Stallone 3-Film Collector’s Set (Cop Land/Lock Up/Rambo: First Blood/Lionsgate Blu-rays)/Warriors Of The Rainbow: Seediq Bale (2011/Well Go USA Blu-ray)

 

Picture: B-/B/B/B-     Sound: B-/B-/B/B-     Extras: C/C+/C+/B-     Films: C/C/B/B-

 

 

What is a true warrior?  In the 1980s, Sylvester Stallone came up with a revamp of the idea that often became a spoof of the very idea, but continued his career beyond the Rocky franchise, though this was more about making money than taking risks like he ironically did just after the first Rocky (think F.I.S.T.), so I was amused when a new Blu-ray set of three of his films were announced that could not have happened until recently.  Afterwards, we’ll look at a film that understands the warrior concept more clearly.

 

Lionsgate’s new Stallone 3-Film Collector’s Set combines three films of his that show his three sides since the 1980s, all of which we have covered on Blu-ray before.  Cop Land (1997) was a rare return to trying to really act and do a realistic story about a police officer facing massive corruption.  You can read more about it at this link:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11270/Case+Histories+(2011/Acorn+DVD+S

 

 

It was made for Miramax, a shock in itself since Stallone was doing only big pictures and they were considered an artsy risk-taking company at the time for the most part, backed by the usually winning Weinstein Brothers.  It has a few interesting moments, but was a one-off throwback to what could have been a better film and reminds us of the better career Stallone co0uld have had if he did not turn so commercial.

 

That leaves us with the prison thriller Lock Up (1989) which very much wanted to be a down-to-earth thriller in which he is tormented by a prison warden (Donald Sutherland) and tries to be very 1970s street in the midst of still being a flat slice of silly 1980s cinema.  Not great, many fans missed this one and should see it once for better and worse.  I actually combined that Blu-ray was a look at Rambo: First Blood on Lionsgate Blu-ray at this link:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10345/Rambo+%E2%80%93+The+Complete

 

Though Rambo became an icon of the lamest things about the overly-pumped up 1980s, the first film was a more serious film (relatively) and actually leaned towards what Stallone might have been going for at times in the 1970s, but we now know the ending was changed and several sequels eventually followed.  Picture, sound and extras are the same as the editions we covered before, but this is a convenient package with a difference issued in time for Expendables 2 in theaters.

 

 

Wei Te-Sheng’s Warriors Of The Rainbow: Seediq Bale (2011) follows My Way and Flowers Of War (both reviewed on Blu-ray elsewhere on this site) as another large-scale production drama about how Japanese Imperialists invaded another part of the world and did what they could to dominate and ruin it, no matter who they had to kill to get their way.  This time, we find ourselves in 1930 Taiwan as Japan occupied the area from 1895 to 1945, but this time, they face an unexpected resistance: indigenous tribes who lived peacefully in the land for eons and decide to retaliate when the murder and terror become too much.

 

The original version of this production runs 276 minutes and I believe it as this 154 minutes U.S. edition does seem to have some missing pieces and loose ends.  It is still an impressive production, feels and plays like the period, asks some important questions (what right does anyone have to “civilize” another, especially if they civilizers are murderers) and takes us to a Taiwan very few in the West know about.  The acting, fight sequences, tales of how several rival tribes banded together because they could not take the Japanese anymore and locations are a plus, but in this cut, we get more than a few moments about spirituality and bravery that we have seen before and are pretty clichéd, making me wonder if other scenes not included (even in the supplements) could have made a stronger shorter cut here.

 

Still, this is part of a serious cycle of epic chronicles form more than on Asian Cinema on the many sins and evils of then-Imperialist Japan and though not as strong as the other films noted at the beginning of this coverage, a more than worthy companion.

 

Extras include making of, behind the scenes and make up & visual effects featurettes.  It is nice to see they money on the screen and how it got there.

 

 

The 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image was shot in the Super 35mm film format though we get more than our share of digital effects and enhancements.  There are even film editing tricks, but they and some of the digital (which holds back the picture quality too often along with some style choices) do not work.  However, this is very watchable otherwise and a DVD could not deliver this Blu-ray’s best shots, which are many.

 

The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix is not bad, but sometimes can be towards the front speakers, but music, ambient sounds and sound effects often fill the surrounds and when the battle scenes kick in, the mix does too.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo