Movie:
To celebrate the twentieth anniversary of First Blood, Artisan has remastered and remixed the Rambo Trilogy, releasing them both separately as special editions and packaged together as part of a special box set that includes a bonus fourth disc of extras.

First Blood, originally released in 1982, was based on the novel by David Morrell. Directed by Ted Kotcheff, the film stars Sylvester Stallone (John Rambo), Richard Crenna (Colonel Trautman), and Brian Dennehy (Sheriff Teasle), with David Caruso (Mitch) in a smaller role.

Drifting from place to place while looking for old 'Nam buddies, ex-Green Beret John Rambo runs afoul of the local law in a small town in Oregon. The sheriff frowns on drifters and escorts Rambo out of town. However, Rambo returns, seeking only some food. The sheriff catches him and runs him in for resisting arrest, carrying a concealed weapon, and vagrancy. While being "cleaned up" for his trial, the officers are very rough, triggering flashbacks to his being tortured in Vietnam. Rambo attacks the officers and escapes, fleeing into the forested mountains outside of town. Determined to catch him, the sheriff and his men pursue, but Rambo's survival instincts have already kicked in, and the hunted soon becomes the hunter.

First Blood is my favorite film in the series and sets the formula that both sequels followed: Rambo avoids conflict, but when the enemy backs him into a corner and draws first blood, he retaliates with a vengeance. However, First Blood is different than both sequels, in that there is more character development, an emotional journey of sorts that Rambo undertakes, and a body count of one. Both sequels largely ignored character development, though there is some emotional pathos in Rambo: First Blood Part II and Rambo III. First Blood is also much different than the book, with the screenplay toning down Rambo's psychosis, the body count, and changing the ending, which originally had Rambo die by Trautman's hands.

Picture:
First Blood is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen and 1.33:1 full frame, each on opposite sides of the disc. The transfer is occasionally slightly soft and has a few specks and small marks. There is also some grain, most apparent and confined to a few shots in chapter thirteen. Colors do seem a bit faded or muted infrequently, though flesh tones are accurate, with solid blacks.

Sound:
First Blood is presented in DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1, and Dolby 2.0 Surround. Previously, the film was only available on DVD in Dolby 2.0 Surround, and as expected, the newly mixed DTS and DD5.1 tracks sound much more rich and full. The DTS and DD5.1 soundtracks for First Blood are still mainly anchored in the front soundstage, with the rears employed for ambient effects and occasional surrounds. Gunfire lacks directionality as well. Thankfully, with the addition of the LFE channel, explosions sound much deeper. Dialogue is crisp and clean throughout with no distortion that I detected. Optional subtitles are available in Spanish.

Extras:
The main extras on the disc are the commentary with writer David Morrell and the new documentary, Drawing First Blood. Morrell offers an insightful and interesting commentary, covering everything from the differences between his novel and the film to the technical aspects of the film. The track has few slow moments, as Morrell is quite talkative. The documentary runs a tad over twenty-two minutes in length, and features new interviews with Morrell, Stallone, Crenna, Kotcheff, and executive producers Mario Kassar and Andrew Vajna. Morrell starts with his inspirations for writing the novel and the participants discuss a wide variety of topics, such as developing the property from novel to script, different casting choices, and difficulties with filming. Most interesting are a few still frames from the alternate ending that was shot and later scrapped. Unfortunately, this footage is not available on the DVD.

Also available on the disc are extensive cast and crew biographies and filmographies, informative production notes, and the film's trailer and teaser.

Summary:
Artisan has re-released First Blood with improved picture and sound quality, retained the original release's commentary, and added a new and interesting documentary. For those who have never experienced the Rambo phenomenon, definitely check out First Blood. Highly Recommended.