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Rambo Trilogy (Special Edition)

Rambo Trilogy (Special Edition)

List Price: $39.98
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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Rambo + Action = Good times had by all!
Review: I'm going right for the meat and potatoes on this one.

Ok, you've got the Rambo movies all in one case, and I'm not saying they stuck three movies in one box, they have all the movies cased in a book format.

Then, for you pickers and choosers, they have all the Rambos in widescreen and full screen editions (I prefer widescreen though). But don't be fooled at the beginning of the full screen version, it just starts out in widescreen until the credits are finished and then it becomes full screen.

And, the box set contains a fourth disk that you CANNOT get anywhere but in this set. It contains more facts and featurettes about Rambo and what made it so great (and it has a play all feature for the people that don't want to go back and fourth through all of the featurettes). It also contains a neat little trvia game and sneak peeks at other DVDs.

In closing, people that love Rambo need this, and for the people that just love things blowing up...you need this as well. This is the essential Rambo collection, and it can also be called inexpensive action, because you have all of the Rambos and a special fourth DVD just for this set all packaged in a book format and a very sleek tin. Get this set you action freeks and Rambo-maniacs before Rambo hunts you down and makes you buy it!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: John Rambo: the original one-man army!
Review: If there's an action movie series that's a big ol' honkin' slice of Americana, the RAMBO saga is it! This is where the unstoppable-one-man-army action flick trend got its start! Sly finally finds another role to fall back on besides Rocky, and he even gets the opportunity to co-write the scripts to all three movies!

'First Blood' features some of the greatest moments of action-movie overacting ever caught on celluloid! The tense verbal sparring between Col. Trautman (Richard Crenna) and Sheriff Teasle (Brian Dennehy) regarding their efforts to capture Rambo are just plain dripping with hammy machismo! And Sly displays his acting range as Rambo reveals his softer side to the Colonel... it's so touching! It *sniff* gets me *sob* right here, y'know?

'First Blood' novelist David Morrell's commentary track features plenty of anecdotes regarding the production of the flick, and the notion of the RAMBO saga as a modern myth, a distinction that the STAR WARS trilogy's been credited with as well. But his main focus is on the differences between his novel and the movie, and other changes that were made. Probably the most notable change was making our lovable one-man army a more sympathetic character! Many of Morrell's bits of commentary are expanded upon in the documentary feature that's included with this disc.

Now on to 'First Blood Part II', featuring Johnny's return to Vietnam to pick up a few American POWs. This time he's been double-crossed, and he's going up against hundreds of Charlies and several Soviet troops with a super-sized winged doom-chopper and his only weaponry is a big knife, and a bow with explosive-tipped arrows. Needless to say, those Charlies & Soviets don't stand a chance! With the help of legendary writer/director James Cameron, Sly manages to script one of The Gipper's all-time movie faves!

Director George Cosmatos' commentary track is full of his memories of the making of part II, with quite a few anecdotes & behind-the-scenes comments. He really goes into detail for the first half of the movie, then kind of trails off and adds only a few things here & there in the second half. Also thrown onto this platter is a doc discussing how the second Rambo™ flick became a big sensation and lest its mark on American pop culture.

Then there's 'Rambo III'. If you thought our hero's previous hell-raisings were ridiculously implausible, you ain't seen nothin' yet! Speaking of raising hell, this particular outing reflected a happier era when the US was helping Afghanistan fight a war, instead of fighting against them (this matter is discussed further in the doc included on this particular disc). It's amazing the difference several years makes, hmm? Anyway, Johnny's out to rescue his mentor Col. Trautman from a Soviet stronghold in Afghanistan. With the aid of a few of the natives, Rambo manages to rescue the Colonel & then proceeds to take out the entire Soviet occupation force single-handedly. The climactic tank-versus-Doom-Chopper game of chicken is easily one of action cinema's most unbelievable scenes. It's a moment that's so incredibly over-the-top, I'm pretty sure it's the main reason there's never been any subsequent RAMBO flicks. I mean, how do you top the hero surviving a head-on tank/chopper collision? Simple answer: you can't!

Director Peter MacDonald's commentary track, much like Cosmatos' in II, features plenty of behind-the-scenes anecdotes and great & not-so-great memories. He also kinda trails off in the second half, with only the occasional thought here & there.

Also thrown in for good measure (and to grab a few more shekels from the fanboys) is a bonus disc sporting several featurettes and documentaries. The First Blood™: A Look Back and Rambo™ III: Full Circle featurettes are basically just glorified music videos; needless to say, I wasn't all that impressed with them. The Selling of a Hero mini-movie is pretty silly: the entire line of Rambo action figures from the late 80s makes up the cast, with the price of each bit o' plastic "rung up" as it makes its grand entrance. For you economics- and marketing-majors, the Rambo™-nomics short featuring all sorts'a charts and graphs tracking the financial success of each movie ought'a get ya excited.

And what's a special features platter for the Rambo™ trilogy without a few documentaries that relate to the movies' subject matter? You have your weapons manual (Suiting Up: Rambo™'s Survival Hardware), a behind-the-scenes look at special forces training (The Forging of Heroes), and the memoirs of a few Vietnam veterans (Voices From Within) to give the viewer a real-life look at the people and events that inspired the creation and evolution of our man Johnny. The saga is also given in-depth analysis-- some might say TOO in-depth-- with Guts and Glory (various pundits' musings on what made Rambo™ such a big 80s icon and how it influenced American pop culture), and An American Hero's Journey (expands upon First Blood™ author's feature commentary about Rambo™ as a modern-day mythological hero).

I found the sound and picture quality of the Special Edition discs to be pretty good; four out of five stars all around. I was kinda disappointed that the clarity and sound crispness didn't improve all that much from the regular-edition platters, but at least it didn't get worse. And to keep both sides of the Widescreen-versus-Pan-&-Scan debate pacified, all three movies are available in both their original aspect ratio AND the full-screen format. Can't we all just... get along?

'Late

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I love this movie!
Review: If you like an action packed movie then this is the one for you. It has everything. A lot of gunfire,explosions,and blood. This is the best movie ever made. I give it 10 billion thumps up. I am a 13/m.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I Give this 9 billion stars
Review: If you like blood and guts and lots of action I would recommend Rambo! You would also enjoy these movies if you like a lot of gunfire. I am one of those people and I am only 11!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The Best of Stallone
Review: If you think that the war is over your damned wrong !!! Rambo is back and three other wars are just waiting for him...first he has to fight for his life cause some bad cops don't like veterans. then he must save mia still confined in veitnam. and finnally his best friend has been taken prisonner in afghanistan.. rambo trilogy is an anthology !!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Total Action................Blood!
Review: If you wan't action the perfect person to do it is RAMBO! It has plenty of blood and lots of explosians. This is a classic movie and you have not seen action until you have seen RAMBO! Enjoy...........

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A teriffic bargain
Review: It just goes to show you how fair pricing can benefit the major studios. I picked up this set having only seen the first film, simply because the package offered so much for a low price, I couldn't resist. I won't bother reviewing the films per se, as I'm sure most of you are more familiar with them than I am, suffice it to say that they were great, old-fashioned, action packed fun. So old-fashioned in fact, that they almost seem an anachronism in the modern age of PC Hollywood. It seemed quite strange to see films of reasonably modern vintage with such 1950's "John Wayne" attitude... The low price, high picture and sound quality and plethora of neat extras make this a no-brainer for any fans of these films. My only real complaint, was the 1rst documentary on the bonus disc,... being an utterly useless and jarringly out-of-place piece of anti-war propaganda. Thats aside, you can't go wrong here.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Rambo is the Messiah of Unity
Review: John Rambo (deity Stallone) has gone through blood, sweat and tears in this untouchable trilogy of a lifetime. In "First Blood," the loner just wanted a bite to eat, but a wily, fat cop wouldn't let him. How dare he! The cop then arrests Rambo for not leaving the town. Oh no. After taking some beatings from the cop's goofy partners, Rambo kicks some stern and flees the station. He hides in the woods and cooks some meat. Raw! After defending himself, he goes on a rampage and destroys many stores and finally defeats the cop at his own game. In "Rambo: First Blood Part 2," Rambo goes back to Vietnam to rescue some prisoners. It was truly remarkable when he fought with explosive bow and arrows. I wouldn't have thought of that. Many explosions and inferno for the whole family to enjoy! I was trembling with excitement when Rambo flew a helicopter all over a village and wreaked havoc. Immortal! Finally, in the epic conclusion "Rambo 3," Rambo stick fights a guy who looks like he hadn't taken a shower in a month! Rambo goes to Afghanistan and saves a whole bunch of people from evil legionnaires. My spirit was uplifted when Rambo drove a tank straight into a helicopter. There are many memorable moments in this divine trilogy, but why should I spoil every minute of it? You need to support Sylvester Stallone and always unite yourself within your heart to become a genius just like Stallone. I am worthy!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the Best DVD collections ever
Review: No matter how many times i watch these movies, it just seems that i would never get bored of them. Rambo is going to always be a meomorable character. The good work came from the People who made this astonishing action hero especially David Morrel, for he is the one who had written the first story "First Blodd".

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: My Rewiew on Rambo 3
Review: Ok, now time for this third Rambo-rewiew (as you might have seen I've also rewiewed Rambo 1 and 2) on Rambo 3, a movie that maybe should have been called "First Blood 3", or "Third Blood" :)

The story begins with Trautman, Rambo's old Vietnam officer, looking him up in a foreign country. Rambo is fighting a brutal, long-haired beast for money, a fight that he wins, of course. Trautman sees Rambo leaving in about just after giving away the money he won. Trautman instead finds Rambo in some sort of Buddhist-camp where he has at last found piece. Trautman wants Rambo to go with him on one last mission in Afghanistan. Rambo refuses (My war is over...) and instead Trautman goes solo.

But when Rambo hears that Trautman has been captured by (the same enemy as in First Blood 2) the extremely evil russians. Rambo goes to Afghanistan to look for Trautman. There he meets a man named Moussa Khanin who takes Rambo to his camp where he meets the army of the Afghanistan freedom fighters. An annoying kid bothers Rambo and wants his stuff (yeah, like Rambo could be without his knife? :) but Rambo want give it to him. Good!

Rambo participates in some sort of game involving horses and what appears to be a dead sheep (!) just before they are attacked by russians! Oh, no! The russians, among them the super-russian-villian himself, kill loads of brave Afghanistans. Rambo's anger grows...

Rambo Moussa Khanin, and the annoying kid I was telling about infiltrates the russián camp. They sneak around and plant bombs (you know, the usual stuff). Rambo tries to rescue Trautman but fails, but it doesn't matter, because later, after meny shoot-outs and explosions, they run away. The russians trace them but Rambo has his tricks. Trautman also get a change to "stretch his stuff".

In the end, Rambo and Trautman alone is faced with an entire Russian-army. The super-villian-russian-madman wants them to give up, but giving up is not a part of Rambo's vocabulary. They start fighting the Russians, and the Afghanistan freedom fighters also show up and help our heroes. Rambo jumps into a tank and penetrates the super-evil-russian-leader with loads of machine gun bullets while flying in his helicopter. Goodbye, Mr. Russian! Trautman and Rambo are okay, they thank the Afghanistans and the movie ends somewhere around here.

To be honest, this is the worst one of the three movies, not to be said that it's bad. It tends to be boring (like First Blood 2 never was). The whole beginning where Trautman tries to convince Rambo in fighting again is to long. There is no real "emotional scene" like in the two Rambo-films that came before. The original "First Blood" had the best soft scene, while "First Blood 2" had one, not as good, but it had one. My fdavorite scenes is when Rambo kicks the big, strong, bearded russian (the super-villian's henchman) into a hole in the ground - just before he explodes! On other scene that I like is when Trautman is interrigated by the super-russian-leader-villian ( Villian: "Who do you think this man (Rambo) is? God? Trautman: "No...God would have mercy...he won't"). Trautman has always got good things to say and this was maybe his best. Excellent!

But other than that, the movie disappoints me. I give it two stars, but not more than that (Rambo 3 is dedicated "To the brave people of Afghanistan". How cute!)


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