she was very tall, in appearance most terrifying, in the glance of her eye most fierce, and her voice was harsh; a great mass of the tawniest hair fell to her hips; around her neck was a large golden necklace; and she wore a tunic of diverse colors over which a thick mantle was fastened with a brooch. This was her invariable attire.” – Cassius Dio’s description of Boudica, Icenian Queen. One of the most glorious female warriors in ancient history is the warrior queen Boudica – a Celtish badass who led her men into war against the Romans in 61 C.E. Under the order of the commanders of the Roman legions, her people were ravaged for conquest, slaves pillaged her home, and she was whipped. Her daughters were brutally raped and her people made into slaves for the glory of Rome. This was all a tiny offense compared to the savagery brought… [Read more]

A few years ago, Denzel Washington played the character Frank Lucas in American Gangster, a tale about a hustler who took the drug game beyond the limited scope of his fellow hoods. In the early portions of the movie we see that Frank was tutored by a man who they simply called Bumpy, played by Clarence Williams III. Well as much as the movie put Frank Lucas over as a mastermind and Denzel Washington inaccurately portrayed him as a cool, poised Gangster, most historians know that Bumpy Johnson deserved a bit more than a slight mention in the life of Lucas. It is convenient that Lucas was alive to make sure that they semi-accurately put him over in the movie, but his predecessor Bumpy was not afforded that luxury for  American Gangster. Well we are fans of old Elsworth here at the Hall, Bumpy represented a Gangster and Gentleman the way that it was meant… [Read more]