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

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (May 2024): Kino have transferred John Farrow's Submarine Command to Blu-ray. It is cited as being from a "2020 HD Master by Paramount Pictures – From a 4K Scan". Unfortunately the contrast seems compromised - perhaps a density issue with the source. This become more noticeable at around 40-minutes into the film (see samples below.) It's quite watchable but the shift down in contrast is noticeable and it can look waxy and I don't fully discount digitization. It mostly looks like the source to me though.

NOTE: We have added 42 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Kino use a DTS-HD Master dual-mono track (24-bit) in the original English language. Submarine Command has only a few aggressive naval conflict battles that come through with reasonable depth. The score was by David Buttolph (Rope, Secret of the Incas, Street of Chance, The Horse Soldiers, Wake Island, This Gun For Hire, Western Union, Pete Kelly's Blues, Rope, Three Secrets, Kiss of Death, Blood and Sand and many more) which supports the film in subtle ands occasionally melodramatic ways. Kino offer optional English (SDH) subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray offers a new commentary by filmmaker / historian Steve Mitchell and Combat Films: American Realism author Steven Jay Rubin. They discuss Farrow - who served in the Navy, the submarine cinematography, shot off the coast of San Diego, budget being just less than a million dollars, 30 camera days, details / careers of the cast; Holden, Don Taylor, Nancy Olson, William Bendix, Darryl Hickman. Jack Gregson (his only film), Jack Kelly ('Bart Maverick' in Maverick) etc. It's educational if not a ton on the film itself. There are also trailers; The Turning Point, The Bridges at Toko-Ri, The Horse Soldiers, The Counterfeit Traitor, The 7th Dawn, The Devil's Brigade, China and
Wake Island, but none for Submarine Command.  

John Farrow's Submarine Command is early in addressing PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) - the mental and behavioral disorder that develops from experiencing a traumatic event in this case torturous memories over a crewman's death. Holden, who is excellent as Cmdr. Ken White, invested $20,000 of his own money into Submarine Command. It's the kind of film that Paramount would churn out in the 50's. It has a minimum of stock footage (a few short sequences), broaches the topic of the psychological scars of war, and is generally a pleasing, reasonably entertaining, film. Submarine movie fans won't find this as gripping as, example, Samuel Fuller's Hell and High Water. Australian-born Farrow has an interesting filmography working initially in the silent era. He directed Wake Island, Calcutta, Plunder of the Sun, and noirs Night Has a Thousand Eyes, Alias Nick Beal, The Big Clock, His Kind of Woman among others. I wouldn't put Submarine Command in the top 50% of his directorial work. The Kino Blu-ray has an image issue, but offers a new commentary. Holden fans or Farrow completists may wish to indulge. Otherwise, I'd probably say "pass".

Gary Tooze