NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (November 2021): Kino have also transferred Jesse Hibbs's To Hell and Back to Blu-ray. Bottom line is the Kino has a more robust, slightly darker, 1080P transfer with a max'ed out bitrate. It looks marginally superior and their is some stability issues notable in the Aussie Umbrella Blu-ray. It's not a huge disparity but Kino easily wins.

NOTE: We have added 24 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-rays, both use a DTS-HD Master dual-mono track (24-bit) in the original English language. To Hell and Back has many aggressive battle sequences that come through with impressive depth. The score is credited to the grouping of Irving Gertz (The Incredible Shrinking Man, Gun For a Coward, Curse of the Undead, The Leech Woman, It Came From Outer Space, Blonde Ice, Plunder Road, The Deadly Mantis), William Lava (Moonrise, S.O.S. Tidal Wave, War Arrow, The Night Riders, Retreat, Hell!), Henry Mancini (Days of Wine and Roses, Oklahoma Crude, Wait Until Dark, Operation Petticoat, Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation, Experiment in Terror, Charade) and Lou Maury who, with Stanley Wilson, composed for many 40's and 50's westerns like Ride a Crooked Trail,, Woman They Almost Lynched and as well as Republic serials Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe, The Invisible Monster and Flying Disc Man from Mars. There is also Dogface Soldier (theme of the third infantry?) played with the alluring dancer, Reveille, Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean and the Marine Hymn. It sounds solid with consistent dialogue in the lossless transfer and I can't differentiate much between the two Blu-rays. Kino offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray. The Region FREE Umbrella has no subtitle options.

The Kino Blu-ray offers a new commentary by knowledgeable Steve Mitchell and Combat Films: American Realism author Steven Jay Rubin. They discuss how successful this film was for Universal, a lot about the understated Audie Murphy, his small stature, the Maury Gertsman cinematography, director Jesse Hibbs, where the film was shot, the real soldiers in the film and much more. The two Steves are a great pairing for war films and they cover a ton of ground with plenty of quotes from Murphy - who often had a hard time revisiting his experiences as a combat veteran. The Kino also has a trailer for To Hell and Back but the Umbrella Blu-ray has no extras. 

Audie Murphy's To Hell and Back is from his book that documents unrelenting combat action and his story is one of the more amazing in terms of his celebrity, bravery and the most decorated American soldier during World War II with a 'crack shot' as well as an understanding of terrain and camouflage. He, sadly, died in a plane crash in 1971 at age forty-six. He had a lot of input while making the film To Hell and Back.  A fascinating story or a rare, unique and bona fide, very young, humble hero of unprecedented stature. The Kino Blu-ray is the one to get - a superior image and the revealing commentary. A must-own for war film fans.

Gary Tooze