Exclusive: Blu-ray for Rambo II & Rambo III

• Feb 3, 2008 01:36 PM ET
• by The DVD Team

Last weekend Rambo opened in theaters, and as I write this the film has now earned an estimated $25 million at the box office, putting it among the Top 5 money-making movies of the (very short) year so far. There was a lot of doubt that audiences would still have an appetite for Sylvester Stallone's hard-to-stop soldier, but this fourth and final film appears to have struck the same good chord as 2006's Rocky Balboa did: it offers a good way to wrap up the story of a beloved cinema character from a couple-three decades ago, taking into account the fact that both the character and actor have aged, but hopefully blurring the memory of the previous "final" films - both turkeys - that otherwise would have wrapped up those two movie series.

All the previous Rocky and Rambo films have long been available on DVD, of course, and Rocky Balboa has since come out on DVD - and Blu-ray Disc - as well. When Rocky Balboa opened in theaters in December 2006, the high definition world was still pretty new, and MGM (along with distributor Fox) decided only to release the first original Rocky film to Blu-ray Disc. The second through fifth stories about the hard-to-stop boxer aren't available in hi-def yet, and we haven't heard of any plans to change that. Maybe MGM can bring us a box set for the holidays?

When I heard a few months ago that the new Rambo was coming to theaters, I wondered if I could get the previous three "John Rambo" stories in hi-def, to add to my growing collection. All three of them turn out to be available in HD DVD, but only in countries like Australia and France. For the good ol' USA, I found that the only one already in stores is the original (and best): First Blood on Blu-ray Disc from Lionsgate. That came out a year ago this week, in fact. I picked it up and enjoyed the heck out of it: it's certainly a film that lends itself to 1080 goodness. I wished I could get the very good second movie, and - being the completist I am - even the not-so-good third movie. No joy, though.

Today I'm thrilled to have learned, and be the first to tell you, that the second and third films are making their way to Blu-ray Disc! Lionsgate hasn't officially announced these yet, but thanks to my industry contacts I've recently had a look at their upcoming schedule of releases for April and May, and noted that it includes Rambo: First Blood Part II and Rambo III with a planned street date of May 27th.

Please note that the date is tentative and still subject to change. In fact, if I were Lionsgate I would change it. I'd move it up a week and get it out on the 20th, so action film fans can pick these up and watch them during the long Memorial Day weekend, instead of missing that window by putting it out the day after the holiday.

Hey, maybe the studio can also bring us the newest film on Blu-ray at the same time? Or is that asking too much?

Well...we'll see. Rocky Balboa made it to home video just three months after its theatrical debut, so it wouldn't surprise me - at all - if Rambo makes it home by the end of May! - David Lambert


Buy Rambo and Rocky home video releases at Amazon.com