The Rambo
Trilogy – The Ultimate Collection is the third DVD release of the Rambo trilogy, which is about
the ultimate warrior who has never been able to leave the horrors
of
Vietnam behind him no matter where he traveled. The first release
was just the original cuts of the films with no extras, then there
was a Special Edition trilogy set that had a multitude of extras
with some glaring omissions (no Stallone commentary), and now this
Ultimate collection is released.
SYNOPSIS
First Blood – The first
in the Rambo trilogy has a distinctly different tone then the gung-ho
sequels. First Blood is about a war scarred Vietnam
veteran named John J. Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) who drifts into a
small town in the state of Washington looking for the other remaining
member of his elite Green Beret Vietnam squadron. After learning of
that man’s death by cancer (due to Agent Orange), he starts to travel
back down to Portland and passes through a sleepy little town watched
over by a bigoted, hard-nosed sheriff named Will Teasie (Brian
Dennehy). Teasie spots Rambo on his way into town and immediately
drives him back out of town telling him to stay out as they don’t like
his kind. Rambo incensed that the freedom he fought so hard for (and
was tortured and almost killed for) in Vietnam was being taken away
from him decides to walk right into town anyway. After being arrested
by the sheriff and, subsequently, escaping after suffering torment and
torture from his sadistic deputies, Rambo takes off into the
surrounding woods and sets off a war of his own against the sheriff
and his deputies. As the war escalates, state troopers and the
National Guard are called in along with Rambo’s old colonel, Samuel
Trautman (Richard Crenna), who hopes to get Rambo out of this mess
alive with the fewest amount of casualties possible (as he is fully
aware of Rambo’s skill and awareness).
Rambo: First Blood
Part II – The second film in the series has Rambo being called upon by Colonel
Trautman to return to Vietnam to document
possible POWs being held in an area that Rambo knows better than
anyone else. The leader of this mission is Marshall Murdock (Charles
Napier), a Washington bureaucrat, who is keeping his true motives a
secret from the one man he shouldn’t. Rambo is thrust into enemy
territory alone and after discovering the locations of a group of POWs
must go it alone in the rescue attempt against a well-manned and
well-armed group of Vietnamese soldiers.
Rambo Part III
– The final film in the trilogy (although if you believe the rumors
this is not the last) finds Rambo just trying to move on with his life
and find some inner peace. But Trautman comes into the picture again
to pull Rambo back into it. I wouldn’t want to be friends with a guy
like this. This time Trautman has volunteered to go into war torn
Afghanistan
(this is back in the 80s) to help the rebels (the Taliban of all
groups) defeat the invading Russian armies and he needs Rambo’s help.
Rambo does not immediately help him as he wants to change his life,
but once Trautman is captured by the Russians Rambo decides to go in
and get him out.
CRITIQUE
The Rambo Trilogy
is a
hallmark in the action genre; it established a huge fan base and had a
flurry of imitators follow its trademark formula.
First Blood
– This is definitely the strongest film in the trilogy. The tone of
First Blood is dark and moody, as opposed to the gung ho
machinations of the latter two. It spoke to social issues and struck
a chord using extremes to show the affects of war on normal guys. This
was also one of the first action films to drop the normal three-act
structure and just go wall-to-wall action with a constant build up of
suspense. And Stallone is actually quite good in this first
installment playing this battle-scarred veteran with brooding
fierceness and intensity. It wasn’t until the sequel where he became
the robotic, emotionless killing machine (much like The Terminator)
and not like a real human being. And Brian Dennehy was terrific
playing the villainous and hard-edged sheriff embodying the hate and
horrendous treatment of veterans in this country after the Vietnam
War. The action was also much more realistic and believable in this
one than in the sequels, even though he’s taking on hundreds of guys
they are volunteer National Guard and backwoods cops so its not too
much of a stretch. Rating: 7/10
Rambo: First Blood
Part II – The first sequel in the trilogy is really what most people remember
and talk about in the Rambo series. This is when the character became
an overbearing symbol and a completely invulnerable action figure
instead of a complicated, rebellious human character. Rambo became a
symbol of American power in the military and even Ronald Reagan rode
the character’s coattails for a while. This film has virtually no
plot; it’s just all action. Rambo is dropped off in Vietnam and he
basically takes on an entire army by himself. Any sense of reality or
human characteristic was gone and in their place was muscle bound
action. This is not to say that the film isn’t fun to watch, because
it most certainly is. The ingenious and fun ways Rambo dispatches the
enemies builds into a constant suspense that climaxes with Rambo’s
revenge on Murdock. For action fans, this is a staple but don’t
expect anything more. Rating: 6/10
Rambo Part III
– This is the worst film of the trilogy. The plot is completely
ridiculous, the stars have only a handful of lines in between the
action and they just sleepwalk through it, and the action is routine
and predictable. The predictable action is really what makes this
film such a disappointment because the First Blood was one of
the first action films to abandon the three act structure and it felt
new and exciting and even the sequel managed to keep non-stop suspense
by going to the extremes with the action. This one had virtually no
redeeming characteristic, save the strange oddity of now watching the
hero who symbolized American power helping America’s future enemy.
Rating: 2/10
THE VIDEO
The transfers on
the discs are exceptionally good. The difference between this
transfer and when the film was first released on DVD is remarkable.
The first film has some grain that hasn’t been cleaned up but it adds
to that film’s gritty and dark tone. The second film looks especially
terrific.
THE AUDIO
Lions Gate Home
Entertainment presents The Rambo Trilogy: The Ultimate Collection
in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and the sound is phenomenal, a
huge difference from the initial releases of the individual films. I
was extremely impressed with the first sequel’s sound quality.
THE EXTRAS
The strange thing
about this collection is that it doesn’t really add many extras to the
Special Edition set that was released earlier. This collection’s main
draw is that it has cleaned up versions of the films (very true), a
new commentary with Stallone (a great commentary), a shocking
alternate ending to First Blood (a truly shocking one) and
a feature called MetaVision Survival Mode which works like
pop-up features using your remote to access various facts, graphics,
and other surprises.
The MetaVision
Survival Mode is nothing special, the look of it on the screen is
pretty cool but when you access the actual facts they are not very
informative and seem superfluous. The deleted scenes and the
alternate ending are all terrific; the ending would have delivered
quite a stir. The Rambo III disc also has an alternative
ending which is just a joke (quite funny though as you can’t take that
film seriously anyway as the producers obviously didn’t either).
The Stallone
commentary is informative and interesting and is the best extra in the
collection. He is quite honest and forthcoming about topics like not
really wanting to play the character in the first place, believing
that the comedic scenes scattered throughout the films are unnecessary
and do not fit the tone (I could not agree more), the grueling shoot,
and much more.
There are also some
other commentaries on the discs from the various directors and crews,
which are just not as interesting or informative as Stallone’s but
still worthy of a look.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The Rambo Trilogy
is a
hallmark in the action genre, with a gritty, dark and groundbreaking
original film, an all out action blockbuster sequel, but a very
disappointing third film. The films are a must for action fans, those
looking for anything more would be dissatisfied. This Ultimate
Collection is excellent but for those who own the Special Edition
trilogy the only worthy addition is the wonderfully entertaining
Stallone commentary.
