When we last saw Sylvester Stallone portray John Rambo on the big screen, it was in 2008 and it seemed the franchise had come to a poignant end with the scarred war hero final coming home. It was a beautiful final scene as the credits rolled and Rambo walked down the long driveway to his family’s farmhouse. But Stallone decided to bring Rambo back for what I assume is the last time, given not only the significance of the movie’s name, but also Stallone’s age. Now out of theaters, Rambo: Last Blood was released on 4K, BD, DVD, and Digital, and it provides fans of the franchise one more grisly go of the one-man-army that Rambo has come to personify.
Last Blood moves at a rapid pace, clocking in at just under an hour and a half and tells a very dark and uncomfortable story of human trafficking, drugs, cartels, and other despicable things. Rambo, enjoying life at home on the farm, gets pulled back into the fray when his young adopted daughter decides to cross country lines and go into Mexico alone, against the advice of her grandmother and Rambo. She ends up getting kidnapped and trapped into forced prostitution in a brothel, which gut-wrenching to witness the depravity that is, sadly, all too real. Like any good man, Rambo takes it upon himself to rescue his her, and heads into Mexico to recon. He encounters a vicious gang that brutally stops him for a time, but soon enough, as we all expect and look forward, Rambo gets his revenge and harsh justice prevails. There are a couple of plot points I’ll refrain from spoiling, but suffice it to say that the bad guys give Rambo all the fuel he needs to exact the type of punishment he’s known for in these movies. The way the final twenty minutes or so plays out, with Rambo doing what he does best against a small army of the most vile people, is satisfying on a carnal level.
Last Blood isn’t going to win an Oscars, but that’s never the expectation. The formula here is tried and true, and you know pretty much exactly what you’re getting here. I would submit that Last Blood is the least traditional of the Rambo films in as far as he is on a personal mission of rescue and vengeance, and it has far less military aura about it than the others — but its unmistakably Rambo-like in its violence. Other than the hard-to-watch scenes aforementioned, Last Blood is a fun, short action ride that checks pretty much all the requisite boxes for zoning out to such a film.
On Blu-ray, the presentation quality is excellent. Last Blood is a realistic film and looks the part. Details are sharp and crisp and I didn’t notice any issues at all. Similarly, the audio package is strong, rocking a Dolby Atmos track that exceeds the capability of my own audio system. Special features aren’t bad — a quick trailer of the movie and two longer featurettes complete what you get. The “From First Note To Last Blood” feature is actually about composer Brian Tyler and is pretty much worth a once-over for the seventeen minutes it takes. The better feature is the fifty minute “Drawing Last Blood,” which includes a lot of production and behind the scenes footage with the crew talking over what you’re seeing.
In sum, Rambo: Last Blood is a pretty good finale to the epic action series. Personally, I think it’s the worst of the series, but it’s still worth watching. Lionsgate did a fine job with the home release, offering excellent video and audio presentation along with some decent extra features.
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