Stallone 3-Film Collector's Set (2012)
Studio: Lionsgate
Theatrical Releases: 1982, 1989, 1997
DVD Release: August 14, 2012
R
Review by Shawn Spear
Stallone 3-Film Collector’s Set: First Blood (1982), Lock Up (1989) and Cop Land (1997).
Hey, guess what: Three randomly selected movies starring Sylvester Stallone were pulled from the Lionsgate library, slapped together and repackaged as a “Collector’s Set.” Sure, the movies haven’t been remastered or changed in any way since each of their earlier releases on DVD but rest assured dear Collector, that this is in no way a hasty attempt to cash in on the release of Expendables 2.
However, let’s pretend that this is a half-assed cash grab and not a carefully assembled gift to Stallone fans, or Collectors, such as you. You could do a lot worse. First Blood and Cop Land are among Stallone’s best films, and Lock Up isn’t too bad either.
In First Blood (Dir. Ted Kotcheff), the earliest and best of the films in this collection, Stallone plays John Rambo, a haunted Vietnam vet and drifter harassed by Teasle, a small town sheriff (Brian Denehy). After being arrested for no reason and goaded by abusive cops, Rambo’s Green Beret survival training kicks in and before you can say “body bags” the National Guard has to be called in to stop him. The film spawned three sequels; two of which, unfortunately, cast a dubious shadow on the original: Rambo: First Blood Part II and Rambo III. Thanks to these overblown explosion fests, the name Rambo brings to mind a caricature of the 1980’s action hero—a grimacing, shirtless mercenary wrapped in a bandolier of bullets, blasting a machine gun into swarms of terrorists. Nothing wrong with mindless action, of course, but it’s easy to forget that the original film is a thrilling, thoughtful, and at times heartfelt portrayal of a PTSD-inflicted soldier pushed to his breaking point by a society which has little place for its damaged war heroes.
In Lock Up (Dir. John Flynn), Stallone plays Frank Leone, an auto mechanic who only has six months left to serve of his prison sentence before returning to his love (Darlanne Fluegel) and his new business, but his easy-going life in a minimum-security facility ends abruptly when he’s dragged out of his cell and shipped to a “hell” of a prison run by Drumgoole, the sadistic warden. Played with convincing malevolence by Donald Sutherland, Drumgoole is determined to exact revenge on Leone for being the only prisoner to escape under his watch. Lock Up is weighed down with more than a few action-film cliché’s, and at times can be hokey, predictable and unintentionally funny. However, it’s easy to get riled up when Stallone’s likable character suffers at the hands of the warden and his vicious goons and cheer when he triumphantly kicks their ass, thanks to the skilled, workman-like direction of Flynn and effective performances by character actors such as Sonny Landham and Jordan Lund.
Stallone took a step outside of his action-hero comfort zone in Cop Land, swapping his six-pack abs for a gut to play Freddy Heflin, a sluggish, half-deaf and ineffectual sheriff of a fictional New Jersey suburb populated almost entirely by NYC police. With some arm-twisting by an Internal Affairs officer (Robert DeNiro), Heflin slowly realizes that the town was built with a lot of help from the mob, and its residents’ hands are dirty, including Heflin’s friend and mentor Ray Donlan (Harvey Keitel). Heflin, played with understated melancholy by Stallone, is forced to choose between loyalty to cronies and his duty as a lawman when the life of a young police officer (Michael Rapaport) is in danger. Add an exciting, densely plotted script to a moralistic story of justice and you have a western posing as a crime drama, complete with impressive performances from an all-star cast.
So here we have a collection of three films, the least of which is silly-but-fun popcorn entertainment, and the best, an indisputable classic. Therefore, if your Stallone fervor has been inflamed by Expendables 2 and you don’t already own these films, the Stallone 3-Film Collector’s Set is a worthwhile purchase. But if you already own them, there’s nothing new here. You’re better off collecting something else.
First Blood contains two audio commentaries, a featurette, and deleted scenes.
Lock Up contains a behind the scenes featurette.
Cop Land contains a behind the scenes featurette, deleted scenes, and a storyboard comparison.
Theatrical Releases: 1982, 1989, 1997
DVD Release: August 14, 2012
R
Review by Shawn Spear
Stallone 3-Film Collector’s Set: First Blood (1982), Lock Up (1989) and Cop Land (1997).
Hey, guess what: Three randomly selected movies starring Sylvester Stallone were pulled from the Lionsgate library, slapped together and repackaged as a “Collector’s Set.” Sure, the movies haven’t been remastered or changed in any way since each of their earlier releases on DVD but rest assured dear Collector, that this is in no way a hasty attempt to cash in on the release of Expendables 2.
However, let’s pretend that this is a half-assed cash grab and not a carefully assembled gift to Stallone fans, or Collectors, such as you. You could do a lot worse. First Blood and Cop Land are among Stallone’s best films, and Lock Up isn’t too bad either.
In First Blood (Dir. Ted Kotcheff), the earliest and best of the films in this collection, Stallone plays John Rambo, a haunted Vietnam vet and drifter harassed by Teasle, a small town sheriff (Brian Denehy). After being arrested for no reason and goaded by abusive cops, Rambo’s Green Beret survival training kicks in and before you can say “body bags” the National Guard has to be called in to stop him. The film spawned three sequels; two of which, unfortunately, cast a dubious shadow on the original: Rambo: First Blood Part II and Rambo III. Thanks to these overblown explosion fests, the name Rambo brings to mind a caricature of the 1980’s action hero—a grimacing, shirtless mercenary wrapped in a bandolier of bullets, blasting a machine gun into swarms of terrorists. Nothing wrong with mindless action, of course, but it’s easy to forget that the original film is a thrilling, thoughtful, and at times heartfelt portrayal of a PTSD-inflicted soldier pushed to his breaking point by a society which has little place for its damaged war heroes.
In Lock Up (Dir. John Flynn), Stallone plays Frank Leone, an auto mechanic who only has six months left to serve of his prison sentence before returning to his love (Darlanne Fluegel) and his new business, but his easy-going life in a minimum-security facility ends abruptly when he’s dragged out of his cell and shipped to a “hell” of a prison run by Drumgoole, the sadistic warden. Played with convincing malevolence by Donald Sutherland, Drumgoole is determined to exact revenge on Leone for being the only prisoner to escape under his watch. Lock Up is weighed down with more than a few action-film cliché’s, and at times can be hokey, predictable and unintentionally funny. However, it’s easy to get riled up when Stallone’s likable character suffers at the hands of the warden and his vicious goons and cheer when he triumphantly kicks their ass, thanks to the skilled, workman-like direction of Flynn and effective performances by character actors such as Sonny Landham and Jordan Lund.
Stallone took a step outside of his action-hero comfort zone in Cop Land, swapping his six-pack abs for a gut to play Freddy Heflin, a sluggish, half-deaf and ineffectual sheriff of a fictional New Jersey suburb populated almost entirely by NYC police. With some arm-twisting by an Internal Affairs officer (Robert DeNiro), Heflin slowly realizes that the town was built with a lot of help from the mob, and its residents’ hands are dirty, including Heflin’s friend and mentor Ray Donlan (Harvey Keitel). Heflin, played with understated melancholy by Stallone, is forced to choose between loyalty to cronies and his duty as a lawman when the life of a young police officer (Michael Rapaport) is in danger. Add an exciting, densely plotted script to a moralistic story of justice and you have a western posing as a crime drama, complete with impressive performances from an all-star cast.
So here we have a collection of three films, the least of which is silly-but-fun popcorn entertainment, and the best, an indisputable classic. Therefore, if your Stallone fervor has been inflamed by Expendables 2 and you don’t already own these films, the Stallone 3-Film Collector’s Set is a worthwhile purchase. But if you already own them, there’s nothing new here. You’re better off collecting something else.
First Blood contains two audio commentaries, a featurette, and deleted scenes.
Lock Up contains a behind the scenes featurette.
Cop Land contains a behind the scenes featurette, deleted scenes, and a storyboard comparison.
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