The War Lord Blu-ray - Charleton Heston

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner
USA 1965

Director, Franklin J. Schaffner undoubtedly creates one of his finest films in his second collaboration with the legendary Charlton Heston ('Ben Hur', 'Planet Of The Apes'). The War Lord is a gripping historical adventure of epic proportion in it's ferocious battle scenes and storytelling.

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One of the finest historical adventure films ever made, The War Lord dramatises with uncommon intelligence and integrity the brutality, difficulties and injustices of the Middle Ages. Charlton Heston (Ben Hur, Touch of Evil, The Ten Commandments) stars as Chrysagon, an honoured knight who takes over a castle tower in the swampland of Normandy to strengthen his duke's authority. But his struggles to maintain power in the face of Pagan villagers, barbarian attackers and his brother's jealous counsel are shaken by his growing weariness with bloodshed in a cruel world. Never before released for home viewing in the UK, this collaboration between OSCAR-winning director Franklin J. Schaffner and the legendary Charlton Heston, three years before their iconic reunion on Planet of the Apes, is a gripping saga of ferocious battles, heartfelt emotion and powerful storytelling. 'One of [Schaffner's] best films, along with Planet of the Apes and Patton.' - Time Out Film Guide

Theatrical Release: November 17th, 1965

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Comparison:

Eureka - Region 2 - PAL vs. Eureka - Region 'B' - Blu-ray vs. Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

1) Eureka - Region 2 - PAL - LEFT

2) Eureka - Region 'B' - Blu-ray - MIDDLE

3) Kino Region 'A' - Blu-ray - RIGHT

Box Covers
Distribution	Eureka Video - Region 2 - PAL	Eureka Region 'B' - Blu-ray	Kino Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:56:04 (4% PAL speedup)	2:01:15.309	2:01:28.281
Video	2.35:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 7.68 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s	1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 38,691,481,911 bytes Feature: 37,765,738,176 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.99 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video	1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 39,272,092,444 bytes Feature: 37,341,425,664 bytes Video Bitrate: 36.93 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate:
Bitrate Eureka: Blu-ray
Bitrate Kino: Blu-ray
Audio	English (Uncompressed PCM 2.0)	LPCM Audio English 2304 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit LPCM Audio English 2304 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit	DTS-HD Master Audio English 1555 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1555 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit) Commentary: Dolby Digital Audio English 448 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 448 kbps / DN -1dB
Subtitles	None	English, None	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Eureka Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 2.35:1 Edition Details: • Optional music & effects track • Original theatrical trailer DVD Release Date: June 21st, 2010 Transparent Keep Case Chapters: 14	Release Information: Studio: Eureka Aspect Ratio: Original aspect Ratio 2.35:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 33,592,538,213 bytes Feature: 32,910,336,000 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.99 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Isolated music & effects track • Trailer (3:02) • Lner notes Blu-ray Release Date: April 14th, 2014 Transparent Blu-ray Case Chapters: 14	Release Information: Studio: Kino Aspect Ratio: Original aspect Ratio 2.35:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 39,272,092,444 bytes Feature: 37,341,425,664 bytes Video Bitrate: 36.93 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian and Critic Sergio Mims • Trailer (2:55) Blu-ray Release Date: January 21st, 2020 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters: 9

Comments:

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

ADDITION: Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - January 2020: Short story, the Kino 1080P image is very similar - colors gain some depth and richness and I prefer it although the differences will be determined to be minimal by most viewers. Both are on a dual-layered disc with max'ed out bitrates. Audio is lossless but the 16-bit may be just as marginally different from the healthier 24-bit Eureka linear PCM. Like the UK edition - it does have optional English subtitles, but is Region 'A'-locked.

Where Kino vault ahead is the addition of a new commentary by critic Sergio Mims - a screenwriter and a lecturer in the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His comments are paced and he talks about the cinema around the time of The War Lord. His tone is a little dry but information is there. To be honest, I wasn't overly keen and didn't complete my listening. Still, the inclusion is appreciated and many may get more out of it than I did. There is also a trailer and some others from similar films.

It remains one of the better historical 'period' dramas - and benefits by Schaffner's deft direction, the presence of Heston, impressive art direction + cinematography and a solid supporting cast. There is a lot to like here and Kino offer a lot of value in their Blu-ray package.

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ADDITION: Eureka - Region 'B' - Blu-ray - April 2014: Wow - does The War Lord ever look amazing in 1080P! All the epic film glory, brilliant colors and appealing textures are dynamically more prevalent on the Eureka Blu-ray with max'ed out bitrate. It adds significant depth over the SD. It is brighter, warmer, more realistic skin tones. The image is reasonably consistent with pristine contrast levels. It really does look impressive.

Linear PCM for the audio and the effects - fireballs, battles and sword wielding skirmishes export some depth - as does the score by Jerome Moross + Hans J. Salter - which is offered via an optional isolated track. There are optional English subtitles on the region "B'-locked Blu-ray disc. Only a trailer and some liner notes as extras.

This remains a great film. Definitely benefitting from the Blu-ray transfer. You will appreciate this presentation - and the film holds up very well on repeat viewings. Strongly recommended!

***

ON THE DVD: Firstly, there was a region 1 release of this film from 'Good Times Entertainment' HERE but it has gone out-of-print fetching big bucks via 3rd party sellers and auctions (we've heard it was an ineffectual transfer ported from the old laserdisc). It's easy to see The War Lord's appeal - being one of competent director Schaffner's best films buoyed by Russell Metty's cinematography and a rousing score by Jerome Moross + Hans J. Salter. This seems extensively researched and abiding to the many Druid based themes - an excellent film!

Image quality has some issues early on but it seems to steadily improve as the film rolls. The initial weakness looks like the source rather than the transfer. It starts out hazy, with clumpy noise but evolves to being quite reputable for the majority of the film producing a decent-to-strong presentation. It is anamorphic on a dual-layered disc. The feature (about 7 Gig worth) shares the DVD space with only a trailer and a secondary audio score (separated music and effects track). There are a few scattered speckles but otherwise a clean presentation with a high bitrate for the SD medium. The imperfections in the opening 30 minutes are outweighed by the building film's excellence.

The 2.0 channel audio is in uncompressed PCM and is without significant flaw although it appears to be not always as consistent (akin to the video portion). Again this may be directly linked to the source. There are optional English subtitles (see sample below) and you may isolate the music and effects track offered as a secondary audio option. There is only a 3-minute trailer accompanying the Region 2 - PAL disc.

Eureka appear to have battled some source hurdles to get this available again on DVD. The A/V is imperfect but strong enough to support a solid viewing of this very above-average film. I know many fans will be highly appreciative of their efforts - as am I. This is a wonderful classic - ripe for purchase and worthy of any digital library. Absolutely recommended!