Cobra 4K UHD

Dirty Harry (1971) was chewed up and spit out in almost every country with a commercial film industry. With the death of the Western, cops who played by their own rules became the de facto anti-heroes of the new decade. Cobra (1986) brings it all full circle, regurgitating the same plot points—but with a hefty body count to match modern audience expectations.

Marion Cobretti (Sylvester Stallone) is a member of L.A.’s “Zombie Squad,” a late-night crew reviled by their superiors for extreme methods but respected for results. So when a fashion model (Brigitte Nielsen) is targeted for death after witnessing a murder, who better to protect her than the Cobra and his endless supply of ammunition?

A Cannon Films production, this one is perfectly in line with their taste for excess. It even plays more like a horror movie until it goes full Mad Max in the final 15 minutes. Strung together with montage sequences and wall-to-wall ‘80s iconography, Stallone was clearly angling to launch a new franchise with his out-of-control cop. But the action star proves too much of a softie to fully embrace the dark side, turning Cobretti into a conservative public defender rather than a true loose cannon.

Ironically, Clint Eastwood was still churning out Dirty Harry sequels. Director George P. Cosmatos even has some fun casting original Harry bad guy Andrew Robinson as a detective who crusades against Cobretti’s methods. It’s all very meta—before meta was even a thing. But the movie itself is nothing more than a glorious time-waster, pitting an army of axe-wielding bikers (led by classic X-Files baddie Brian Thompson) against Stallone’s match-chewing lone gunman, desperately in search of a catchphrase that sticks.

Arrow’s 4K UHD release is one hell of a cinematic experience, pushing the neon-drenched landscape into a next-level tour of all things ‘80s. The new restoration comes loaded: two new commentary tracks (plus an archival one with Cosmatos), fresh interviews and visual essays, all legacy materials from prior releases, a TV version patched together with deleted and alternate scenes, an illustrated collector’s booklet, and a fold-out poster.