Beast of War Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.5

Beast of War Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 5, 2025

When is a World War II movie not a World War II movie? Why, when it's a marauding shark movie, of course! Beast of War rather improbably is one part Jaws and one part Lifeboat, all within a, yes, WWII context that sees a bunch of Australian sailors struggling for survival after their ship is sunk by the Japanese. There are already internecine conflicts aplenty amongst those making through the initial attack, but those conflicts are soon matched if not completely subsumed by a more menacing terror lurking in The Deep (sorry). The result is undeniably bizarre at times, and perhaps strains credulity despite the imprimatur that the story is "inspired" by true events, but Beast of War can be surprisingly effective in both its "shark scares" as well as some of the actual human interactions depicted.

Some of the "human interest" aspect comes courtesy of focal character Leo (Mark Coles Smith), the only indigenous member of his squad, and one who is discriminated against both "officially" (less pay than his non-native cohort) and unofficially (bullied by other soldiers). He befriends another guy named Will (Joel Nankervis), especially after Leo lives up to the "no man left behind" motto on a training mission. Of course Leo and Will end up as two of a small group of survivors later in the story once their ship has sunk, though there are nemeses both "up top" and "down under" (no Australian pun intended). The film can't help but feel derivative at times due to its very conceit, but that niggling qualm aside, it's a remarkably adept "take" on the concept and manages to create significant angst as the story builds to an "explosive" climax that is probably unwisely one of the more similar moments to Steven Spielberg's legendary effort.

Beast of War Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Beast of War is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Well Go USA with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. As of the writing of this review the IMDb doesn't really offer any technical information and I haven't been able to track down anything else authoritative online, but this is an appealing digital capture that I'm assuming had a 2K DI (as always with my reviews, if someone can point me to verifiable information, I'll update things here). The film is perhaps constrained stylistically by its very setting, namely an often dark and misty ocean. As a result fine detail levels tend to (no water pun intended) ebb and flow depending on lighting conditions, but in the best moments fine detail can actually be kind of stomach churning in terms of some of the carnage on display. Some of the darkest fog strewn scenes can look just slightly noisy. The palette is intentionally skewed towards sepia or orange tones quite a bit of the time. Some of the underwater material is understandably a bit on the murky side. My score is 4.25.

Beast of War Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Beast of War offers an (again, sorry, water pun incoming) immersive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that establishes its surround activity from the get go with some of the initial training material showing the troops out in the Australian wild. Regular engagement of the side and rear channels continues through the relatively brief onboard material, leading to the attack (with some reverberant LFE) and then the remaining time on the scattered floating debris. There's no John Williams providing a two note motivic score, but music also is nicely splayed around the soundstage. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English and French subtitles are available.

Beast of War Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer (HD; 1:53)

Note: As tends to be the case with Well Go USA Blu-ray releases, the disc has been authored to automatically move on to trailers for other Well Go USA releases after the trailer for this film plays. Those trailers for other Well Go USA releases also play automatically at disc boot up.

Packaging features a slipcover.

Beast of War Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If Beast of War may have ambitions that probably elevate it above the standard so-called "B movie", it still may only be a B+ movie in the long run, despite some rather interesting touches. The film moves at an extremely brisk pace, which is one of its undeniable positives, and the performances are often genuinely involving. Technical merits are generally solid. Recommended.