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

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (May 2019): Roger Corman's Red Baron film, "Von Richthofen and Brown" has been transferred on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber. The single-layered disc contains the 1080p film, with a supportive bitrate. First things first, this is a very dark transfer. Most outdoor scenes seem to have been shot in an overcast sky, also showing a very thick grain. When brief moments of sunlight appear, the exposure seems to go overboard, blurring brightness in an indefinable glow. Note the upper left corner of the frame in the screen capture with the castle in the background, or the second capture's upper left light coming through the pool hall, note how it blurs the edges of the archway. There are dimly-lit scenes where the shadows behind characters show a uniform nothingness of black. This is all perhaps intentional, and very well could be due to the film stock used, and the difficulties of maintaining a color balance when shooting a large portion of the film in the clouds. Not a terrible transfer by any means, in fact compared to the trailer for the film on other Kino Blu-rays, this seems to have improved upon the damage. Colors seem to be accurate, at least to the film's chosen palette, though some shots of the sky seem a little purple to my eyes.

Kino provide us with a 16-bit 2.0 DTS-HD Master audio track for "Von Richthofen and Brown". Though it can sound a little muddy at times, the various dogfighting sounds are quite effective, even in this modest 2.0 track. The score is thanks to the prolific Hugo Friedhofer (Broken Arrow, Between Heaven and Hell, Man in the Attic, Ace in the Hole, Body and Soul, Gilda, The Bishop's Wife). This is a Region 'A' Blu-ray from Kino.

The main extra here is "Chivalry in Warfare: Corman, Von Richthofen and Brown", a new 13-minute interview with the B-movie king, Roger Corman. He explains that his passion for the film began as a child, and his model airplane. He goes on to discuss the theme of the picture, 'chivalry in warfare' and expands on why that fascinated him. Of course this is Roger Corman, so the most fascinating parts of the interview involve him discussing how the day's shots would be discussed over breakfast at the airport, on the day of shooting. The other extra here is a series of trailers, (for "Von Richthofen and Brown", "The Secret Invasion", "X: The Man With the X-Ray Eyes", "The Aviator", and "Death Rides a Horse").

The Blu-ray of "Von Richthofen and Brown" from Kino should please fans of the film, and War films in general. Though the transfer seems somewhat over-exposed, this could be the chosen look of the film. The picture was shot on a Mitchell BNCR mount, apparently a common newsreel camera during wartime. The Blu-ray from Kino does feature an interview with Corman, though little else in the way of extras. 

Colin Zavitz