First Blood

The new "Rambo" film is boxed up with Sylvester Stallone's original Reagan-era warrior trilogy in this box set. "First Blood" (1982), a rugged survivalist thriller turned on its head, draws its resonance directly from the wounds left by Vietnam, and indirectly on the collective guilt over the mistreatment of the American vets. Directed with a tough, visceral snap by Ted Kotcheff, this tale of a wandering Vietnam vet (Stallone) pushed into a deadly flashback by an unsympathetic sheriff (Brian Dennehy) is a brutal action fantasy version of what many other films of the era approached more cerebrally. A big theatrical hit and a huge video favorite, it led to the cartoonish sequel "Rambo: First Blood Part II" (1985), a veritable do-over of the Vietnam War in which Rambo asks the question: "Do we get to win this time?" This hysterically jingoistic thriller transformed the angry vet into an avenging, one-man American army and righteous cold warrior. This veritable American Hercules in fatigue green with a honking big knife took the battle right to the Russkies in "Rambo III" (1988), where he fights side by side with Afghan guerrillas (the same ones who later spawned al-Qaida) to save his mentor and symbolic father Richard Crenna (the stern, utterly professional Green Beret authority figure of all three films). Each disc features commentary and interactive features, and the set includes a bonus disc with 10 featurettes and trailers to all four films. The "Rambo: I-III Blu-Ray Box Set" comes without the new "Rambo" film or the bonus disc and includes only three featurettes, but each disc features an exclusive "Out of the Blu" trivia track.