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

[johnnyringo7]

Originally Posted by Leterface

I watched FB part II yesterday and actually didn't notice any issues with subtitles. Have you or anybody else spotted any goofs on FB part II?

For the PQ I was again happy, as I was with First Blood. And this time with part II didn't see any flickering as compared to what I think I saw in First Blood (just some very minor flickering that was happening in lower quality scenes). The title and pre-credits have a green hue that luckily gets masked when the film starts. The green jungle is finally having proper colors with more detail and depth. Though the best detail is only found in close ups, many being impressive. However I spotted that here are a few scenes in the jungle that suffers from a bit of poor colors, contrast and even a bit of less details, like a filter have been applied on them reducing PQ. Shame as those last moments with Rambos Vietnamese partner are some of my all time favourite scenes. Maby they used different camera equipment in the middle of the film and then applied some filter etc to try to mask inconsistencies?

I have First Blood on 4k and it's looks great, except for a few scenes. How good is the PQ of part II if you compare with the first one?

[brainofj72]

Has anyone else mentioned the wonky encoding on II? Definitely noticed plenty of weirdness, particularly in terms of chroma compression, and even some brief macroblocking. It’s not as bad as The Fog or anything, but it’s there.

[ROSS.T.G.]

The worst part of the set for me is the audio on 2. On top of being shrill and paper thin it was lopsided to the left and I found it very distracting. I actually got up and tested my right speakers to see if they were still working.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by cminer72

If I remember right. You have an X800. I've had mine since day one. I've only ever had one disc that was a problem. A DVD of Emergency!. It locked up the player and required a cord pull. Otherwise, zero problems and I use it a ton. Handles dust and light scratches fine. I think you just got a bad player.

That's what others tell me, sure. However I've had two in a row do the same exact thing and when googling you'll fine endless complaints about some discs not working on it. I never claimed it's a 100% issue, I said it seems to be an issue for some.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by brainofj72

Has anyone else mentioned the wonky encoding on II? Definitely noticed plenty of weirdness, particularly in terms of chroma compression, and even some brief macroblocking. It’s not as bad as The Fog or anything, but it’s there.

Poor compression on Rambo II you say?

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...w#post15766961

[brainofj72]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Poor compression on Rambo II you say?

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...w#post15766961

Ha, I figured if anyone else would have called it out, it would have been you.

[Geoff D]

I aim to please.

[Cougartiger]

Just finished watching First Blood and had a few problems:

Would not switch into HDR. Took several tries before it finally did.

When Trautman contacts Rambo on the radio, the video freezes and skips for a bit untill just after Rambo starts talking. The movie is fine from that point on. It just this section of the movie that does this and it is repeatable, even after cleaning.

There was a brief moment earlier in the film that froze but I rewound and it didn't repeat, so I dunno.

Considering returning to Amazon but do I get another copy and risk it being even worse? Get a refund and try the UK disc which hopefully wouldn't have these problems?

My UHD player is the Philips 7502 which so far has played everything else perfectly so I don't think it's the player.

Not sure what to do.

[infiniteCR]

Have you tried cleaning the disc? Sometimes there's a film on it that can cause issues straight out of the box.

[danny24]

Originally Posted by Cinema84

Thanks. I've never had too much faith in lens cleaners but I'll contact Oppo and ask for their input. I've read that these products may actually cause more problems than they help. I do tend to leave the disc drawer open for extended periods, though, and I'm trying not to do that. The player has been acting buggy in other ways too. Sometimes the disc drawer won't close no matter how many times I press the button. Too bad Oppo is going out of business - they're awesome in the customer service dept.

Is it current on firmware updates? Try updating the firmware and see. Than the disc cleaner. If all else fails contact Oppo and send it in for service.

Yeah try not to leave the drawer open for to long because dust, hair and debris can make it's way in there. I cleaned a friends BD player one time and cleaned the lens as a favor and it was so bad had to use a blower can of compressed air just to clean it up.

Originally Posted by infiniteCR

Have you tried cleaning the disc? Sometimes there's a film on it that can cause issues straight out of the box.

Fingerprints from pressing plant could be on the bottom, I have had this happen numerous times. Check the playable side of the disc to see if it's clean.

[Cougartiger]

Yes, I removed the disc and cleaned it. Still froze and skipped during that scene.

I also noticed that the review of First Blood on this site mentions freezing and skipping at pretty much the same time code which I found interesting.

[SpaceBlackKnight]

I read that the UHD and remastered BD of First Blood Part II only opens with StudioCanal and omits the TriStar/Carolco logos, that the case?

Do the UHDs/remastered BDs of First Blood and Rambo III open with the Orion logo and TriStar/Carolco respectively?

[DR Herbert West]

Originally Posted by SpaceBlackKnight

I read that the UHD and remastered BD of First Blood Part II only opens with StudioCanal and omits the TriStar/Carolco logos, that the case?

Correct.

Do the UHDs/remastered BDs of First Blood and Rambo III open with the Orion logo and TriStar/Carolco respectively?

No Orion logo on First Blood. Rambo III does have a Carolco logo.

[Leterface]

Originally Posted by johnnyringo7

I have First Blood on 4k and it's looks great, except for a few scenes. How good is the PQ of part II if you compare with the first one?

Both films have great PQ. But IMO with the small issues I wrote in my last post for part II, because a few scenes where a bit more disturbing in part II compared to few scenes with issues in First Blood. I'd rate PQ of First Blood as 8+ and FB part II as 8- (with a 1-10 scale).

[Havenbull]

Originally Posted by Cougartiger

Yes, I removed the disc and cleaned it. Still froze and skipped during that scene.

I also noticed that the review of First Blood on this site mentions freezing and skipping at pretty much the same time code which I found interesting.

There is definitely some sort of issue. I had the same freezing/pixilation between 40 and 60 minutes on First Blood, in the woods, then a 2 minutes portion in the middle of Rambo II. Both were UHD's. Rambo III was fine.

Emailed back and forth with Oppo customer service. Cleaned the disc as they suggested. Still the same issue. They then said it was most likely a disc issue.

Blu-Ray.com's own review of the First Blood UHD noted the same freeze in the VQ section.

[s2mikey]

Watched First Blood last night. Thought the presentation was OK but nothing great. Its better than the blu-ray but not night and day better. Audio seemed weak overall to me too. I guess it was worth $7.99 but I wouldnt pay a nickel more for it than that. No interest in the rest of the films. Oh well.

This is one of those catalog titles that isnt worth exerting too much energy to rebuy. Again, for $7.99 its fine but thats about it.

The movie itself is still great and thats what really counts here.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by Cougartiger

Just finished watching First Blood and had a few problems:

Would not switch into HDR. Took several tries before it finally did.

I'm not alone! My LG player had the same issue, with all three Rambo UHDs. The sequels loaded up normally the second time but it took many times before First Blood loaded with proper HDR/color. It was a super weird issue. Glad to see I'm not alone. Maybe something wrong with the flags on the disc.

As for freezes/stutters, all three do it with my Sony X800, which has issues with many discs. All three played fine with zero issue on my LG player though, once HDR kicked in.

P.S. Watched First Blood last night. So exciting to see it looking that good. Not perfect of course, but what a classic and such an improvement on the BD.

[Leterface]

No disc playback issues with any of the films in the trilogy (French UHD Steelbook) on my EU Sony X800.

[Rocklandsboy]

I watched First Blood and Rambo: First Blood part 2 (US UHDs) on my Oppo 203 this week with no glitches/freezes. Very impressed with both, especially part 2. Rambo III up next.

The documentaries, however, are odd. The 80s one for First Blood is talking heads interspersed with footage running at the wrong speed with ugly picture artifacts! WTF?

[Leterface]

Luckily I don't have GeoffVision and didn't see LegoVision in parts I and II but in Rambo III I did see very obvious macro blocking in a few scenes:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/xDRrP6XL487w2qAA7.

Rambo III was kind of a dissapointment for me PQ wise as I thought I could see more detail than in parts I and II, but I could not find the greatest detail in facials though the wide scenery shots are in general the best of the trilogy. Still I would rate Rambo III PQ as a 7,5+ that equals to still good PQ, but not great, though I suspect Rambo III was never as sharp momentarily as parts I and II. Also I may be more harsh on Rambo III in comparison to former parts of the trilogy in watching more close just to the PQ and not always enough just on the film itself as I find Rambo III the weakest Rambo film. But still I find Rambo III great compared to most of later action films.