Rambo Box Set (First Blood / Rambo: First Blood Part II / Rambo III ) [Blu-ray]

This review is based wholly on the Blu-Ray box set. There are many Rambo box sets out there and rest assured there will be more. I chose to upgrade to this set because the collection with all 4 movies does not contain the new Rambo Extended Cut. If you don't know Rambo's story than you are either A. a tree hugging hippie, B. a monk, or C. born within the last 10 years!First Blood is a 5 star movie based on the book by David Morrell. It tells the story of a Vietnam vet looking to find a place in America. Unable to hold a steady job and tormented by POW nightmares, Rambo moves from place to place. When he finds himself in a nowheresville USA, he quickly catches the eye of the town sheriff. Told that his kind isn't wanted there, he is taken out of the town limits and told not to return. Rambo defies the order and is arrested. Rambo is then beaten by the local police while in holding which triggers his instincts to fight back. What happens next is the start of a film icon!First Blood Part II is a 5 star action movie! I would say this may be the first Blockbuster Action Film ever made. Now in prison for his town romp, Col. Trautman returns to give Rambo an out. A mission to go back to 'Nam and confirm the possible existence of POW's. Rambo accepts and utters these words "Do we get to win this time?" Ordered only to take pictures, Rambo defies orders (see a trend here) and saves one of them instead. The backstabbing politician running the whole thing freaks and aborts the mission leaving Rambo stranded and now a POW. Alas, held by his captors and tortured by the Russians running the camp, Rambo endures more punishment that only fuels his rage. What happens next is probably the greatest one man army display ever filmed! From the jungles scenes to the finale, you will feel the rush and cheer!First Blood Part III is a 3.5 star action movie. This time Rambo is living a peaceful life in Thailand. Col. Trautman finds him and asks for his help on a mission he is leading in Afghanistan. Rambo claims his war is over but that all changes once his only ally becomes a POW. Rambo asks to go in and save his friend. What happens next is he finds himself drawn to the Afghan freedom fighters and decides to pick up their plight against the Russians. This is by far the weakest of all the films but still ranks better than most action movies today.BLU RAY THOUGHTS: I wasn't expecting much but all 3 films looked amazing. No this isn't like Avatar amazing but these films are over 20 years old and they looked brand new. Sound was excellent as well. SPECIAL FEATURES: Everything from the previous releases are here. Including the alt ending where Rambo kills himself as in the book. FINAL THOUGHTS: THIS IS A MUST UPGRADE!

Well, when the Rambo movies were re-released on VHS a few years ago in all new packaging and in widescreen for the first time, I jumped on that set when I found it. But now that I got a DVD player I have been wanting to get these movies on DVD. Now there's been a Collector's set available for some time using the same prints that were released on VHS. They were also, I noticed, only in Dolby 2.0 and from what I have read the picture quality wasn't very good. I was even going to buy that set because it had a great price, but ironically I waited. I then went back to check out the Amazon link and found that it was no longer available directly from Amazon and I was like, "What?" Well now I know. This new Special Edition is going to rock! Hopefully. :)Remastered in both Dolby 5.1 and DTS, the Rambo movies should sound the best ever. With an additional disc to the 3 movie set that is loaded with mucho extras that it will keep you busy for quite a while featuring many new documentaries that tie in the events of the movies with today's post-9/11 world with a documentary on Afghanistan. This should be the Ultimate Rambo DVD collection. And with rumors that Stallone is working on a new script for a Rambo IV that takes him back to Afghanistan to fight the Taliban, it should be interesting and nostalgic to watch these movies again.And if the Rambo movies come across as patriotic propaganda now, so what? Get over it. Why one would feel shame for having strong feelings for one's country is beyond me. Besides, I'm anxiously awaiting to hear that Rambo theme in 5.1 Surround.

I forgot what a good movie the original Rambo was. I watched it through completely again, just the basic movie, and there was so much I'd forgotten. It's a great tale -- basically the local authority gets a little too loose in the use of his power and picks on the wrong guy: Rambo. Mel Gibson's "Apocalypto" is almost the exact same movie but frankly Rambo did it first and did it better (and did it with a lot less gore!).But that's not why you want this DVD set. If you just want to watch Rambo you can rent it.You want THIS set because of the extras. It was actually worth watching the whole movie AGAIN with Stallone's commentary running instead of the regular soundtrack. Stallone fills in some backstory about the characters, why the sheriff is the way he is and a whole heap of a tale about the making of the film. Did you ever wonder why films today are so clean cut and Hollywood just can't seem to produce the dark grit of films like Rambo anymore? Well, listen to Stallone tell his tale and you'll understand why films like Rambo just don't get made very often.I confess I'm doing this review without having seen the other two movies yet but the first movie with the extras has already justified my purchase. I'm really looking forward to seeing the other two and hearing what Stallone has to say about them as well. There are haters out there who hate on Rambo because it's not up to par with their level of sophistication but the loss is theirs. Rambo is a great film and Stallone's commentary adds a lot of value to this set.