10 Movies With Surprising Real World Consequences

5. Inspiring Freedom Fighters - Rambo

Robert de niro taxi driver
Lionsgate

The 2008 film just called Rambo is honestly one of the better instalments in the blood-soaked franchise.

Although that isn't saying much, considering that Last Blood exists.

Sylvester Stallone returned as the titular veteran to rescue a bunch of missionaries who have become tangled up in the Saffron Revolution in Burma.

Burma was what it was called at the time - the country's name is now officially Myanmar.

Whilst the movie was a fairly standard action affair with Stallone going "ARGHHHH!" as often as humanly possible, it had some rather unintended consequences in the actual country it was set in.

The Saffron Revolution was a very real conflict in Myanmar against the ruling military government. One of the groups involved in challenging their authority was the Karen Nation Liberation Army (KNLA).

Karen is an ethnic group of people, not those women who want to speak to the manager.

The KNLA saw the film as an endorsement of their struggles and were given a huge morale boost off the back of it. They even adopted lines from the movie into their rallying cries.

Not bad for a cash cow, eh?

Contributor
Contributor

Jacob Simmons has a great many passions, including rock music, giving acclaimed films three-and-a-half stars, watching random clips from The Simpsons on YouTube at 3am, and writing about himself in the third person.