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

[Driver78]

First time I'm hearing about a new forthcoming Rambo collection. Unsure how to feel about it since I thought the Best Buy steelbook set was supposed to be definitive. And, of course I'll grab the new set since I love the franchise. Well, except the 5th film which was just a standard action film. Definitely not the way the series should've ended.

[CreasyBear]

$600 Lionsgate Limited release, for sure.

[Telemachus]

Originally Posted by CreasyBear

$600 Lionsgate Limited release, for sure.

Better deal than Neverending Story

[Markgway]

Originally Posted by HeavyHitter

Is it going to come?

When it's near completion.

[jordanjabroni]

Hello all,

When I first joined the forums, I came here asking about a couple of weird brightness and colour issues I spotted on the 2018 Studio Canal UK remastered Blu-rays, when comparing them to the old early '00s DVD trilogy:

Originally Posted by jordanjabroni

In First Blood, when Rambo is first being arrested, his reaction shots before he puts his hands on the car are much darker than the wide shots. This is not an issue on the DVD.

In Part II, when Rambo has Murdock over the table and slams the knife down by his head, the shots of Murdock change wildly in colour tone and grading. His skin goes almost purple after the knife hits. Again, this is not an issue on the DVD and Murdock looks consistently the same before and after the knife slam.

I don't think my query was quite understood at the time - I was referring to the sudden visual shifts, not the colour grade or brightness of the transfer itself - but that is by-the-by.

Right now, as I am going through caps-a-holic, I am seeing this 2011 'Ultimate Edition' version of the trilogy which appears to be close in fidelity to these latest remasters, but with a far less teal and icky colour grade:



Comparing all three movies, the 2011 release looks far better than the 2018 to me and feels 'right' to how I've always seen these movies:

2018 UK remaster:


2011 DE remaster:


2018 UK remaster:


2011 DE remaster:


However, scrubbing through this long, long thread as much as I can, I'm seeing complaints about the framing of this 2011 release which shows too much/reveals goofs or camera frames.

So, to clarify before double dipping - is the 2011 release worth it? Is the (in my opinion) far superior colour treatment worth the trade, or is the framing a real issue?

Thank you all in advance!

[JoelGoodsen]

There is a new Rambo 4K set in the works that sounds like it will be a definitive release. I would hold fire for that mate.

[Driver78]

Is the Rambo series controlled by Studiocanal or LG? In any case, I'm glad the franchise is finally getting the definitive release(s) they deserve. I've purchased them more times than I care to remember and really want to own a final definitive edition.

[batman2000]

Originally Posted by JoelGoodsen

There is a new Rambo 4K set in the works that sounds like it will be a definitive release. I would hold fire for that mate.

That’s great an all but when is it going to come out it’s taking forever.

[mdhaus]

Why do we need another 4K set? What's wrong with the releases that we already have?

[DR Herbert West]

Originally Posted by mdhaus

Why do we need another 4K set? What's wrong with the releases that we already have?

Originally Posted by Cliff

Ugh... Fine. This will be the only post I make and there will be no follow up because I no longer post/participate at Blu-ray.com. I was banned twice by some anonymous mod after refusing to play nice with people who clearly like to cause trouble. I don't need the aggravation and have spent the better part of two years deleting my posting history.

BUT... I'm the one working on the upcoming LG Rambo set and I'm the source of both Geoff's and PeterTHX's info. Here's everything I can tell you at this point in time and, again, there will be no follow up.

All five films with both the theatrical and extended cuts of Rambo and Last Blood (Last Blood will be the final cut that appeared on Amazon).

New Dolby Vision grading on 1-3 (Rambo III is particularly in need of correction as it's colors are not only off, but it's highlights are terribly clipped. We're fixing that.)

Rambo III's subtitles are also being corrected and, while they'll be player generated, they're designed to match the font and timing of the optical theatrical subs. One thing to note about Rambo III's subs is that a lot of what people THOUGHT was subtitled originally, WASN'T. This has led to a lot of confusion about various releases missing them and one of the Blu-ray releases actually ADDING them when they weren't there theatrically. We're fixing all that and if it was subtitled theatrically... it'll be subtitled on the UHD.

1-3 have all been given brand new Dolby Atmos mixes. Part II, in particular, has sounded terrible for 20 years. We found the original 70mm 6-track mag for Part II and that was the basis for the new Atmos mix. But each of the first three movies will include: Theatrical Stereo PCM, TrueHD 5.1 (the 2002 mixes for First Blood and Rambo III and the unaltered 70mm 6-track for Rambo II) and the new Atmos mixes. Rambo: First Blood Part II sounds INCREDIBLE now... both it's original 6 track mix and the new Atmos. It's night and day and probably the thing I'm most excited about with this set.

We're looking to include EVERYTHING that was ever created for any of the various Rambo releases (globally) in the special features department. We're also creating a few new bits and one of those is dedicated to the original Drew Struzan art.

This release has been my baby for over a year and I've been dedicated to making sure this gets produced from the perspective of a fan and the Ghostbusters set that Sony put out earlier this year has been the model for this all along. Packaging is likely to be more of a gatefold style, but we've also secured the original lobby cards for the first three films and I'm hoping to talk to the studio into also including preprinted case inserts that use all the "style A" artwork so you could migrate the set to traditional cases if desired.

Everyone is completely committed to making this the very best Rambo set ever released which is why we missed the First Blood 40th (which was the plan) to give ourselves enough time to get all the details right.


So... that's it and that's everything that'll be said for now.

.

[jess1581]

I'm very much looking forward to this set, and I have the current 4K's to tide me over, even the German extended cut of Last Blood, until then.

[totto]

Dam.

[jordanjabroni]

Originally Posted by JoelGoodsen

There is a new Rambo 4K set in the works that sounds like it will be a definitive release. I would hold fire for that mate.

Screw it. Watched one on eBay and got a good offer sent my way.

Will report back with my opinion - 2011 remaster versus 2018 remaster!

[Telemachus]

Originally Posted by 1993 JoelGoodsen

There is a new Rambo LaserDisc set in the works that sounds like it will be a definitive release. I would hold fire for that mate.

Maybe this time it will be true!

[HuggyBear73]

I honestly feel this set isn't coming out.

[Yearbook]

The Lionsgate Limited model seems basically created to give releases like this a home after Best Buy dropped out. I'll be ready with a hundo+, hyped to hear that Part 2 70mm track.

[Jay Mammoth]

Originally Posted by Yearbook

The Lionsgate Limited model seems basically created to give releases like this a home after Best Buy dropped out. I'll be ready with a hundo+, hyped to hear that Part 2 70mm track.

Yeah I’m thinking maybe a May release for Memorial Day.

[jordanjabroni]

Originally Posted by jordanjabroni

Hello all,

When I first joined the forums, I came here asking about a couple of weird brightness and colour issues I spotted on the 2018 Studio Canal UK remastered Blu-rays, when comparing them to the old early '00s DVD trilogy:





I don't think my query was quite understood at the time - I was referring to the sudden visual shifts, not the colour grade or brightness of the transfer itself - but that is by-the-by.

Right now, as I am going through caps-a-holic, I am seeing this 2011 'Ultimate Edition' version of the trilogy which appears to be close in fidelity to these latest remasters, but with a far less teal and icky colour grade:



Comparing all three movies, the 2011 release looks far better than the 2018 to me and feels 'right' to how I've always seen these movies:

2018 UK remaster:


2011 DE remaster:


2018 UK remaster:


2011 DE remaster:


However, scrubbing through this long, long thread as much as I can, I'm seeing complaints about the framing of this 2011 release which shows too much/reveals goofs or camera frames.

So, to clarify before double dipping - is the 2011 release worth it? Is the (in my opinion) far superior colour treatment worth the trade, or is the framing a real issue?

Thank you all in advance!

Alrighty...

Having compared those 2018 remaster Blu-rays against the 2011 (though packaging says 2012) trilogy boxset... it is no contest.

Here's a brief Twitter thread with my findings and video examples.

The 2012 discs look just as crisp as the 2018 ones, but are completely free of that sickly yellow/green/cyan colour grade that makes the trilogy look like a L'Immagine Ritrovata grade on steroids. Those two specific issues I raised way back when I first joined the forums? Gone! And as for audio choices... the 2018 discs present 5.1 only whereas the 2012 discs include both 5.1 and 2.0 DTS Master for English!

Safe to say, my 2018 discs will be headed straight to eBay. This 2012 set is scrumptious.

[Markgway]

Originally Posted by mdhaus

Why do we need another 4K set? What's wrong with the releases that we already have?

No OG audio, the grading is rubbish.

[capricho]

Originally Posted by jordanjabroni

Alrighty...

Having compared those 2018 remaster Blu-rays against the 2011 (though packaging says 2012) trilogy boxset... it is no contest.

Here's a brief Twitter thread with my findings and video examples.

The 2012 discs look just as crisp as the 2018 ones, but are completely free of that sickly yellow/green/cyan colour grade that makes the trilogy look like a L'Immagine Ritrovata grade on steroids. Those two specific issues I raised way back when I first joined the forums? Gone! And as for audio choices... the 2018 discs present 5.1 only whereas the 2012 discs include both 5.1 and 2.0 DTS Master for English!

Safe to say, my 2018 discs will be headed straight to eBay. This 2012 set is scrumptious.

I'd be curious to know how are the black levels on the older bluray discs. On th remasters the blacks are reeeaaallly raised.