6.9 | / 10 |
Users | 4.3 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.6 |
This World War II spectacular tells the story of the tank battles of December, 1944, in which the Nazi Panzer forces staged a massive last-ditch offensive on the Belgian front.
Starring: Henry Fonda, Robert Shaw (I), Robert Ryan (I), Dana Andrews, George MontgomeryWar | 100% |
History | 75% |
Drama | 69% |
Action | 26% |
Video codec: VC-1
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.75:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.75:1
English: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
French: Dolby Digital Mono
English, English SDH, French, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 2.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
War is hard on all of us.
There are two types of wars that play out on Hollywood's silver screens: the tame, rah-rah, go get 'em son, stand-up-and-cheer flicks and the
über-realistic, ultra-sobering, war-is-hell pictures. The line of demarcation is pretty clear. During and after Vietnam, mass media and the social and
political current shifted the tone away from war being a "necessary evil" to plain old "evil." No longer did the wars in theaters look like stage
productions, a little rough and tumble to be sure but nowhere near the realism, even barbarism, of the real deal. The Allied victory in World War II led
to
an entire market of films that portrayed war heroically, as a difficult operation and not without repercussions and sacrifice but with a certain comfort
that it wouldn't hurt in the physical, let alone the mental. Battle of the Bulge falls squarely into that post-war era of militaristic
filmmaking where the battles were messy to be sure but the portrayal was tame to say the least, tame on the outside and tame on the inside. The
picture tells a glamorized version of war rather than shows the true nature of war, and never does it really sink in deeply, convey the
true terror and fear that chews a man up on the
inside even if he survives unscathed on the outside. Director Ken Annakin's (Swiss Family Robinson) film is big, the embodiment of event
cinema at least in the circle of War pictures. It's a fine example of its era's bread-and-butter style. It's entertaining through and through, but
it lacks the figurative and literal punch of the modern War movie experience.
Attack!
Battle of the Bulge's "Ultra Panavision" photography truly needs to be seen on the largest screen possible, and Warner Brothers' 1080p Blu-ray release has the muscle to display it big for home viewing. The image is stable and handsome, generally. It serves up very nice detailing, right down to pebbly roads and muddy tank treads. Military hardware is precise and well-worn, captured nicely on film and recreated on Blu-ray with great visual clarity and accuracy. Facial and clothing textures are strong, and the nitty-gritty details of blown-out buildings, razor-sharp debris, and even the medals pinned to German chests appear crisp and nicely defined. The image remains sharp even at a distance. Colors are excellent, even if the film largely features grays and greens and browns as its primaries. Splashes of red on German uniforms, however, are presented cleanly and accurately. The image does show a few worts, but nothing that should be a deal breaker. Slight aliasing is visible in a handful of objects, such as the grill on the German car seen at the beginning of the film and later on a green lampshade in a U.S. headquarters room. The transfer also features some edge halos and light banding across some of the brightest sky shots. Overall, however, this is a proficient, handsome transfer that serves the material nicely.
Nuts. For all the military muscle in Battle of the Bulge, Warner Brothers' Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack fails to bring it to life. The track is a puny one, never really getting off the ground, sounding tired, not at all aggressive, and never immersive, despite both the heavy action and the 5.1 channels at its disposal. The overture music does play with nice range and good clarity, including fairly crisp highs. Music shares that same feeling throughout. But the track fails to present even modest power or even acceptable volume at reference levels. It never feels as "huge" as the movie. Even when it manages some decent directional or area-specific sound effects -- a plane whirring on by, gunfire from a specific point in the soundstage, artillery fire zooming on by -- they play quietly and absent any sort of vigor, let alone authenticity. The closing of heavy steel doors, machine gun fire, explosions, even a speeding train play with only a meager sonic signature, a modest "hello" and a hint of what should be. The track does manage a slightly deeper rumble and greater presence in a few scenes where tanks roll slowly and heavily on through the listening area, but it's too little and much too late to really save the track. This lossy presentation does feature fair ambience; for instance, it does well to paint the picture of a busy military headquarters where ringing phones, clanking typewriters, and chatter at least do well in recreating the scene, though not anywhere near the level of absolute immersion. Dialogue is clear, but like the rest of the material it lacks authority; casual conversation definitely needs a little more oomph to it. It's not a disaster so much as a disappointment, but to be sure Battle of the Bulge won't get the old audio juices flowing even in the heat of the heaviest battle.
Battle of the Bulge contains an audio commentary track, two featurettes, and the film's trailer.
Battle of the Bulge might not portray war in a particularly realistic light, but it's sufficiently exciting, a hair gritty, extraordinarily big in scope, very well put together, and fast on its feet, even clocking in at just a little under three hours. The movie's battle scenes are exciting, but the picture works best behind-the-scenes as the men in charge on both sides of the battlefield choose their tactics and change them on the fly to suit the ever-changing dynamics on the battlefield. For a rah-rah World War II movie from the pre-Vietnam era, Battle of the Bulge proves hard to beat. Warner Brothers' Blu-ray release of Battle of the Bulge features solid video, disappointing audio, and a decent assortment of extras. The low price and the qualities of both the movie and the video transfer help ease the pain of the disappointing soundtrack. This is a candidate for a remaster, but until then this low-priced release is worth enjoying. Recommended.
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