The Fox Blu-ray War Bash 2008
"The perfect gift for Dad this Father's Day" - so says Fox for their
long-awaited series of five – count them – big budget war films from
their vast catalog:
Battle of Britain (1969),
A Bridge Too Far (1977),
The Longest Day
(1962),
Patton
(1970), and
The Sand Pebbles
(1966). Except for
The Sand Pebbles,
these are all WWII films. Three of them show off a huge cast of
luminaries, but only one (A Bridge Too Far) does it without undue
posturing. All of them have outstanding photography: even the least
successful as a script (Battle
of Britain)
has some terrific aerial photography.
Between the five, they scored nine Academy Awards, which is less
impressive when you consider that seven of them were for one picture
alone (Patton).
A Bridge Too Far,
which had zero nominations, has become, for me, one of the more
rewatchable WWII movies, and has one of the most engaging film scores
composed for the genre. Jerry Goldsmith's score for
Patton
was rightfully nominated, but lost to – are you sitting down for this –
Love Story!
The Longest Day
is remarkable for two reasons: it is one of the first films shot in Black &
White to be released on Blu-ray! (Bergman's
The Seventh Seal jumps to mind as another - there may be a few
more) and it is also one of the older films on the new format... and best
looking image – all the more surprising considering how bloody awful the
SD 2-disc Collector's Edition was. (The previous letterboxed image was
sharper, even after zoomed out to full size.) The sound tracks for all
of these movies are very good-to-excellent. They may not have the same
level of crunch we have come to expect since
Saving Private Ryan, but they are convincing all the same,
regardless of age. The music tracks for these films are especially
clear, invigorating and supportive of the mood.
All of the titles have seen SD-DVD incarnations previously, some very
good ones, some with extensive supplements. My comparison of the
supplements from the latest SD editions and the respective Blu-ray
reveals that all of the extra features – with the exception of
A Bridge Too Far
- are ported over to High Def. Except for the occasional trailer, there
are NO high-def extra features to be found on any of these new releases.
Two of them (A
Bridge Too Far and
Battle of Britain)
have no extra features at all, unless you count trailers (which I
don't.)
Battle of Britain
SD edition, by the way, is the sole movie of this quintet not too have
received the 2-disc treatment in 480i. The BRDs of
Patton
and
The Longest Day
are 2-disc affairs, but Fox opted for a single 50 GB disc to accommodate
all but "Road Show" version of the 2-disc material from their most
recent SD of
The Sand Pebbles.
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A Bridge Too Far [Blu-ray]
(Richard Attenborough,
1977)
Review by Leonard Norwitz
Studio:
Theatrical: MGM
Blu-ray: 20th Century Fox Pictures Home
Entertainment
Disc:
Region: A
Runtime: 176 min
Chapters: 28
Size: 50 GB
Case: Standard Blu-ray case: 1 disc
Release date: June 3rd, 2008
Video:
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Resolution: 1080p
Video codec: MPEG2 @ 18 MBPS
Audio:
English DTS HD 5.1 Master Lossless, English 4.0
Dolby Surround, French 5.1 Dolby Surround, Spanish
Mono
Subtitles:
English, English SDH, Spanish, Cantonese and Korean
Extras:
• Theatrical Trailers
The Film:
9
Fox opted to exclude the bonus features included in
their 2005 Collector's Edition, inviting speculation
as to why. It couldn't have been space, since their
The Sand Pebbles
accommodated as much or more on its 50 GB disc. I
can understand that they might not wanted to have
given it the full 2 disc treatment, given the
movie's relative lack of popularity. . . which leads
me to think that the reason lies elsewhere.
A Bridge Too Far is a film about the failure of
leadership in time of war. It takes a hard, cold
look at the sort of arrogance that feels the need to
undertake a difficult expedition: more because it
had never been done before than for military
expediency. A shudder will almost certainly run
through you as General Browning rationalizes
intelligence about the enemy's hidden weapons so as
not to have to reconsider his plan. A Bridge Too Far
is also about bravery, loyalty and determination in
the face of almost certain death. Of the five movies
represented in this collection, it is the only one
that can move me to tears. I weep again for its
having gotten the shaft here – not only in terms of
content, but, as we shall see, in respect to image
quality.
The time is September, 1944, and the Allied advance
after the Invasion has slowed. Supplies are not
getting through. The Allied command under Montgomery
comes up with a plan to air drop 35,000 troops
behind enemy lines and secure four important bridges
so that the various allied armies could meet up with
them and be able to cross the Rhine into Germany.
The plan resulted in the greatest Allied defeat of
the war: some 17,000 dead or wounded (roughly twice
that suffered by the Germans), and the plan didn't
succeed anyhow.
The movie is not, therefore, another Longest Day,
despite its having been written by the same author,
Cornelius Ryan. Quite the contrary. A Bridge Too Far
has more in common with The Charge of the Light
Brigade. Hardly the sort of story that we would want
to take to heart in a time of whatever the hell
we're doing in the mid-east these days. I shall say
no more.
You can find detailed analyses of Operation Market
Garden
HERE and
HERE
Image:
6 (5~8/8)
The score of 6 indicates a relative level of
excellence compared to other Blu-ray DVDs on a
ten-point scale. The score in parentheses
represents: first, a value for the image in absolute
terms; and, second, how that image compares to what
I believe is the current best we can expect in the
theatre.
It must have been about the same time as the release
of the 2-disc Collector's Edition that I sprang for
the Japanese Region 2 Studio Classics edition of the
same content. My experience with other Japanese
"Ultimate Editions" suggested it might be a little
better, though I admit to being uncertain to ever
having made the comparison to the new R1. As you can
see in my screencap comparisons the BRD can have a
softer, gauzier look and then: suddenly, it's as
right as rain – or, shall we say, a clear day. The
R2 is almost certainly manipulated for higher
contrast and brightness, though for much of the
first half hour of the movie, we might wish the BRD
wasn't so dull – even if it does reflect the
intentions of the movie – then or now.
SD TOP vs. Blu-ray BOTTOM
SD TOP vs. Blu-ray BOTTOM
SD TOP vs. Blu-ray BOTTOM
Audio & Music:
7/10
That tear in my eye starts with the John Addinson's
stirring music score over the titles and list of
luminaries. Addinson hits just the right stride of
British foolhardy courage. The pacing gives the
music the needed space to breathe and the
imagination to see the streamers blowing behind the
600 as they march to their respective destinies. My
new surround system captures the majesty of the
score as well as the clipped utterances of Dirk
Bogarde's General Browning and Edward Fox's Lt.
General Horrocks, Sean Connery's not very amused
Major General Urquhart and Anthony Hopkins' heroic
Lt. Colonel Frost. Of the five movies in this
collection of war movies, I would place it last in
terms of dynamic sound, however. We never really
feel the need to duck for cover.
Operations:
7
Since there is not much to choose from, there is
little to object to, nor get lost in.
Extras:
1
As already noted, there are no bonus features, only
a handful of trailers in High-Def. The content of
disc 2 from the SD Collector's Edition is not
present, nor accounted for. Most of that content
would have discussed the politics of "Operation
Market Garden" as well as the politics of making a
movie of this sort so close on the heels of the
Vietnam fiasco.
Bottom line:
6
While not an out and out Thumbs Down for this DVD,
it cannot be recommended unless you already own the
Collector's Edition. Even though there are stretches
where the image is clearer and sharper, there are
others that are as dull as yesterday's dishwater,
even if it's more correct than not. But it's the
lack of extra features that already exist elsewhere
that makes this release a disappointment.
Leonard Norwitz
May 24, 2008
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