Rambo Trilogy: Special Edition DVD Collection (2002)
Review by HTQ4
Film:
DVD:

Review Note: This set is four discs, three of which are the chapters of the trilogy. For accessing the reviews of the individual feature film discs and seeing the lists of their individual bonus features, click on their names in the Features section below. The review below details information on the bonus fourth disc that comes in the boxed set.

Features:

• First Blood
  
• Rambo: First Blood, Part 2
  
• Rambo 3
  
• "An American's Hero's Journey"
  
• "The Real Nam: Voices from Within"
  
• "Guts and Glory"
  
• "The Forging of Heroes: America's Green Berets"
  
• "Rambo-nomics"
  
• "Suiting Up: Rambo's Survival Hardware"
  
• "Selling a Hero"
  
• "First Blood: A Look Back"
  
• "Rambo III: Full Circle"
  
• "Those That Wanted More"
  
• Trivia Game
  

Anamorphic: The special features appear in 1.33:1 format

My Advice: Rent it

The fourth disc in this set is what makes this collection a truly Special Edition. It is chocked full of special features divided into three sections: Mission Files, Trivia Game and Sneak Peeks. The Mission Files have all the documentaries and short films in it. As you run down the menu of the documentaries, they get worse and worse, and they don't start out too good to begin with. "The Real Nam: Voices from Within" is a very shallow look at America's involvment in Vietnam. There is some information that seems to be worthwhile, but for the most part, it feels like they put it on the disc to appease the peaceniks that will be scrambling like mad to watch Rambo. "Guts and Glory" is yet another documenatary about Rambo and the Reaganized world that it permeated. It's kind of a neat look at the 80s, but there's just not a lot to it. This is where the features really start going downhill.

There is a really short, almost pointless look at the Green Berets, a very short look into how much money the trilogy made around the world, a short multimedia presentation that gives you specs on all of the Rambo's weapons and hardware across all three movies, a short, poorly made film that stars all the Rambo action figures (I couldn't believe I was watching this one), and two "remixes" of Jerry Goldsmith's scores for First Blood and Rambo 3 with all the violent scenes edited in with it. At the end of this list of "Mission Files" is another documentary that tries claim that Rambo is some mythological character, and I guess some of the arguments hold a little bit of water. For the most part, it sounded like they were reaching to make that comparison.

The Trivia Game asks some pretty hard questions, so you'd better pay attention to every little tidbit of the information on this DVD. If you get the questions wrong, you are treated to a clip of Rambo getting hurt, but if you get them right, you are shown a clip where Rambo gets the best of his enemies.

So, if you are looking for a weekend of non-stop destruction, pick this set up as a rental and get all the testosterone you've been missing since puberty. Unless you're a huge fan of the trilogy, though, you probably will want to forego making the big purchase.