The Virgin Soldiers Blu-ray

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

Directed by John Dexter
UK 1969

Set in Singapore in the early 1950s, this impressive adaptation of Leslie Thomas’ best-selling, scandalous novel centres on a group of naïve, young British Army recruits billeted to Malaya who have no experience of either love or war.

Both affectionate and affecting in its look at young men in wartime, the film has a wonderful cast which includes Lynn Redgrave (Georgy Girl, The National Health), Hywel Bennett (The Family Way, Twisted Nerve) and Nigel Davenport (The Third Secret, The Mind of Mr. Soames), along with early appearances from Christopher Timothy, Wayne Sleep, James Cosmo – and a young David Bowie. Genuine and heartfelt, The Virgin Soldiers is an insightful and hugely underrated British comic drama.

***

This situation comedy finds rookie soldiers of the British Army trying to cope with military life while stationed in Malaya. Brigg (Hywel Bennett) is a young clerk who falls for the local school teacher Phillipa (Lynn Redgrave), the daughter of Royal Sergeant Major Raskin (Nigel Patrick). Brigg loses his virginal status in an encounter with the prostitute Juicy Lucy (Tsai Chin), while Phillipa also becomes sexually active for the first time. The film strikes a nice balance between comedy and serious drama as the soldiers are put to the test when a train wreck necessitates their involvement, and later several soldiers try to get sick leave by requesting circumcisions. Brigg and Phillipa finally get together when a bombing raid puts them in close proximity in this engaging military comedy. The Kinks' Ray Davies wrote the title track.

Excerpt from B+N located HERE

Posters / Book / VHS

Theatrical Release: October 15th, 1969

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

Review: Indicator - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Box Cover		CLICK to order from: Also available on Blu-ray from Twilight Time in the US:
Distribution	Indicator - Region FREE - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:34:49.225
Video	1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 48,871,496,954 bytes Feature: 29,522,175,552 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.95 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate Blu-ray:
Audio	LPCM Audio English 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit Isolated Score: LPCM Audio Undetermined 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit
Subtitles	English (SDH), None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Indicator 1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 48,871,496,954 bytes Feature: 29,522,175,552 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.95 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • The Virgin Actors (2019, 28:58): Roy Holder and Christopher Timothy recall their experiences on location • Some Confidence (2019, 7:21): writer Ian La Frenais discusses his contributions to the screenplay • 16mm Location Footage (1967, 14:21): rare and previously unseen material shot during location scouting • Operation Malaya (1953, 1:06:40): David MacDonald’s acclaimed feature-length docudrama on the Malayan Emergency • Original theatrical trailer (3:14) • Image gallery: on-set and promotional photography • Isolated music & effects track • Limited edition exclusive 36-page booklet with a new essay by author Scott Harrison, Leslie Thomas on The Virgin Soldiers, archival profiles of Lynn Redgrave and Tsai Chin, an overview of contemporary critical responses, Anthony Nield on Operation Malaya, and film credits Blu-ray Release Date: March 25th, 2019 Transparent Blu-ray Case Chapters 10

Comments:

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

Indicator bring The Virgin Soldiers to a their Blu-ray line. It's on a dual-layered Blu-ray in 1080P with another max'ed out bitrate. It can look thick and heavy at times with a dark cast but generally a solid image in-motion with a few rich colors (Tsai Chin - Juicy Lucy's green dress) contrasting the drab army greens. It is in the original 1.85:1 aspect ratio and has some extreme close-ups (see below) with impressive detail.

The audio is transferred in a linear PCM mono track (24-bit). There are some war-related effects in training and aggressive conflicts. The sounds is flat with minor depth - dialogue is consistent and clear. The film features a score Peter Greenwell (The Boy Friend). It was fairly unremarkable but exported adeptly by the uncompressed transfer and available to indulge in as an isolated music & effects track option. There are optional English (SDH) subtitles on this Region FREE Blu-ray.

Indicator again provide a host of brand new extras. The Virgin Actors is a new 1/2 hour with Roy Holder and Christopher Timothy as recall their experiences on location. They had a lot to say. Some Confidence spends 8-minutes with writer Ian La Frenais discussing his contributions to the screenplay. There is some 16mm footage scouting the locations from 1967 considered rare and previously unseen material shot during location scouting - running 1/4 hour. Operation Malaya is an hour+ documentary from 1953. It was David MacDonald’s director work set in Malaya, featuring scenes about British troops tracking communists who had killed a rubber plantation owner, with input from as General Sir Gerald Templar. There is an original theatrical trailer and an image gallery featuring on-set and promotional photography. The package has a limited edition exclusive 36-page booklet with a new essay by author Scott Harrison, Leslie Thomas on The Virgin Soldiers, archival profiles of Lynn Redgrave and Tsai Chin, an overview of contemporary critical responses, Anthony Nield on Operation Malaya, and film credits

The Virgin Soldiers is a partial comedy showing the innocent level of Army recruits and their issues in Singapore - often dealing with 'Brigg' approaching sexual relations. The tone shifts and it has a more melancholy humanistic side, realistically people die with little foreshadowing, which is effective as it is less-expected. Performances are fine with characters you can embrace and empathize with. The Indicator Blu-ray transfer seems adept - I don't think we will compare to the Twilight Time - that I watched but did not review. I expect it is very similar from, a technical standpoint with the Indicator having more extras. There is value here but the film is no masterpiece but has an interesting edge as a unique war-comedy-drama.