Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		4.5

Max Manus: Man of War Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov June 28, 2009

A beautifully lensed and superbly acted period drama, Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg’s “Max Manus: Man of War” (2008) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Revolver Entertainment. Unfortunately, only the documentary from the Norwegian release is offered on this disc. The film is still without a US release date. With imposed English subtitles. Region-B “locked”.

On a mission

Having just finished watching Max Manus: Man of War, the most expensive Norwegian production ever, I can assure you that this is the type of war film Hollywood could never make. It is balanced, free of populist preaching and very realistic. Parts of it will undoubtedly resonate better with Norwegians, but there is plenty in it that international audiences would appreciate as well.

Max Manus: Man of War opens up with a collage of newspaper headlines chronicling the events preceding the beginning of WW2 – “German Economy in Ruins”, “Adolf Hitler Gives Hope to the German People”, “Nazis Come to Power”, “Austria Annexed by the German Empire”, “Poland Feels the Threat”, “Poland Invaded”, “Great Britain and France Declare War on Germany”, “Hitler and Stain Divide Poland”, “Stalin Attacks Finland” and “Norwegian Volunteers to Help Finns”. Then, we are transported to Salla Front, Finland, March 1940 where Finnish and Norwegian soldiers are fighting the Soviets. A man is hit by a shell. Immediately after that, we see him lying in a hospital bed, covered with a white blanket. The man begins telling us his story.

His name is Max Manus (Aksel Hennie, Hawaii, Oslo) and he is one of the leaders of the Rognes Organization, a network of Norwegian patriots determined to make the Nazis’ stay in their country as miserable as possible. Max’s most trusted men are Gregers Gram (Nicolai Cleve Broch, Uno) and Gunnar Sønsteby (Knut Joner, Respekt). The three plan and execute a number of missions.

Max is captured by Gestapo agents twice. Both times, however, he manages to escape. This immediately earns him a near-mythic status amongst his comrades and enemies. An ambitious high-ranking Nazi official, Siegfried Fehmer (Ken Duken, Distanz), vows to destroy Max and his organization. Max flees Norway temporarily and goes to Scotland where together with Gregers and Gunnar he enlists in the Free Norwegian Forces. Shortly after, he is sent back to Oslo where his organization begins sinking all incoming Nazi supply ships. During a trip to Sweden, Max meets "Tikken" Lindebraekke (Agnes Kittelsen, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest), a resistance liaison, and falls in love with her.

Written by Thomas Nordseth-Tiller and directed by Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg (Bandidas), Max Manus: Man of War is a beautiful film blending action, suspense and drama to perfection. Its narrative is well paced and main characters very convincing. At the end of the film, its creators have supplied plenty of information about the real Max Manus, Gregers Gram and Gunnar Sønsteby whose heroism inspired them.

The cast of Max Manus: Man of War is comprised of some well known young Norwegian actors. Aksel Hennie, whose directorial debut Uno was nominated for European Discovery of the Year in 2005, is terrific in the lead role. His struggle to maintain his composure after some of his comrades are killed is one of the high points of the film. Knut Joner and Nicolai Cleve Broch also deliver strong performances. German actor Ken Duken is responsible for many of the most memorable scenes in the film.

Cinematographer Geir Hartly Andreassen’s lensing is superb. The massive explosions at the Oslo harbor – done with top-notch CGI effects – are indeed very impressive. The film’s color-scheme is just as effective in further enhancing the period atmosphere. Trond Bjerknes’s music score is dark and notably elegant.

Max Manus: Man of War Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.39:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080i/50 transfer, Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg's Max Manus: Man of War arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Revolver Entertainment.

Before I get to the technical analysis, I would like to quickly note that this disc has been encoded in 1080i/50, which is the reason why I have marked it as Region-B "locked" (most every US TV set cannot accept 1080/50 signal, and one needs to have a player capable of outputting 1080/50 signal - native Region-A players don't - to access the disc's content).

Unlike Revolver Entertainment's release of Guillaume Canet's Tell No One, which was also encoded in 1080i/50, Max Manus: Man of War looks very convincing. First, the heavy "ghosting" that plagued Tell No One is practically absent on this transfer. Depending on your TV set, or monitor, the transition from 1080i to 1080p should be fairly successful. Second, at times, contrast and clarity are simply stunning. The film's delicate color-scheme is also captured impressively. Third, I did not detect any heavy noise reduction patterns. On the contrary, there is a good dose of healthy grain that you would see. Fourth, neither edge-enhancement nor macroblocking are an issue of concern. Finally, I did not detect any disturbing specks, scratches, debris, or dirt to report in this review. To sum it all up, if not for the fact that this is a 1080i/50 transfer, I would have given it a perfect score.

Max Manus: Man of War Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: Norwegian Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and Norwegian Digital Stereo 2.0. I opted for the Norwegian Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and later on did a few random comparisons with the Norwegian Digital Stereo 2.0 track for the purpose of this review.

The Norwegian Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track is very impressive. The bass is powerful and deep, the high frequencies not overdone and the surround channels used very effectively. Whether during the attacks of the Nazi ships or during some of the intimate scenes where Trond Bjerknes' soundtrack is prominent, the audio quality is outstanding. Furthermore, the dialog is crystal clear, crisp and very easy to follow. I did not detect any disturbing pops, cracks, or hissings to report in this review either. All in all, the Norwegian Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track is of near reference quality.

Generally speaking, the Norwegian Digital Stereo 2.0 track is flat, though not disappointing. Simply put, its dynamic range is very limited. This being said, its basics are intact. For the record, the English subtitles on this disc are imposed. This means that you will not be able to turn them off when watching the film. They split the image frame with the black bars underneath it (please take a look at the screencaptures we have provided).

Max Manus: Man of War Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Max Manus – Film & Reality – An exclusive documentary offering an abundance of information about the production history of the film, the shooting, the events the film recreates and the real Max Manus and its comrades. With imposed English subtitles. (MPEG-2, 46 min).

Max Manus: Man of War Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If you can play Region-B discs, and enjoy intelligent period films, then you should certainly take a look at Norwegian directors Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg's Max Manus: Man of War. Revolver Entertainment's disc is encoded in 1080i/50 but looks and sounds great. Very Highly Recommended.