Men With Guns

RAMBO SPECIAL EDITION TRILOGY BOXED SET

Artisan Entertainment ($59.98)

Timing is everything, whether it's getting the makeshift timer on a clump of C-4 to detonate at just the right moment or -- more to the point here -- releasing this full-metal-jacketed brace of Sylvester Stallone's most jingoistic and cartoonish action films in the heat of the current Us vs. Them world climate. Artisan Entertainment, usually known for taking on edgy domestic indies like Soderbergh's The Limey, has entered the action-movie fray with this almost too-timely and extra-packed four-disc set that includes remastered versions of the three Rambos -- 1982's First Blood, 1985's Rambo: First Blood Part II, and 1988's Rambo III. All three films follow disenfranchised Vietnam vet John Rambo as he tries to make his way in an America that just doesn't seem to appreciate his special talents (blowing things up and generally embodying a Reagan-era hawkish attitude). First Blood, from David Morrell's novel, is still the best of the bunch, with Our Man in the Thicket facing off against redneck sheriff Brian Dennehy in Pacific Northwest wilderness search-and-destroy mode. Stallone's character is first presented as a gruff iconoclast who's just plain pushed too far, dammit, much in the mode of Billy Jack or any number of archetypal anti-heroes. But the sequels -- in which Rambo goes off to Southeast Asia to rescue American POWs (at the behest of Richard Crenna), and then to Afghanistan to bust a cap on those pesky Russians and rescue Crenna's Col. Trautman (with the aid of the Afghani rebels, no less) -- morphed into something wholly Republican, with outlandish body counts and ridiculous plot maneuverings that may have made sense in the context of a Warner Bros. cartoon but just seem outlandish here. Part II has its moments of genuine spectacle (those exploding arrows were a nice touch), but Rambo III is still insufferably goofy to anyone over the age of 14. Included in the box set are commentary by author Morrell and sequels directors George Cosmatos and Peter MacDonald, documentaries on the three films (including one, Afghanistan: A Land in Crisis, that really should have been re-thought), and hours more fun -- even a trivia challenge! -- for those who say "nu-cu-ler" and find Fox News' coverage of Afghanistan too difficult to follow. (Nice explosions, though.)