The beauty of the Stallone 3-Film Collector’s Set is that you’re not in for a single-disc compressed version of the films like so many "collector’s packs" do. Instead, there are 3 full-featured discs that have very nice transfers in comparison to other DVD videos.
The most likely candidate for degradation simply due to the age of the film, First Blood, actually looks really good when upconverted. The 1982 release of the film helped propel Sylvester Stallone’s (Rocky, The Expendables) career beyond the beginning of the Rocky franchise. Sly plays the role of an ex-Vietnam veteran drifter, who happens into the wrong Washington town. Sheriff Teasle, played by Brian Dennehy (Tommy Boy, Romeo + Juliet), begins to push John Rambo until an arrest turns into a manhunt that only one man will win. In an effort to corral the one-man army, Col. Samuel Trautman (Richard Crenna: The Real McCoys, Rambo: First Blood Part II) enters the scene and tries to save the law from the lawless.
In 1989, Stallone found himself behind the bars of a real hard-time prison to validate the reality of his character in Lock Up. When inmate Frank Leone (Stallone) is finally considered a short-timer, Warden Drumgoole (Donald Sutherland: MASH, Outbreak) recalls how Leone broke out of prison under his watchful eye and is determined to make Leone’s final days hell on earth. As he uses inmate Chink Weber (Sonny Landham: Predator, Poltergeist) as a catalyst to push further and further, even the head guard, Captain Meissner (John Amos: TV’s Good Times, Die Hard 2) feels the warden is crossing the line. Eventually, this sparks another prison break and another manhunt as Leone does what it takes to watch over his family from the inside.
Near the end of the millennia, the 1997 film Cop Land received a fair amount of criticism. It may be that Sly’s fans were expecting another one-man army style of vigilante cop film, but the more passive nature that Stallone takes in playing a cop that has dreamt of working in the city was a different call for the action superstar. An all-star cast fills the neighborhood of big-city cops, including Robert De Niro (GoodFellas, Meet the Parents), Harvey Keitel (Reservoir Dogs, The Piano), Ray Liotta (Field of Dreams, No Escape), and Robert Patrick (Terminator 2, We Are Marshall). As the sheriff of Cop Land, Freddy Heflin knows that the small New Jersey suburban town he watches over is a haven (and shelter) for seedy police officers, but chooses to look the other way. As the drama unfolds, murder and mayhem take center stage with Heflin right in the middle.
When it comes to the career of Sylvester Stallone, there have been many ups and downs as far as films go, and the three included in the Stallone 3-Film Collector’s Set account for the rollercoaster ride. While not all will appreciate the three films, fans of the actor will generally accept the collection as a whole.
In addition to the feature films, there are also a few special features worth checking out. The First Blood disc is the most innovative in this department by including the Survival Mode feature. Here, you can either turn the feature on during the playing of the film (and hit 'Enter' on your remote when prompted), or scrub through the features separately. Either way, you’ll gain screens of information about the characters and weapons in the first Rambo flick. On a PC, it is said that you’ll gain additional features, although my older computer ended up with an error and was unable to get it working. Lock Up contains a film featurette and an additional behind the scenes featurette focused on Sylvester Stallone. Cop Land also contains a featurette, as well as storyboard comparisons and deleted scenes.
In all, this may not be the most sought-after collection of Stallone’s films, but as a fan, I have always enjoyed these titles and welcome the collection.
