The Rambo Trilogy

While the Rambo films themselves are uneven, this Full Metal (DVD) Jacket enclosed four-disc set boasts is handsomely presented, and as pumped up as Sylvester Stallone himself, with a muscle-flexing arsenal of extras ranging from audio commentaries on all three films to newly-lensed documentaries about the production of each title in the phenomenally successful trilogy inspired by David Morrell's novel (in which Rambo dies!). Stallone stars as Vietnam vet John Rambo, a relentless one-man army who wages war against a small-town sheriff in First Blood, the Vietcong in Rambo: First Blood, Part II and the Russians in the finale, Rambo: First Blood, Part III (released here, unfortunately, with a minor gaffe--a few minutes worth of Russian dialogue are missing the original subtitles). While often dramatically simplistic, the Rambo trilogy defined the gung-ho Reagan era, with First Blood and Rambo: First Blood, Part II, in particular, crudely effective in giving disenfranchised vets a voice ("Sir, do we get to win this time?" Rambo famously asks in II). Still, even though the Rambo films delivered the action, it becomes increasingly hard to take them seriously with their escalating body counts, fiery holocausts, and unintentionally funny ham-fisted dialogue. Bottom line, though, is this set is one for the time capsule--as complete a testament to the Rambo phenomenon as we're likely to get, especially with the bonus fourth disc, which features an additional seven featurettes and three documentaries (including a couple of serious pieces on Vietnam). Recommended, overall. (K. Lee Benson)[Blu-ray Review—June 10, 2008—Lionsgate, 3 discs, 293 min., R, $49.99—Making their first appearance on Blu-ray, 1982's First Blood, 1985's Rambo: First Blood Part II, and 1988's Rambo III all sport pretty solid transfers and DTS HD 5.1 soundtracks. The extras on First Blood include two audio commentaries (one with co-writer/star Sylvester Stallone; the other with novelist David Morrell), a 22-minute “Drawing First Blood” production featurette, and six minutes of deleted scenes. Rambo: First Blood Part II includes audio commentary by director George P. Cosmatos and the 20-minute production featurette “We Get to Win This Time.” Rambo III includes audio commentary by director Peter MacDonald and the half-hour “Afghanistan: Land in Crisis” historical featurette. Also included on all the films are Blu-ray exclusive “Out of the Blu” trivia tracks. Bottom line: porting over some but not all of the extras from previous DVD releases, this Blu-ray set definitely offers visual and audio improvement over earlier editions.]