Rambo III 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

Rambo III 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 11, 2018

If the Rambo films can reasonably be perceived as having lanced a couple of persistent boils on the American psyche (psyches can have boils, or so I’ve been told), it’s kind of interesting to think that the original trilogy lasted long enough that the “wound” traversed from Vietnam to Afghanistan. The third Rambo films is in some ways the most rote and therefore least fulfilling of the first three, even if it had the opportunity to both exploit and also shed a little light on the long suffering Afghani people. Instead, the film works up a lot of its energy courtesy of a fairly clichéd hostage situation, with Rambo (Sylvester Stallone, of course) having to rescue Colonel Trautman (Richard Crenna). There’s a certain listlessness this time through, even given some spectacularly staged set pieces that make the most of desert vistas and dust kicked up by marauding helicopters.

My colleague Martin Liebman provides an apt plot summary in his now long ago Rambo III Blu-ray review.

Rambo III 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Screenshots are sourced from the 1080p Blu-ray. While my score for the 1080p presentation mimics Marty's, as with the two previous releases, the new releases offer new versions which Studio Canal has reported are sourced off the original camera negatives.

Rambo III is presented on 4K UHD courtesy of Lionsgate Films with a 2160p transfer in 2.35:1. As with the two previous releases, the boot up menu asking for a language choice to be made and the Studio Canal logo point to these being new versions, all reportedly culled from the original negatives. While this is another largely solid looking upgrade, it was the least pleasing to me personally in terms of both grain resolution and general sharpness and clarity. The grain field here is more widely variant than in either of the two previous releases, and there are a couple of passing moments (22:07 and 46:53 are just two that I'd cite) where grain tends to swarm over the imagery and approach noise levels. Several of these spikes are completely divorced from either opticals or low light conditions. The long sequence after 46:53 is especially noticeable in this regard, since it's also filled with dust and debris after a battle. Even when not particularly "noisy", some of the heavier grain attains a splotchy yellow look, again completely divorced from anything like opticals. There is even some relatively wide variance between master shots and close-up coverage. While detail levels are generally very strong, they're once again variable at times, and some of the outdoor material in particular can look slightly soft at times, even in midrange and close-ups. The palette is nicely suffused throughout, but as with at least Rambo: First Blood II, I really didn't notice huge differences in the palette and highlights between the 1080p and 2160p versions. Also as with the two previous releases, while several online sources citing the Studio Canal restorations mention Dolby Vision, my setup detected "only" HDR. That said, one of the most notable improvements here is with regard to shadow detail. A lot of this film once again takes place in dimly lit environments like prisons and even underground caverns, and there's noticeable new information now in the backgrounds of several such sequences. Some of the wide shots outside provide exceptional depth of field.

Rambo III 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Marty wasn't especially enthused about the original 1080p Blu-ray's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix, but as I mentioned in our Rambo: First Blood Part II 4K Blu-ray review , I'm wondering if these new releases feature tweaked audio to accompany their upgraded visuals, since I found the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track a little more immersive. There is clear engagement of the side and rear channels in any number of the action adventure scenes, notably a couple of the explosive battle sequences, but as Marty mentioned in his review, things can tend to be somewhat less spectacular in quieter dialogue scenes, where even ambient environmental placement can be a bit sporadic. Once again Jerry Goldsmith provides an enjoyable, perhaps more traditionally "heroic" sounding, score, and that resides in the surround channels nicely. LFE is regularly engaged courtesy of several things that go boom. Dialogue is presented cleanly and clearly on this problem free track.

Rambo III 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

As with both First Blood 4K and Rambo: First Blood Part II 4K, the 1080p Blu-ray in this package contains manifestly different supplements than the disc Marty reviewed, so I'm detailing them here. The 4K UHD disc contains the Commentary Track mentioned below and described further in Marty's original review:

• Rambo Takes the 80s Part 3 (1080p; 10:47) continues to cover the franchise's legacy (Part 1 of the featurette is included on the 1080p Blu-ray included on the first film's 4K UHD release, and Part 2 follows on the second film's 4K UHD release), with a bunch of talking heads (including original author David Morrell) offering brief comments interspersed with film scenes.


• Rambo III: Full Circle (480i; 5:58) is an archival EPK.


• A Hero's Journey (480i; 25:29) is another archival piece which gives more of an overview of the entire series.


• Rambo's Survival Hardware (480i; 8:41) looks at some of the tools of Rambo's trade.


• Alternate Beginning (480i; 3:37)


• Deleted Scenes (480i; 7:20)


• Interview with Sylvester Stallone (480i; 8:41) is another archival piece.


• Afghanistan - A Land in Crisis (480i; 29:48) is another surprisingly thoughtful and well done piece documenting the nation's long travails that compliments some of the other historically based featurettes the two other releases have offered.


• Guts and Glory (480i; 27:11) is another archival piece which details some of the impact of the series and the excitement that a third installment generated.


• Behind the Scenes (480i; 6:08)


• The Restauration (1080p; 1:21) offers "avant" (before) and "apres" (after) comparisons.


• Trautman & Rambo (480i; 2:38) is another archival piece that looks at this perhaps unlikely bromance.

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• How to Become Rambo Part 3 (1080i; 15:12) once again features Dr. Franco Columbu, Sylvester Stallone's body building coach. Have your exercise equipment ready.


• Original Trailer (480i; 2:07)


• Original TV Spots (480i; 3:18)


• Commentary from Peter MacDonald can be found under the Setup Menu.

There's a fun Easter Egg as well if you play around with your remote on the Extras Menu.

Rambo III 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There's more than a whiff of "been there, done that" in this third Rambo outing, despite the new location of Afghanistan. Things proceed in an almost completely predictable manner here, but there are some nicely staged action scenes that may get the adrenaline pumped to appropriate levels for some fans. This is another nice looking and sounding 4K UHD upgrade from Lionsgate, though I personally found it the least pleasing looking of the three Rambo films Lionsgate is bringing out on 4K UHD. That said, technical merits are generally solid and the supplements (mostly on the 1080p Blu-ray included with the release) are very enjoyable, so fans of the film will most likely want to pick this one up.