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

ADDITION: MVD Rewind Blu-ray (September 2022): MVD Rewind have transferred Keith Gordon's The Chocolate War to Blu-ray. It is on a single-layered disc with a middling bitrate. The 1080P image is unremarkable but does show consistent grain textures. Pastels can be a bit drab and contrast only adept. The visuals are clean and a notch ahead of SD. It is in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio and provides a decent, if not stellar, HD presentation. 

NOTE: We have added 48 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, MVD Rewind offer the choice of a lossy Dolby 5.1 surround track, and a linear PCM stereo track (24-bit) in the original English language. There is also an optional Spanish DUB available. The Chocolate War has some very appealing music; aside from some Bach; Italian Concerto, Second Movement, Andante and Prelude in C Sharp Minor, there is some pop music of the late 80's including Yazoo's (as Yaz) Only You, In My Room and Ode to Boy plus some Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush. Great choices for the film and they sound wonderful in the uncompressed stereo (my choice of tracks.) MVD Rewind offer optional English, French or Spanish subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The MVD Rewind Blu-ray offers a commentary (circa 2007) with the director and a 50-minute interview with director Keith Gordon discussing ‘The Chocolate War'. In both he provides excellent detail on the production, the actors, hurdles overcome and much more. Gordon is probably best known as an actor - the lead 'Arnie' in John Carpenter's Christine or would-be sleuth Peter Miller in Brian De Palma's Dressed to Kill. His insights are frank and highly interesting. There are no new extras. Lastly is a trailer for The Chocolate War and three other MDV releases plus the box has a folded mini-poster.  

The Chocolate War was actor Keith Gordon's directorial debut and is based on the Robert Cormier novel of the same name. The film focuses on a secret society of students in a strict Roman Catholic boarding school. An alliance forms with cruel Brother Leon (John Glover of Jonathan Demme's Last Embrace among over 130 credits) to facilitate selling chocolates for a fundraiser. One student, Jerry Renault (Ilan Mitchell-Smith), refuses to participate and the intimidation and bullying starts or rather exacerbates - including a concluding boxing match with a slow-motion sequence right out of Scorsese's Raging Bull. So it carries themes of defiance, personal freedom and adolescent rebellion while diverging from the book for a more uplifting, Hollywood-esque, conclusion. It's really a very good film if a loser at the box office. The MVD Rewind Blu-ray is an expansion from the older DVD - in the higher resolution while repeating the valuable director commentary and extensive interview. If you haven't seen The Chocolate War - it is worth your time.

Gary Tooze