The Whole Truth

Her-Ex film critic Dave Ehrenstein panned “Rambo III.” But Tri-Star found a silver lining--and pulled an Ehrenstein blurb for its ads: “ ‘Rambo III’ blazes across the screen. An action movie machine out to give its audience a bang for its bucks.”

So Ehrenstein called Tri-Star’s NYC office, demanding his name and his quote be excised.

“They told me they’d have someone ‘objective’ look over the review--and that they’d get back with me the next week,” Ehrenstein told us.

Instead, Ehrenstein went right to the top--calling Victor Kaufman, pres and chief executive officer of Columbia Pics Ent. Kaufman was out, but a message was related.

Within minutes, the ad folks called to say that his “Rambo” rave would be dropped--”A matter of setting the record straight,” said Ehrenstein.

Tri-Star’s eager ad department also culled “accolades” from other largely negative “Rambo III” reviews--including those of Newsweek’s David Ansen and our Michael Wilmington.