First Blood / Rambo: First Blood Part II / Rambo III 4K UHDs (1982-1988)

[The Hud]

Originally Posted by Markgway

It's the second cut in Reel 3.

http://www.melonfarmers.co.uk/bbfc_cuts_rambo_3.htm

Cool, thanks!

[barty22]

Originally Posted by Bates_Motel

It's a shame the subtitles (at least for First Blood) are so badly "cliff noted" and not direct translations of the lines. It's almost like subs for a dub of the film, which really dumbs it down if you have to read it. Not to mention completely wrong subs like “Igor him” instead of “I got him.” We are officially over the time where any studio actually cares about quality.

Instead of "They drew first blood," it's not "They shot first." What a mess. Super disrespectful to the hard of hearing.

Wow that's crazy, does the DE/UK release have identical screwed up English subs?

[HDMan72]

Just finished watching Rambo: First Blood Part II and I was pretty impressed. I don't remember watching this movie and looking this good ever, except maybe in the theater back in 1985 when I was 11 years old, and honestly I have no idea what it looked like. This was light years better than the blu-ray from 08'. When it was over all I could think about was if MGM or Fox could release the Rocky films, most notably Rocky 1,2,3 & 4, that would be sweet

[BNex99]

Sorry if this has already been covered, but the review on this site suggests that the 5.1 tracks on the UHDs might be new and improved over the previous ones. Has anyone had a proper listen yet? I'd still prefer having the original stereo tracks, but a more refined remix might work.

On that note, is there a release of Rambo III anywhere in the world that is A) uncut, B) has English subtitles for Russian dialogue where they're supposed to go, and C) has the original English stereo audio?

[tcripe]

Just got all three at target for 14.99 each! Great deal if you ask me!

[JAWS]

This is one of the best 4K discs I have in terms of Upgrade.

Was blown away by how great it looks.

Wow... I even had the Canadian remaster Blu Ray and it blows that away also.

Fantastic!!

[JAWS]

Originally Posted by indisposed

I know not everyone likes the sequels, because they are so out of alignment with the original, but it's always baffled me as to why someone can love Part II, but hate III. You could say that's because of what ultimately happened with the Taliban (which inspite of what some people say, DID NOT EXIST when the film was made and released) and it isn't quite as tightly paced as the first two... but the epic scale of the battle scenes particularly at the end, has arguably never been topped. It's all done in camera and it's glorious. Yeah, it's overblown and almost cartoony, but then, so was the second film.

Too much Corny Humor in Rambo 3 for me. Having said that Rambo 2 has not aged well. But there was a time I loved it.


I was the perfect age for Rambo 2. I was 13 years Old. I loved the first one and action movies like this had not been done yet. This ushered in the 80's action film... At the time it seemed so fresh and original. Now it feels like another 80's action film... Its not awful and better then most but its limitations are apparent.


Rambo 3 came out at a time when there was an 80's action movie coming out every weekend. And unlike Rambo 2 which was a film that inspired those 80's action films Rambo 3 was a rip off and cliché of other action films.. Rambo saying one liners and having fun with Trautman felt out of place.


The end for as big in scale as it was was pretty boring IMO... Just not a good showing for John J.

Originally Posted by brainofj72

Watching First Blood right now. In terms of grain and fine detail, it’s beautiful. However, I have to stand by what I said about the early caps. I hate hate hate these colors. I’m not gonna make any claims about accuracy, but all I know is I have always loved the visuals in this movie, and now it looks ugly and strange. It really looks like a mild teal filter has been laid across the whole movie, which not only makes everything look weird and “off,” but it also screws up the blacks, making everything look flat and murky. Granted, things definitely looked worse in the SDR-converted caps, which looked overly bright and blown out, but yeah.

I don’t think I can go back to the BD, because the visual upgrade in every way but the colors is just huge. But it really feels like a “pick your poison” scenario.

I’m sure just about everyone will disagree with me, and that’s totally fine. Just my two cents.

Its too bad you feel that way.. My jaw dropped to the floor with these colors. The film looks alive and its like watching it again for the first time. Seeing the sun hit those moutain tops when Rambo is walking into town or the lake behind Delmor Berry Mom's home.. Wow.

[UberMensch]

No ones gonna mention the huge hole in the back of the slipcover?

[jrcorwin3]

Originally Posted by UberMensch

No ones gonna mention the huge hole in the back of the slipcover?

The cardboard crap that goes in the trash anyway? No.

[Lsalas76]

Originally Posted by tcripe

Just got all three at target for 14.99 each! Great deal if you ask me!

Best Buy will have them for $7.99 each on Black Friday.

[HDMan72]

Originally Posted by BNex99

Sorry if this has already been covered, but the review on this site suggests that the 5.1 tracks on the UHDs might be new and improved over the previous ones. Has anyone had a proper listen yet? I'd still prefer having the original stereo tracks, but a more refined remix might work.

On that note, is there a release of Rambo III anywhere in the world that is A) uncut, B) has English subtitles for Russian dialogue where they're supposed to go, and C) has the original English stereo audio?

The audio to me sounded the same as the previous blu-ray's from 08'. I even listened to the soundtrack from Rambo Part II using Dolby Surround upmixer and it still was front heavy, barely any discrete surrounds or ambient overhead for that matter

[Bates_Motel]

Originally Posted by springjack

I´m confused about the framing for these movies.

What´s the most accurate? Lionsgate (old), StudioCanal (old) or StudioCanal (new)?

The new releases for the first two are pretty spot on. However Rambo III has framing issues in the first reel only, where everything is incorrectly shifted to the left, making titles noticeably off center. It corrects itself after the first reel though and the rest of the film is fine.

Originally Posted by Noremac Mij

Watching this movie for 30+ years on improper home video will have that effect. See if you can find a 35mm local showing of First Blood, I think you'll feel much better afterwards.

LOL "incorrect." The blacks HAVE BEEN sealed somewhat, which is not how any 35mm print I've ever seen looked, so why would it make me feel better that it's been "modernized" with current digital grading techniques? It's certainly not a teal monstrosity, but shadows in direct sun (and Rambo's dark hair) shouldn't have a blu tint to it, period.

[MassiveMovieBuff]

I'm watching the blu ray for First Blood now and it looks great but I have to agree that something is off with the blacks. They're almost non existent.

[brian9229]

I've seen First Blood dozens of times since my childhood on every available format, and it's definitely in my top 10 all time. I watched this tonight and as soon as I laid eyes on the blue of Teasles cop car, I felt my jaw drop. Literally. What a treat this watch was after decades of incremental improvements. I'm just kind of wowed a bit by it still. In some spots just stunning.

[Noremac Mij]

Originally Posted by Bates_Motel

The new releases for the first two are pretty spot on. However Rambo III has framing issues in the first reel only, where everything is incorrectly shifted to the left, making titles noticeably off center. It corrects itself after the first reel though and the rest of the film is fine.



LOL "incorrect." The blacks HAVE BEEN sealed somewhat, which is not how any 35mm print I've ever seen looked, so why would it make me feel better that it's been "modernized" with current digital grading techniques? It's certainly not a teal monstrosity, but shadows in direct sun (and Rambo's dark hair) shouldn't have a blu tint to it, period.

Rambo’s mullet looks fine on my setup. You may want to check your calibration. And no digital home video will ever be absolutely 100% identical to film, because it’s not film! But this presentation is very close to a 35mm original print that I’ve seen. I just finished watching the whole movie and absolutely love everything about this release.

[Bates_Motel]

Originally Posted by MassiveMovieBuff

I'm watching the blu ray for First Blood now and it looks great but I have to agree that something is off with the blacks. They're almost non existent.

It’s the “modern” look of raised milky blacks with a blue cast in them. Certainly not indicative of a photochemical color time from the 1980s, but could’ve been a lot worse.

Originally Posted by Noremac Mij

Rambo’s mullet looks fine on my setup. You may want to check your calibration. And no digital home video will ever be absolutely 100% identical to film, because it’s not film! But this presentation is very close to a 35mm original print that I’ve watched. I just finished watching the whole movie and absolutely loved everything about this release.

LOL you act like I've never color graded a film before. (I have.). I don't need to check my perfectly calibrated setup, but you can even see it in the caps. Fact is, there's too much blue/green in the blacks and it's not up for debate because its 100% there whether YOU see it or not. I've also projected the first 2 films so I'm aware of how 35mm prints look.

Black/brown hair shouldn't skew green/have a green cast to it. The proof is right there in the grade. And yes, that's the 1080p HD version, not the 4k that's been downconverter form HDR, so those are the identical colors that are on the disc.



It's cool if you like it, but its 100% a modern revisionist grade to look like other modern films. It's not how they looked in 1982/1985/1988, because digital grading of this nature didn't exist then.

[Nothing371]

Looking forward to buying all three of these at Best Buy on BF for $7.99 apiece.

[trevrox]

Originally Posted by Nothing371

Looking forward to buying all three of these at Best Buy on BF for $7.99 apiece.

Is that what they're going to be? God if I see that I'll be returning the ones from Amazon

[indisposed]

Anyone know if the Blu-rays contained with the Lionsgate 4K sets are region free?

[SGB]

Originally Posted by Bates_Motel

It's a shame the subtitles (at least for First Blood) are so badly "cliff noted" and not direct translations of the lines. It's almost like subs for a dub of the film, which really dumbs it down if you have to read it. Not to mention completely wrong subs like “Igor him” instead of “I got him.” We are officially over the time where any studio actually cares about quality.

Instead of "They drew first blood," it's not "They shot first." What a mess. Super disrespectful to the hard of hearing.

The subtitles are like that on the Australian Studio Canal blu-ray release as well. Sounds like Studio Canal used the pre-existing blu-ray subtitles for the UHD and didn't bother to fix them.

The subtitles are indeed a mess. A lot of the dialogue, such as the "first blood" line you mentioned, has lost its punch and impact.

Speaking of incorrect subtitles, I remember one line from First Blood being incorrectly subtitled on an Australian TV broadcast many years back. The line "Give that man a cigar!" was mistakenly subtitled as "Give that man a Sega!".