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WSR Detailed DVD Review
First Blood


Special Edition
Genre: Action Adventure

Reviewed In Issue 62 (July 2002) Of Widescreen Review®

Stars:
Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna & Brian Dennehy

WSR Review Scores
WSR Picture Rating: 3.5
DD Sound Rating: 3
DTS Sound Rating: 3.5
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Reference Systems
Critics' Composite Score: 3.5
Internet Links
http://www.artisanent.com
http://www.rambodvd.com
Special Features
Includes audio commentary with writer David Morrell, a new 23-minute featurette titled Drawing First Blood, production notes, and cast and filmmaker biographies.


 DVD General Information

(Studio/Distributor): Artisan Home Entertainment
(Catalog Number): 12652
(MPAA Rating): R
(Rating Reason):

NA
(Retail Price): $19.98
(DVD Type): Dual Side, Single Layer/Dual Layer (DVD14)
(Widescreen Edition): Yes
(Full Screen Edition): Yes
(Anamorphic Widescreen): Yes
(Running Time In Minutes): 93
(Color Type): Color
(Chaptered/Scene Access): Yes
(Closed Captioned): Yes
(Regional Coding): 1
(Theatrical Year): 1982
(Theatrical Release): Yes
(Direct-To-Video Release): No
(DVD Release Date): 05/28/02
(THX® Digitally Mastered): No

 Credits Information

(Director): Ted Kotcheff
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  DVD Picture Information

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  DVD Sound Information

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  WSR Narrative Review
Special Notes:
Also available in a four-disc Special Edition DVD Collection, which includes additional supplemental material and collectible packaging.

Story Synopsis:
Based on the novel by David Morrell, First Blood stars Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo, an ex-Green Beret who is haunted by memories of Vietnam. He is persecuted by a small-town sheriff (Brian Dennehy) and when unjustly imprisoned, he escapes and becomes the target of a massive manhunt.

DVD Picture:
The anamorphically enhanced 2.35:1 DVD exhibits astounding improvements over the previously released DVD (Issue 31). The picture is much smoother, with clean, sharp lines and nicely rendered detail. While colors appear smeared and reddish on the previous DVD, hues exhibit better balance, with more accurately rendered fleshtones and deeper blacks on the new DVD. Viewed alone, the picture is quite satisfying. There is some edge enhancement apparent, and pixelization is noticed at times. The source element is revealing of some film grain and artifacts, but the picture is much cleaner than the previous DVD. (Suzanne Hodges)

Soundtrack:
The remastered audio clearly exhibits the original recording's age, yet is also a nice restoration with subtle dimensional enhancement. The surrounds are typically mono in nature, with some modest instances of stereo atmosphere. Dimensionality across the screen is adequate with quite good depth. Another aspect of the audio repurposing is some low-end enhancement with .1 LFE channel activity. The DTS