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

 

ADDITION: Schröder Media - Region FREE - Blu-ray (October 2017): Firstly, this is advertised as limited to 1,000 copies. I might have thought that this was an SD bump - as with the DVD the opening credits are also pictureboxed - but it show more information in the frame than the SD transfer. I did some research on Schröder Media and they appear legitimate. They focus on DVD, Blu-ray and VOD primarily in the German-speaking sector (Austria, Germany, Switzerland) in both the rental and retail business. This is done in cooperation with production and licensing partners.

 

The image is okay on the surface but when you zoom-in, it doesn't look like grain but has a digitized, artefact-y, appearance. The 2 1/4 hour film is on a single-layered disc with a sub-20 Mbps bitrate. The 1080P does look superior to the SD - marginally brighter, more detail, depth but it can be a bit clunky in-motion, with some mild artifacts appearing at the bottom of the frame. In the final tally this higher resolution can improve upon SD, depending on your system, but is far from an ideal HD presentation of this classic film. Warner should really release this...

 

Audio is in DTS-HD Master tracks (only 16-bit) in the original English or the option of a German DUB. I did find the dialogue hushed and the iconic Max Steiner (Key Largo, Casablanca, The Caine Mutiny, Bird of Paradise, Beyond the Forest, Pursued etc. etc.) score significantly louder causing me to fiddle with the volume button a few times. There are no subtitle options and the Blu-ray disc is Region FREE.

 

This Blu-ray includes the Jeannine Basinger commentary and a trailer. The menu system is unusual.

 

An odd, suspicious, release that brings up quite a few questions. We only endorse to those less-discerning on the, projected, HD image - although, for many modest systems, it can look superior to SD. The audio issues are another story. I LOVE this film - such an amazing story - a defining role for Cooper - but we can only hope for something more robust and more polished... soon.

***

ON THE DVD (2006): This film, made in 1941, looks quite good on DVD. Greytones and contrast are super - black levels possibly boosted to pitch depth and sharpness better than acceptable. A few light scratches were visible. This film looks and sounds even better than I was anticipating.

Jeannine Basinger's commentary is as prepared and thorough as two previous that I recall (Wyler's Jezebel and Cukor's The Philadelphia Story). Her voice has a measured pace that covers many areas of the film, Cooper, Hawks , Sergeant York's production as well as the life Alvin York. She presents the conflict of the character's dichotomy (pacifist war hero) in a easy-to-listen to fashion.

I love the inclusion of the cartoon and vintage short but the second disc with the two featurettes only adds to the fascinating curiosity of the story and a fair, if short, homage to Gary Cooper.

I'm actually surprised it took so long to bring this masterpiece film to DVD, but I suppose the wait was well worth it for this is an impressive package. The story is so incredible, even more so that it is true - the single greatest individual feat in military history but York's complexity is the real story - a plain-spoken, backwoods, Abe-Lincoln style hero. You could not imagine anyone but Cooper playing the role. This is a must-own DVD!

Gary W. Tooze