Bruce Willis

Two words: Die Hard. Each of John McClane's heroic outings are available individually on Blu-ray in the UK but for the notable absence of Die Hard With a Vengeance. However, wily consumers can import the Region B version from Australia or, if you want the complete set, la Quadrilogy is available from France. All the Region A (USA) discs are locked, so there's no point looking in that direction, but all four films come with decent extras (though not quite as definitive as the ones on the old SE DVDs) and increasingly impressive DTS-HD 5.1 tracks the further down the sequels you progress, i.e. Die Hard 4.0 sounds much better than Die Hard.

Sadly the rest of Bruce's action output is quite thin on the ground in HD. There's no sign of The Last Boy Scout, though Armageddon is coming out in America on April 27th. No word yet on region-coding or special features; Worrying since a lot of double dips have chosen to shed the extras found on the old DVD (Sleepy Hollow). While we wait for Armageddon with bated breath we'll have to make do with Bruce's recent return to action in Surrogates; a flawed but interesting sci-fi movie directed by Jonathan 'T3' Mostow. It's a mixed bag story-wise - Avatar meets Inspector Gadget - but you can't fault the HD transfer. Extras include a commentary from Mostow, two MOR featurettes, deleted scenes and a music video. The Region A disc is identical - and locked.

Kick-ass or limp wrist? Kick-ass!

Arnold Schwarzenegger

"I'll be back". Truer words were never spoken, especially since there are more incarnations of T2 on Blu-ray than there have been singers in Sugababes. The latest 'Skynet Edition' is unsurprisingly the best of the bunch thanks to a rollicking DTS-HD 6.1 MA and even cleaner VC-1 transfer than previous releases. Conflicting reports say the Region A disc is locked/unlocked and is prone to freezing up so play it safe and go with the Region B. All three cuts of the movie are included though, unlike the locked RA disc, one seems to be relegated just to the deleted scenes section. Bonus features include two audio commentaries (one with James Cameron himself!) and all the featurettes you could ever need. Is it worth the upgrade? Yes. Will there be yet another version released in the future? Probably.

The first Terminator is only available in America but thankfully it's a region free disc. The transfer is nowhere near as high quality as the sequel(s) but it has a terrific uncompressed PCM 5.1 track; this alone makes it worth the purchase price. The extras are disappointing but at least there's a good Cameron/Schwarzenegger retrospective. As for Terminator 3, avoid both US releases (the first was only 1080i resolution, the second was 1080p but recycled the awful DD 5.1 audio) and buy the UK version for the superior Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix. True Lies, Schwarzenegger's third collaboration with James Cameron (fourth if you include T2 3-D: Battle Across Time) isn't yet available whilst Commando's transfer is rather nice but there are nada extras. You're better off buying the R1 Director's Cut DVD as this has better branching options than the so-called Definitive Edition R2 DVD.

Eraser is another Region A exclusive. It's unlocked but like Commando it suffers from a middling transfer (VC-1/TrueHD 5.1) and no extras. Oh well, at least it's the uncut version. "Get to da choppa!" Predator may be one of Arnold's best but it sure doesn't look the best on Blu-ray due to a clunky old MPEG-2 image. The lossless DTS-HD 5.1 track is actually quite strong but none of the extras from the SE DVD are present. Meanwhile Last Action Hero has the best transfer out of those four films but, yep: No extras.

Kick-ass or limp wrist? Limp wrist

Sylvester Stallone

You'll be pleased to know all four Rambo films have been given the HD treatment but it's the final installment from 2008 that shines the most. The AVC 1080p transfer is one of the best currently on the market and though the English sound mix is good (TrueHD 5.1), the American release is even better (DTS-HD 7.1 MA). That disc is region-free with a vast array of bonus features including a PIP commentary by Sly, 7 featurettes, 4 deleted scenes and more. Judge Dredd, The Specialist and Assassins are taking their sweet time to come to Blu-ray but, randomly, Tango and Cash has been out for nearly a year now in all its uncut glory. For such an old film it actually holds up well in HD but it's yet another extra-free release.

Along with Demolition Man (N/A), Cliffhanger represents Sly at the peak of his 90's popularity (peak, get it?). For once the extras are up to scratch - Harlin/Sly commentary, special effects breakdowns, deleted scenes - and yes, we finally get to see the uncut version that the yanks have enjoyed for many a moon on DVD. The sound design for Cliffhanger was always pretty strong so the new lossless DTS-HD 5.1 MA is really something to behold.

Kick-ass or limp wrist? Kick-ass!