Massive Rambo 4K Collection is as Robust as Stallone
The brand-new 4K Rambo collection from Lionsgate landed in my mailbox and wow --- it is undeniably the end-all-be-all of releases for the action movie fan. (At least it’s the best since the 4K steelbook collection!) Coming in a sturdy Digipack case with six discs and digital codes, the collection is designed to impress, and it does.
The official synopsis of the collection from Lionsgate reads:
Since its debut nearly four decades ago, the Rambo series starring Sylvester Stallone has become one of the most iconic action- movie franchises of all time. An ex-Green Beret haunted by memories of Vietnam, the legendary fighting machine known as Rambo has battled small-town prejudice, freed POWs, rescued his commanding officer from the Soviets, and liberated missionaries in Myanmar. In his final mission, Rambo's vengeance is unleashed after an old friend's granddaughter is kidnapped in Mexico.
I had seen most of the Rambo films before, but this was a prime opportunity to revisit them and to see what kinds of picturesque miracles a 4K presentation would have. Friends, I was not disappointed. There are very few, very minor instances throughout the entire collection in which an outdoor shot or sequence turned up grainy. As in, I clocked maybe three. Overall, this collection is absolutely gorgeous, especially in those incendiary explosion sequences, in which there are too many to count. Overall, the sound was equally pristine.
I’ll write most about First Blood since this was the phenomenon that kicked everything off and nearly got nominated for the Oscars. This film was in development hell until it was deemed a suitable enough time since the Vietnam War ended. Specifically, since the public’s anger over a useless war (hey kids, everything old is new again!) subsided to an acceptable level for Hollywood. Star Sylvester Stallone received the script on a Monday, and told director Ted Kotcheff (Weekend at Bernie’s) a day later that he would do it, on the condition that he could rewrite the script to update character traits, etc.
And that was that! David Morrell’s seemingly unadaptable novella was back on the table, and the film got rolling. What follows is young Vietnam vet John Rambo attempting to visit a fellow soldier friend at home, only to learn that he died the previous summer from cancer, caused by Agent Orange. Saddened, he ventures into town to find a diner for something to eat. He’s immediately noticed by the bully sheriff, played by Brian Dennehy (Cocoon) in an extra-smarmy role. This is the kind of guy who peaked in high school, and has to take out his anger on anyone who doesn’t look like him, including war vets with long hair --- apparently the rebellion is enough to beat the hell out of a guy and toss him in jail for walking around and not following orders to leave town from a fool with a badge.
This sets off the PTSD in the otherwise quiet, sullen John Rambo, who saw and experienced the unthinkable in war. What follows is the bloody standoff between Rambo and the local, shitty police force, which includes a young David Caruso (CSI), seemingly the only cop impressed that they’ve discovered a Green Beret war hero and Congressional Medal of Honor recipient in their midst.
Anyway, the film was a hit. The alternate ending that Kotcheff secretly shot --- with Rambo surviving, saved the film. They had tested the film with the ending that the producers had pushed for, Rambo dying by forcing his mentor Colonel Trautman (Richard Crenna, Wait Until Dark) to shoot him. Kotcheff speaks about this in both the featurette exclusive to this collection, as well as in the interview he did for the First Blood extras. The test audience in Las Vegas revolted, proving Kotcheff right. Everyone was relieved to hear that he’d shot a secret, better ending --- which also led to all of the sequels and a whole bunch of cash.
It's widely touted that First Blood is the first film to portray PTSD and vets in a sympathetic light, but I could argue that Bob Clark’s 1974 horror film Deathdream, aka Dead of Night, was the first. Perhaps it’s too obscure and too horrific, but it was released during the last dregs of the actual Vietnam War, and there’s a lot of sympathy for the vet who comes home after he’s officially announced dead to his family. He lingers with horrific consequences and it’s apparent that he’s been turned monstrous by his enlistment.
In Rambo’s final standoff against the law, the Colonel intervenes to attempt to de-escalate the situation. It’s here that cinema history is made; Stallone’s whiplash emotional meltdown recounting pieces of his friend having exploded all over him, legs gone, is still incredibly moving. It’s also quite rare to see any tough guy character become so vulnerable, and I wish there was more of that in media. The human cost of war is something both horrific and valuable to remember.
Rambo: First Blood Part II kicks off the Rambo films as we remember them; it’s here that the franchise takes a turn into the patriotic, give-no-fucks character that took over pop culture and made Regan swoon. While we only see one character die in the first film, here we see Rambo go on a killing spree of an entire army. He’s recruited by the Colonel (Crenna again) out of jail to rescue the American POWs that were left behind in Vietnam. Unfortunately, they’re still being imprisoned in a Viet Cong torture camp. Directed by George P. Cosmatos (Tombstone, Cobra), this film is an adrenaline rush of pure 1980s machismo action. If Stallone was a star before, he went supernova upon this release.
Rambo III sees the titular character leaving his Buddhist monastery for Afghanistan when he gets word that his Colonel mentor (Crenna reprising his role) is imprisoned by the Russians. This film came out in 1988 and was directed by Peter MacDonald, who was the DP in charge of the helicopter unit on Rambo: First Blood Part II, among other impressive second unit directing and camera team gigs.
Basically, Rambo lands in Afghanistan, befriends the local rebels who lead him to where the Colonel is, and Rambo leads an all-out war against the Russians in nonstop explosions and some cool underground lair action. The Cold War was cooling, and that made the film less timely as a result. This film epitomizes the have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too political approach to the series --- Rambo is a disturbed vet and Buddhist, but also an unstoppable killing machine.
Twenty entire years went by until the next film, simply titled Rambo. This one was directed by Stallone himself, and takes place in Burma. It features some gruesome action, but it’s also my least favorite of the bunch, due to the preachy AF Colorado missionary group who wants to deliver medical supplies and religion to one of the most war-torn spots in the world. The only woman among them, played by Julie Benz (Dexter) won’t take no for an answer and spits out pithy requests until Rambo relents. Her uptight and controlling fiancé is equally annoying, and is the kind of character you want to see shot dead before the first act ends.
Sadly, that wish never comes true, but again, there’s awesome action to be had.
The final film in this release is Rambo: Last Blood. When it came out in 2019, Stallone was 73. At the end of the previous film, he returns to his home ranch in Arizona. When this last film opens, he’s there with his friend Maria (Adriana Barraza) and probable housekeeper, it’s not quite clear. It’s made known that she’s been around for a very long time, and she and her granddaughter Gabriela are chosen family. In fact, Rambo regards the college-bound Gabriela as his daughter.
Well, it doesn’t take long for her to head to a shady friend or cousin’s place in Mexico, and she goes only because this person has found the father who walked out on her and her mom, who died from cancer. The decision to go find this loser and ask why he left --- when both Rambo and her grandmother repeatedly tells her what a horrible man he is --- is one of the dumbest decisions I’ve seen a character make.
Things go as wrong as they can, and the film turns into Taken, as Gabriela is led into Hell by her so-called friend. Hell being a sex trafficking ring, of course. Rambo gets his ass kicked nearly into oblivion for the first time. Rescued by a wide-eyed reporter (Paz Vega), he gets well enough to go on a killing spree at the ring’s brothel, then decapitates the head of one of the main baddies and drops it on a rural highway. He goes home and readies the underground cave system surrounding his house with deadly traps, then goes back to Mexico for even more carnage in order to lure the baddies in --- and then it’s all bloody fun and games until he’s the last one standing, of course. I loved the last act of this film; it circles back to the PTSD issues explored in the first while delivering a cathartic universe of bloodshed.
As for the special features, a total running time wasn’t included, but it appears that there are days’ worth of extras, including several featurettes exclusive to this 4K collection. I enjoyed those thoroughly, particularly the one on the poster illustrations (everyone loves Drew Struzan, and I’m no exception) and storyboard artist of First Blood. It was also cool to see the footage of Sylvester Stallone introducing key wardrobe and weapons for auction, which was in 2015, if I recall correctly. With the exception of Rambo: Last Blood, every film offers a director’s commentary. The list of extras is exhaustive:
Special Features on the 4K+ Digital
Bonus Disc (New to this release)
· Reflections on First Blood with Ted Kotcheff
· Storyboarding First Blood
· The Art of Rambo
· Rambo Auction
· Poster Gallery
First Blood
· Audio Commentary with Sylvester Stallone
· Audio Commentary with Writer David Morrell
· "An American Hero's Journey" featurette
· “A Long Road: 40 Years of First Blood" featurette
· "The Hunter and the Hunted: Scoring First Blood" featurette
· "First Blood: A Look Back" featurette
· "Drawing First Blood: 20 Years Later" featurette
· "Rambo Takes the 80s Part 1" featurette
· Alternative Ending
· Outtake
· "Saigon Bar" Deleted Scene
· "The Real Nam" ("The True Vietnam") featurette
· "Forging Heroes" ("America's Green Berets") featurette
· "How to Become Rambo Part 1" featurette
· "Sly vs. Rambo" interview with Sylvester Stallone
· 5 Trailers
· TV Edit – Deleted and Extended Scenes
Rambo: First Blood Part II
· Audio Commentary with Director George P. Cosmatos
· "We Get to Win This Time: The Rambo Phenomenon" featurette
· "Guts and Glory"
· “Rambo Takes the 80s Part 2" featurette
· Featurettes:
· - "Preparing For Action"
· - "Creating The Reality Of War"
· - "Action In The Jungle"
· - "Behind the Scenes/Behind the Camera"
· - "Sean Baker: Fulfilling a Dream"
· - "The Last American P.O.W." featurette
· Interview with Sylvester Stallone
· Interview with Richard Crenna
· 3 Trailers
· TV Spots
Rambo III
· Audio Commentary with Director Peter MacDonald
· "Rambo Takes the 80s Part 3" featurette
· "Rambo III: Full Circle" featurette
· "Afghanistan: Land in Crisis" featurette
· -"Suiting Up: Rambo's Survival Hardware"
· -"Rambo-nomics"
· -"Selling a Hero"
· "How to Become Rambo Part 3" featurette
· "Trautman & Rambo" featurette
· “Scope” featurette
· Behind the Scenes Making Of
· 8 Deleted Scenes
· 3 Trailers
· TV Spot
· "Rambo 3 Film Montage"
· Behind the Scenes Making Of
· Trailer - 4K Trilogy
· Trailer – DVD Ultimate Edition Trilogy
Rambo
· Audio Commentary with Director Sylvester Stallone (theatrical cut)
· "Production Diary: To Hell and Back" documentary
· - "It's a Long Road: The Resurrection of an Icon"
· - "A Score to Settle: The Music of Rambo"
· - "The Art of War: Part 1: Editing"
· - "The Art of War: Part 2: Sound"
· - "The Weaponry of Rambo"
· - "A Hero's Welcome: Release and Reaction"
· - "Legacy of Despair: The Real Struggle in Burma"
· Deleted scenes
· 2 Trailers
· On Set with Stallone
Rambo: Last Blood
· Drawing Last Blood: Multi Part Production Diary" documentary
· Theatrical Trailer
· Featurettes:
- Rambo’s Greatest Hits
- Vengeance
· 3 Trailers
· TV & Digital Spots
Directed by: Ted Kotcheff; George P. Cosmatos; Peter MacDonald; Sylvester Stallone; Adrian Grunberg
Written by: David Morrell, Michael Kozoll, William Sackheim, Art Monterastelli, Sheldon Lettich
Produced by: Buzz Feitshans, Mario Kassar, Avi Lerner, John Thompson, Yariv Lerner, Steven Paul
Cast: Sylvester Stallone
PROGRAM INFORMATION
Year of Production: 1982; 1985; 1988; 2008; 2019
Title Copyright: First Blood © 1982 STUDIOCANAL. Rambo: First Blood Part II © 1985 STUDIOCANAL. Rambo III © 1988 STUDIOCANAL. Rambo® is a Registered Trademark owned by StudioCanal S.A. Rambo © 2007 Equity Pictures Medienfonds GmbH & Co. KG IV. Package Design and Summary: © 2026 Lions Gate Entertainment Inc. Rambo: Last Blood © 2019 Rambo V Productions, Inc. Artwork & Supplementary Materials ®, ™ & © 2026 Lions Gate Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Closed-Captioned: No
Feature Run Time:
- First Blood: 93 mins
- Rambo: First Blood Part II: 95 mins
- Rambo III: 102 mins
- Rambo: 91 mins (Theatrical cut) / 99 mins (Extended cut)
- Rambo: Last Blood: 89 mins (Theatrical cut) / 102 mins (Extended cut)
Subtitles: English SDH; Spanish Subtitles
Rating: Rated R
Genre: Action
Technical Specs:
First Blood
Theatrical Cut
2160 UHD Master with Dolby Vision HDR (New/Exclusive to this release)
Dolby Atmos (New/Exclusive to this release)
Dolby TrueHD 5.1
PCM Theatrical Stereo (New/Exclusive to this release)
Rambo: First Blood Part II
Theatrical Cut
2160 UHD Master with Dolby Vision HDR (New/Exclusive to this release)
Dolby Atmos (New/Exclusive to this release)
Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (from the newly discovered 70mm 6-track magnetic soundtrack) (New/Exclusive to this release)
PCM Theatrical Stereo (New/Exclusive to this release)
Rambo III
Theatrical Cut
2160 UHD Master with Dolby Vision HDR (New/Exclusive to this release)
Dolby Atmos (New/Exclusive to this release)
Dolby TrueHD 5.1
PCM Theatrical Stereo (New/Exclusive to this release)
Rambo
Both the Theatrical and Extended Cuts of the film
2160 UHD Master with Dolby Vision HDR
Dolby Atmos
Rambo: Last Blood
Both the theatrical and Sylvester Stallone’s extended cut (New/Exclusive to this release)
Dolby Atmos (New/Exclusive on extended cut to this release)
So there we have it. If you love action films, Sylvester Stallone, or movies where the bad guys get what they deserve, the 4K Rambo collection from Lionsgate comes with my highest recommendation.
