Rambo III (1988)
Action, Adventure, Thriller, War • 1h 42m
Overview
Combat has taken its toll on Rambo, but he's finally begun to find inner peace in a monastery. When Rambo's friend and mentor Col. Trautman asks for his help on a top secret mission to Afghanistan, Rambo declines but must reconsider when Trautman is captured.
Director: Peter MacDonald
Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna, Marc de Jonge, Kurtwood Smith, Spiros Focás, Sasson Gabai, Doudi Shoua, Randy Raney, Marcus Gilbert, Alon Aboutboul, Mahmoud Assadollahi, Yosef Shiloach, Harold Diamond, Mati Seri, Hany Said El Deen, Shaby Ben-Aroya, Marciano Shoshi, Sadiq Tawfik, Julian Patrice, Tal Kastoriano, Benny Bruchim, Tikva Aziz, Milo Rafi, Clark Acton, R.T. Freeman, Iyad Hajjaj, Paul Dion Monte, Mic Rodgers
Director: Ted Kotcheff
Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray (2026 Rambo set)
Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray (2026 Rambo set)
caps #1 (with FEL), caps #2
Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray (2026 Rambo set)
The compression is underwhelming on all discs, but despite trading blows in various frames, Lionsgate's re-released 4K disc wins.
The Lionsgate 4K re-release includes original matrixed Dolby Stereo mix, transferred from a LaserDisc, with missing cues at side changeover points corrected, and consistent volume throughout, as well as two remixed variants in 5.1 and 7.1 Atmos. The 5.1 is incorrectly labeled as original on the menu.
Director: Ted Kotcheff
Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray (2026 Rambo set)
Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray (2026 Rambo set)
caps #1 (with FEL), caps #2
Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray (2026 Rambo set)
The compression is underwhelming on all discs, but despite trading blows in various frames, Lionsgate's re-released 4K disc wins.
The Lionsgate 4K re-release includes original matrixed Dolby Stereo mix, transferred from a LaserDisc, with missing cues at side changeover points corrected, and consistent volume throughout, as well as two remixed variants in 5.1 and 7.1 Atmos. The 5.1 is incorrectly labeled as original on the menu.
A new Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray with DV upcoming including with the rest of the films.
Eagle Pictures Italy > StudioCanal UK, better compression than StudioCanal
A new Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray with DV upcoming including with the rest of the films.
Eagle Pictures Italy > StudioCanal UK, better compression than StudioCanal
Director: Sylvester Stallone
A new Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray with DV upcoming including with the rest of the films.
Director: Sylvester Stallone
A new Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray with DV upcoming including with the rest of the films.
Director: Adrian Grünberg
US/UK Cut: Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray
International Cut: Germany Universum Film 4K Blu-ray
A new Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray with both cuts and DV upcoming including with the rest of the films.
US/UK Cut: Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray
International Cut: Germany Universum Film 4K Blu-ray
Director: Adrian Grünberg
US/UK Cut: Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray
International Cut: Germany Universum Film 4K Blu-ray
A new Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray with both cuts and DV upcoming including with the rest of the films.
US/UK Cut: Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray
International Cut: Germany Universum Film 4K Blu-ray
Director: Richard Fleischer
Arrow 4K Blu-ray > StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray has solid encode but controversial colors by Hiventy
Director: Richard Fleischer
Arrow 4K Blu-ray > StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray has solid encode but controversial colors by Hiventy
Director: David Lynch
Criterion 4K Blu-ray is closer to the original DVDs than the 2015 Criterion release, not sure about whether the StudioCanal 4K is like the Criterion 4K/original DVD
Criterion 4K Blu-ray has FEL Dolby Vision, StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray has MEL
Director: David Lynch
Criterion 4K Blu-ray is closer to the original DVDs than the 2015 Criterion release, not sure about whether the StudioCanal 4K is like the Criterion 4K/original DVD
Criterion 4K Blu-ray has FEL Dolby Vision, StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray has MEL
Director: Ralph Nelson
Director: Ralph Nelson
Director: Luis Buñuel
StudioCanal 50th Anniversary Blu-ray
StudioCanal 50th Anniversary Blu-ray uses a newer 4k scan than Criterion Blu-ray or older StudioCanal Blu-ray see https://caps-a-holic.com/c_list.php?c=4373
Director: Luis Buñuel
StudioCanal 50th Anniversary Blu-ray
StudioCanal 50th Anniversary Blu-ray uses a newer 4k scan than Criterion Blu-ray or older StudioCanal Blu-ray see https://caps-a-holic.com/c_list.php?c=4373
Director: Luc Besson
StudioCanal / Gaumont / Sony 4K Blu-ray
SC caps. Great-looking 4K master except for DNR'd higher-gen shots such as the opening sequence. StudioCanal resolves finer detail but has encoding issues in highlights, the non-Original Camera Negative shots and traces of chroma noise. Sony used a low-pass filter which makes the film look less sharp and finely detailed but the encode is more consistent.
Director: Luc Besson
StudioCanal / Gaumont / Sony 4K Blu-ray
SC caps. Great-looking 4K master except for DNR'd higher-gen shots such as the opening sequence. StudioCanal resolves finer detail but has encoding issues in highlights, the non-Original Camera Negative shots and traces of chroma noise. Sony used a low-pass filter which makes the film look less sharp and finely detailed but the encode is more consistent.
Director: Federico Fellini
Director: Federico Fellini
2024 StudioCanal UK 4K Blu-ray
2024 StudioCanal UK 4K Blu-ray
2024 StudioCanal UK 4K Blu-ray
2024 StudioCanal UK 4K Blu-ray
2015 Lionsgate Blu-ray or 35mm scan for Theatrical Cut
For the Ultimate Edition with the T-1000 searching John's room and the happy future ending, the 2009 Skynet Blu-ray, which is the older pre 2017 transfer, but has DNR.
StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray is heavily denoised and smoothened, best Blu-ray is the 2015 Lionsgate Blu-ray (missing the Ultimate Edition with the T-1000 searching John's room and the happy future ending, which is on the 2009 Skynet Blu-ray, which is DNRed), 35mm scan for the theatrical cut also available.
For the Ultimate Edition with the T-1000 searching John's room and the happy future ending, the 2009 Skynet Blu-ray, which is the older pre 2017 transfer, but has DNR.
Original Kodak CDS mix likely on the Artisan DVD and other Japan DVD.
Differences and review of the mix. There are earlier stereo mixes and many subsequent remixes on DVDs but it is unclear how many of them are really unique.
2017 Blu-Ray (which has the DNRed transfer), the 2009 Skynet Edition Blu-Ray, and the 2000 Ultimate Edition DVD have exclusive extras. The 2003 Extreme Edition DVD has some exclusive easter eggs.
2015 Lionsgate Blu-ray or 35mm scan for Theatrical Cut
For the Ultimate Edition with the T-1000 searching John's room and the happy future ending, the 2009 Skynet Blu-ray, which is the older pre 2017 transfer, but has DNR.
StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray is heavily denoised and smoothened, best Blu-ray is the 2015 Lionsgate Blu-ray (missing the Ultimate Edition with the T-1000 searching John's room and the happy future ending, which is on the 2009 Skynet Blu-ray, which is DNRed), 35mm scan for the theatrical cut also available.
For the Ultimate Edition with the T-1000 searching John's room and the happy future ending, the 2009 Skynet Blu-ray, which is the older pre 2017 transfer, but has DNR.
Original Kodak CDS mix likely on the Artisan DVD and other Japan DVD.
Differences and review of the mix. There are earlier stereo mixes and many subsequent remixes on DVDs but it is unclear how many of them are really unique.
2017 Blu-Ray (which has the DNRed transfer), the 2009 Skynet Edition Blu-Ray, and the 2000 Ultimate Edition DVD have exclusive extras. The 2003 Extreme Edition DVD has some exclusive easter eggs.
Director: Mike Nichols
StudioCanal 4K
StudioCanal 4K caps.Criterion Blu-ray better encode than StudioCanal Blu-ray.
Director: Mike Nichols
StudioCanal 4K
StudioCanal 4K caps.Criterion Blu-ray better encode than StudioCanal Blu-ray.
More Action on Blu-ray
Director: Akira Kurosawa
BFI 4K Blu-ray has excellent master and grade, no DNR and tasteful HDR
Restored original mono mix: Toho Japan 4K Blu-ray
Unrestored original mono: 2014 BFI Blu-ray
BFI 4K Blu-ray has OG Perspecta (in 5.1 container) and a stereo downmix of it; no original mono.
The unrestored track on BFI's earlier release appears to be an almost entirely unmanipulated transfer of the original mix. It suffers from a distracting low-frequency hum. The 4K restoration comes with a restored track, which appears to be the same transfer, but which appears to be cleaned up with a moderate amount of noise reduction and some EQ, nicely opening up the high-end, and which is likely to be preferable to most listeners. All earlier releases sound poor.
Perspecta isn't a discrete surround format, instead only relying on manipulating volume and panning of the mono track across L/C/R channels, based on embedded control tones. As such, even the Perspecta track is technically just the mono mix, though the omission of the proper mono on BFI's 4K is still unfortunate.
Director: Akira Kurosawa
BFI 4K Blu-ray has excellent master and grade, no DNR and tasteful HDR
Restored original mono mix: Toho Japan 4K Blu-ray
Unrestored original mono: 2014 BFI Blu-ray
BFI 4K Blu-ray has OG Perspecta (in 5.1 container) and a stereo downmix of it; no original mono.
The unrestored track on BFI's earlier release appears to be an almost entirely unmanipulated transfer of the original mix. It suffers from a distracting low-frequency hum. The 4K restoration comes with a restored track, which appears to be the same transfer, but which appears to be cleaned up with a moderate amount of noise reduction and some EQ, nicely opening up the high-end, and which is likely to be preferable to most listeners. All earlier releases sound poor.
Perspecta isn't a discrete surround format, instead only relying on manipulating volume and panning of the mono track across L/C/R channels, based on embedded control tones. As such, even the Perspecta track is technically just the mono mix, though the omission of the proper mono on BFI's 4K is still unfortunate.
Director: Paul W. S. Anderson
Arrow includes the original theatrical sound mix in all its glory. All previous releases other than the 1996 AC-3 LaserDisc were tamed relative to the original theatrical DTS track.
The disc is authored by Duplitech, but doesn't exhibit any compression issues, though the image is pretty soft, that's likely just down to the stock used.
Old New Line Video LaserDiscs include an exclusive commentary track.
Director: Paul W. S. Anderson
Arrow includes the original theatrical sound mix in all its glory. All previous releases other than the 1996 AC-3 LaserDisc were tamed relative to the original theatrical DTS track.
The disc is authored by Duplitech, but doesn't exhibit any compression issues, though the image is pretty soft, that's likely just down to the stock used.
Old New Line Video LaserDiscs include an exclusive commentary track.
Director: John McTiernan
Director: John McTiernan
Director: John Woo
Director: John Woo
Director: John Woo
International Cut: US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray
Original Hong Kong Cut (2 parts): US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray or Hong Kong Blu-rays?
International Cut: US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray
Original Hong Kong Cut (2 parts): US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray or Hong Kong Blu-rays?
Director: John Woo
International Cut: US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray
Original Hong Kong Cut (2 parts): US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray or Hong Kong Blu-rays?
International Cut: US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray
Original Hong Kong Cut (2 parts): US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray or Hong Kong Blu-rays?
Director: John Woo
International Cut: US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray
Original Hong Kong Cut (2 parts): US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray or Hong Kong Blu-rays?
International Cut: US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray
Original Hong Kong Cut (2 parts): US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray or Hong Kong Blu-rays?
Director: John Woo
International Cut: US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray
Original Hong Kong Cut (2 parts): US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray or Hong Kong Blu-rays?
International Cut: US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray
Original Hong Kong Cut (2 parts): US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray or Hong Kong Blu-rays?
Director: Moritz Mohr
Italy Plaion has Dolby Vision, but the metadata is static: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=22742198&postcount=92
Director: Moritz Mohr
Italy Plaion has Dolby Vision, but the metadata is static: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=22742198&postcount=92
Director: Tommy Wirkola
Director: Tommy Wirkola
Director: John Woo
Director: John Woo
Edit History
4/8/2026
Upcoming Release
Added
A new Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray with DV upcoming including with the rest of the films.
Added
A new Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray with DV upcoming including with the rest of the films.
1/8/2025
Best Video Release
From
Eagle Pictures Italy > Studio Canal UK, better compression than SC and no forced subs on non-English dialogue
To
Eagle Pictures Italy > StudioCanal UK, better compression than StudioCanal but no forced subs on non-English dialogue
From
Eagle Pictures Italy > Studio Canal UK, better compression than SC and no forced subs on non-English dialogue
To
Eagle Pictures Italy > StudioCanal UK, better compression than StudioCanal but no forced subs on non-English dialogue
12/23/2024
