BLU-RAY
REVIEW: RAMBO III

05/25/08

After Rambo II made $300
million worldwide, a Rambo III was inevitable. In 1988,
Sylvester Stallone wrote the screenplay together with
Sheldon Lettich that man responsible for Bloodsport one of
Jean-Claude Van Damme’s best movie. This time Rambo’s fight
would take place in the mountains of Afghanistan. After
Rambo III, it would take almost 20 years before we would see
him again.
In Rambo III, John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) has found
peace. He works for monks and street fights on the side to
make some extra money. However, it doesn’t take long for
Col. Samuel Trautman (Richard Crenna) to find him and get
him into some trouble. Col. Trautman finds Rambo in Thailand
and asks him to join a team that is going into Afghanistan
to take down a Russian strong hold control by Zaysen (Marc
de Jonge). Rambo refuses, and Col. Samuel heads to
Afghanistan with his team but without Rambo. Col. Trautman
is capture by Zaysen and tortured. When Rambo is told that
Col Trautman has been captures and that there is no rescue
mission, he goes into Afghanistan on his only to save his
old friend.
Rambo III is known as the worst one in the series, but in my
opinion it is on par with Rambo II. The antagonist of Rambo
III is stronger than the pervious installment and that is a
major plus. However, the story isn’t as exciting. This time
Rambo is given an afghan and a kid as his companions and the
kid is annoying and always getting in the way. The action
sequences offer nothing new, and the movie seems like a
rehash of Rambo II but with a different setting.
Director Peter MacDonald lacks creativity in creating the
action sequences and it looks like he’s just going by the
standard action play book. This was Peter MacDonald’s
directorial debuts; why they would give such a franchise,
which at the time was also the most expensive movie ever
made, to a rookie is incomprehensible.
The clarity of Rambo III on Blu-ray high definition is even
better than the previous two installments. The blacks are
solid and the colors pristine. Lionsgate has done another
great job with this transfer. The Blu-ray disk also includes
a trivia track that plays along side the movie and a 20
minute documentary that focuses on the history of
Afghanistan titled “Afghanistan: Land in Crisis ”.
Review By Milton Brayson
milton@smartcine.com
VIDEO:
1080P High Definition 16x9 Widescreen Version (2.35:1)
AUDIO:
English 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio
French 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio
Subtitles: English and Spanish
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Audio Commentary with
Director Peter MacDonald
“Out of the Blu” Trivia Track - pop-up trivia
track that plays along side the movie. This is a very nice
feature that makes you want to see the movie all over again.
Afghanistan: Land in Crisis - a documentary that
focuses on the history of Afghanistan. Includes interviews
with Sylvester Stallone and Richard Crenna (29:45)
RATING BREAK DOWN:
FILM REVIEW |
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VIDEO |
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AUDIO |
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BONUS
FEATURES |
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