Rambo (Film Collections) [Blu-ray Box Set: Rambo 1-3]

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So, how big of a franchise is Rambo? This review marks the third time that DVD Town has assessed a boxed set of the first three Rambo films for our readers.
Dean Winkelspecht first reviewed the trilogy in 2002, and two years later Yunda Eddie Feng re-reviewed it when Artisan re-released it with viewing options that mimicked video games. Now, here we are again.

The occasion is Lions Gate's release of the trilogy in Blu-ray, which is annoying more than a few fans because the latest Rambo DVD collection includes the 2008 "Rambo," while the Blu-ray boxed set just has the first three films. The Blu-ray of the fourth one is being released separately. I'm not sure that's such a great idea. For one thing, the final installment, which arrived in theaters 20 years after "Rambo III," gets back to basics the way that "Rocky Balboa" did after that Sly Stallone franchise had veered too far from the original. The same law of diminishing returns seems to have applied here. "First Blood" (1982) was a solid film with an emotional and topical core, while "Rambo: First Blood Part II" (1985) incorporated more action at the expense of logic, and "Rambo III" (1988) was so unbelievable that Rambo became a kind of quasi-superhero and a caricature of the man who was dogged by the law in the very first film.

Dean liked the trio more than I did, awarding the collection a 7 out of 10, while my own sensibilities seemed to have more in common with Eddie this time. Eddie felt that the first film merited a 7, the second one a 6, and the third a 5, and that's how it struck me as well. That's why I think Lions Gate should have packaged this as a four-film set. I probably would have given it a 7 as a whole if the fourth pic were included.

But what you really want to know is how this series looks in Hi-Def, and I can tell you that it looks so much better than the DVDs that fans will certainly want to add the Blu-ray trilogy to their collections (more on that below)--and, yes, pick up the fourth installment on the side. Because if you're a lover of action films and you don't mind looking at Stallone in a skimpy wrestling leotard top with big Eighties' hair and a headband that dangles down to his navel, all three of the films are entertaining enough.

First Blood is still the best, because it tackles two issues that had become all-too-common in America: how we treat returning veterans who have been deeply affected by their war experiences, and how capriciously some law enforcement officials can deal with people whose looks they don't like. There's not much plot, and for an action film there's not even much action. John Rambo (Stallone) is on foot, and tries to look up an old Army buddy in the Pacific Northwest, only to learn that he died of cancer caused by Agent Orange. Numbed by the news--Although, how can you tell? Stallone's expression is like Rambo's personality: it doesn't budge an inch throughout the entire series, except when he's opening his mouth to yell--Rambo starts out of town. Next thing you know, the local sheriff (Brian Dennehy) tries to help him . . . leave, that is. I know this kind of thing happens, because a law enforcement officer gave me a ride to the edge of town in La Jolla when I was hitchhiking as a scruffy-looking college student. The difference between me and Rambo (other that ripped chest) is that I kept going. Rambo goes back into town and decides he fought for this country, and damn it, he's not going to be told where in America he can or can't go. Not much happens except he's arrested, we see point-of-view flashbacks to understand why he panics and responds in knee-jerk fashion to escape his captors, and why he trusts his big old knife and survival skills. As the sheriff and his posse pursue Rambo in the mountains, just a single person is killed. By the time "Rambo III" comes along, you'd need a calculator to tabulate the body count. That's the biggest difference between this fairly modest film and the ones which follow. The plot is believably simple: just another case of a situation escalating quickly out of control. But to my way of thinking, that's what makes the action more powerful--the credibility of it all. Richard Crenna appears as Rambo's old Green Beret commander in a stiff role that has him pontificating, and Rambo pontificating, as if nobody who likes action movies can ever get what's going on unless their told. But aside from that obviousness and an ending that isn't as satisfying as the initial pursuit, "First Blood" is solid enough. And Dennehy makes for a great good cop/bad cop all rolled into one. There's one great explosion and one great leap of faith, and the fact that there isn't too many of these "extreme" scenes makes them all the more powerful, I think.

Rambo: First Blood Part II finds Rambo being recruited by his former commander (Crenna, again) to go back into Vietnam as a spy to find out whether missing POWs are still being held there. This one was reviewed at DVD Town by John J. Puccio, who called it "the best of the three" because it's "hardly ever dull" despite its "mindless action." I'd add that the bureaucratic double-cross and attempted one-man rescue were totally predictable. In this film, Rambo is sprung from prison following the havoc he wreaked, and his old commander offers him a way to become free again. Go back to the place where he was tortured. Naturally, he takes it, and when he's discovered and has to fight his way out of Vietnam when he's abandoned there, he ends up practically wiping out the entire North Vietnamese army and their Russian allies. This one features a woman (Julia Nickson as Co Bao) who partners up with Rambo, more double-crosses and more battling escapes. But compared to the first film, it all seems more cinematic and staged. Worse, the characters have become either stock or caricatured. But you ain't seen nothin' yet.

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