When I reviewed the film back in September, I initially gave it an unfavorable review. Upon several viewings, my thoughts on the movie have changed for the worst. For brand new characters, Last Blood tries to create sympathy towards these new characters by putting them through sympathetic situations. Unfortunately, the storyline is full of stereotypes to quickly gain compassion for Gabrielle. She’s, of course, a kind wholesome girl who wants nothing else but to look for her father. The problem is with her decision-making. All of her decisions are questionable, at best. So even though we’re supposed to be feeling bad for her, we just think she’s stupid instead.
Be that as it may, it’s nice to see Rambo settle down and be a part of a family. He’s been a tortured soul ever since Vietnam, so it’s kind of nice to see him in a different kind of light.
However, the film still has a lot of similar story beats in the previous Rambo films. Rambo gets caught, villains keep Rambo alive to “teach him a lesson,” Rambo escapes and kills them all. So although Last Blood takes the storylines of Taken and Home Alone and mixes it in the storyline, it still has that same formulaic plot.
Regardless, we do get to see what kind of stranglehold the Mexican cartels have on a poor town. Their actions are ruthlessly evil so it’s not difficult for us to dislike the villains. After all, we’ve seen these kinds of characters before in any film or television show with drug lords.
Also, Last Blood doesn’t have as much action as the previous movies either. It’s a bit dull in that sense. But when it reaches the climactic battle, it becomes an extremely entertaining cat-and-mouse game much like Home Alone. All of the traps are violent and are definite crowd-pleasers.
Overall, Rambo: Last Blood is a disappointing end to the Rambo franchise. There are a lot of issues that continually pull the franchise down into the dredges. It tries to do something different, but it’s still the same old formulaic Rambo story.
Movie Rating: 1.5/5 atoms
Video
Rambo: Last Blood hits Ultra HD Blu-ray with an HDR transfer and a 2.39:1 aspect ratio. The medium contrast makes the picture look subtly flat. This also causes some slight high brightness issues as well. You can see it in the bloom in the Arizona sky. Fortunately, the blacks are deep with no loss of details in the shadows. The colors have a natural look to them as well. They’re neither oversaturated nor dull. Thanks to the native 4K source, the picture looks pristine. You can see every single detail—from the blood splatter to the country landscapes—clear as day. Overall, this is a good-looking picture.
Video Rating: 4.5/5 atoms
Audio
Rambo: Last Blood hits Ultra HD Blu-ray with a Dolby Atmos and a core 7.1 Dolby TrueHD Master Audio track. This review will reflect Rambo: Last Blood‘s Dolby Atmos track. Because this is one of the more quieter Rambo films, the audio mix doesn’t come alive until the climactic final battle between Rambo and the cartel. That being said, the mix envelops you from all over with every bullet, explosion, and fire sound effect coming at you from all sides. When it’s not the climactic battle, the audio mix doesn’t immerse you in the film.
The subtle atmospheric effects get drowned out by the score. The music, like the one playing in the club, are layered. Brian Tyler’s score, however, is much more static. Thankfully, the dialogue is clear, but it’s still hard to understand what Stallone is saying when he’s speaking softly. Either way, this is a decent mix.
Audio Rating: 4/5 atoms
Special Features
Rambo: Last Blood‘s Ultra HD Blu-ray disc has the following special features on the Blu-ray disc:
- Drawing Last Blood: Multi Part Production Diary
- New Blood
- Something to Fight For
- Heaven Above/Hell Below
- Forged in Hellfire
- Nothing is Over
- From First Note to Last Blood: Music for the Massacres
- Theatrical Trailer
Although the number of special features is slim, the production diary is a massively informative featurette. Not only will you see a lot of behind-the-scenes footage but you’ll also learn a TON of stuff about the movie itself from many different people. But this isn’t a traditional behind-the-scenes featurette. The production diary is a mix of audio commentary and behind-the-scenes footage. Even though the production diary looks at the all-around making-of aspect of the movie, “Music for the Massacres” is about the score of the movie. Composer Brian Tyler walks us through his thought process and development of the score.
Special Features Rating: 4/5 atoms
Overall, Rambo: Last Blood is such a disappointing end to a tired franchise. Unfortunately, what they tried to do different doesn’t quite work in Last Blood. The picture quality is great, but the audio mix isn’t as good as it should be. The special features, although not much, is still incredibly informative.
Overall Rating: 3.5/5 atoms
This Blu-ray was reviewed using a retail/advance copy/unit provided by Lionsgate Home Entertainment
The post Rambo: Last Blood – 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Review appeared first on Nerd Reactor.
from Nerd Reactor
0 comments: