Rambo: The Complete SteelBook Collection 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.0

Rambo: The Complete SteelBook Collection 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman November 15, 2020

Lionsgate and Best Buy have collaborated on a store exclusive five film, 10-disc UHD SteelBook release for the 'Rambo' saga. The disc and digital content is identical to that found in the various wide releases, which are linked individually below. See the 'Special Features and Extras' section of the review below for more on the SteelBook and outer shell artwork.

For full film reviews, please click through the following links; note that all but Last Blood point to original Blu-ray releases.

• First Blood
• Rambo: First Blood Part II
• Rambo III
• Rambo
• Rambo: Last Blood

Rambo: The Complete SteelBook Collection 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

For full UHD video reviews, please click through the following links:

• First Blood
• Rambo: First Blood Part II
• Rambo III
• Rambo
• Rambo: Last Blood

Rambo: The Complete SteelBook Collection 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

For full UHD audio reviews, please click through the following links:

• First Blood
• Rambo: First Blood Part II
• Rambo III
• Rambo
• Rambo: Last Blood

Rambo: The Complete SteelBook Collection 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

All five Rambo UHD SteelBooks ship inside a sturdy metal outer box, lined with thick foamy partitions to protect the discs. It's very reminiscent of the Batman four-film SteelBook release, and the outer casing even measures at the same 7.5" height. The case further measures 5.75" wide and just a hair under 6" deep. Each SteelBook fits snuggly inside; it takes some effort to remove each one. Even turning the case upside down and shaking with some force won't break them free. There's enough spacing between each SteelBook to reach fingers onto either side for removal, and there are far left and right cutouts in the foam allowing one to grasp the sides of the first and last films in the set. The three side panels each feature a Rambo facial close-up and a secondary image, each influenced by one or more of the films. Backgrounds are predominantly red on all three panels. On the sides, the main Rambo image is a steely gray-blue; on the rear he's red. Black foliage (with some silvery accents) and terrain appear on all sides, and there are some drops of blood scattered hither and thither around the case. The case's red top panel features the text "Rambo The Complete SteelBook Collection" in black with each film title appearing below in black. A few black blood droplets are also featured. The bottom of the outer case is black with small white legalese and a couple of red blood droplets.

Each of the five SteelBooks feature top quality artwork front and back, all of them in some way intimately reflective of each film. For First Blood, the front depicts Rambo against a tree, knife drawn, looking for a prowling and heavily armed Teasle who appears on the back panel. The image is foreboding; tall trees in silhouette vertically stand around the panels while a blood red background fills in the rest of the space. First Blood Part II depicts Rambo in Vietnam, shirtless, bow in hand and its string drawn back ready to fire an explosive-tipped grenade. Jungle imagery appears around him and a couple of orange fireballs are scattered in the background. The spine carries over the wraparound image and on the back more landscape (including a large statue) appears, as does a sun and an attack helicopter. Rambo III's SteelBook depicts the hero in an action stance with an RPG in his arms. A hammer and sickle image appears prominently in the top-center background against a red metallic color. Silhouette terrain runs down the left and bottom sides, and silhouette images of a prison camp and a couple of Soviet attack helicopters appear bottom right. The rear panel is simply a John Rambo close-up: his left eye looking to the viewer and the other side of his face is in shadow. What's visible is clearly sweaty and bloody. Rambo's SteelBook is another wraparound that features the same image comprising front, spine, and rear. Rambo depicts its title character front-right, stoic, with knife in left hand. Fire, wreckage, and the vehicle mounted machine gun from the film's most famous scene appear behind him, accompanied by a red sky. On the rear is the rest of the jeep, a burning village, and a couple of helicopters in the sky. Last Blood also features wraparound imagery. Its front is the least busy of them all, save for perhaps First Blood. It shows Rambo aiming a bow forward. The land around him is ablaze and the smoky sky is various shades of red and orange. The rear panel is much the same though with a large tree and a small cemetery on the left.

All of the spines, whether the images wrap around or not, feature the film sequence (1-5) at the top in red, Stallone's name in white below, the film title center in red, and a small Lionsgate logo, also in red, at the bottom. Each interior shares a common aesthetic, primarily a black background with the image of a key weapon from each film (survival knife, explosive-tipped arrows, an RPG rocket, a heavy machine gun, and a bow) spreading both panels within. The discs are positioned one per side (something Lionsgate does better than the competition) and the digital code sheet for all five films appears in First Blood (as does a code for an extended Last Blood cut with a "hand written" note from Stallone on the opposite side). The discs are attractive, too, with complex and textured artwork on all of them. The Blu-ray and UHD discs share art but the BDs are blue and the UHDs are red (hopefully not triggering any flashbacks to the Bu-ray-HD-DVD wars of old).

For a breakdown of the included on-disc supplemental content, please click through the following links:

• First Blood
• Rambo: First Blood Part II
• Rambo III
• Rambo
• Rambo: Last Blood

Rambo: The Complete SteelBook Collection 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Rambo fans will likely never find such an attractive collection featuring all five films on the UHD format. This legendary series has earned high marks for its video and audio presentations on UHD and all of the discs include a fine allotment of bonus content. The SteelBook presentation is excellent, too, with the outer packaging, the SteelBooks proper, and even the disc artwork all worthy of a high-end collection. Very highly recommended.