Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Objective, Burma! Blu-ray Movie Review

Welcome to the jungle.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III July 20, 2021

Raoul Walsh's well-crafted WWII historical drama Objective, Burma! takes its inspiration from Merrill's Marauders (not to be confused with the 1962 film of the same name, coincidentally released by Warner Archive back in 2019), a special ops unit who, just one year prior to the film's release, ventured into Burma on a mission to stop Japanese forces who invaded the small country in 1942. The fictional task at hand in Objective, Burma! is the destruction of a camouflaged Japanese Army radar station whose purpose is to detect aircraft en route to China; once it's gone, Allied forces should be able to easily regain control. Led by rough and rugged Captain Nelson (Errol Flynn, naturally), his diverse 36-man team includes two South Asian guides, a Chinese Army Captain, and even a war correspondent who's hoping to bring the realism of war to hungry readers. (That, and plot exposition.) And while their destruction of said radar station turns out to be a little easier than expected, it's getting out of Burma that proves to be the real challenge.

After a somewhat drawn-out introduction with a truly bureaucratic number of line repetitions, Objective, Burma!'s plot is set into motion and it soon finds very solid footing. The cast plays very well off one another with solid supporting roles for the likes of James Brown (no, not that one... this one), William Prince (Spies Like Us), Henry Hull (Lifeboat), George Tobias (Sergeant York), and others. The cinematography by James Wong Howe, perhaps best known for his work on Yankee Doodle Dandy three years earlier, skillfully blends exteriors shot at the Los Angeles County Arboretum with sound stages and WWII stock footage to create a pretty damn convincing illusion of dense jungle exploration. The film's atmosphere is also aided by authentic military equipment and a real commitment to detail, not to mention a fittingly sweeping score by frequent Alfred Hitchcock collaborator Franz Waxman (Rebecca, Rear Window).

Objective, Burma!'s main Achilles' heel is a rather big one, but hardly surprising given the film's release year: it's a hard-nosed propaganda piece that sports a staunch us vs. them mentality and undoubtedly led to plenty of young hopefuls signing up for active duty to fight. (A notorious "Kill 'em all!" sentiment by Henry Hull -- not to mention the coda, which likewise implies that "peace will never arrive until the Japanese are totally destroyed", is especially awful.) A week after its theatrical release, it was even banned in the UK after protests from British veterans groups who didn't appreciate its single-handed American heroics. But this is clearly still a effective piece of moviemaking with very solid fundamentals, a great cast, and plenty of memorable moments -- that climactic nighttime battle has suspense for days. And while it certainly isn't perfect and does run at least 20 minutes too long, Objective, Burma! has a lot going for it and remains a true genre highlight in a rather crowded decade for war-fueled entertainment.

Released on DVD twice during the last two decades, the third time's the charm for Objective, Burma!: this Blu-ray package from Warner Archive Collection is every bit as good as their typically outstanding catalog titles, offering yet another top-tier 1080p transfer and lossless audio that preserves the film's original one-channel mix. (Although the carryover bonus features are nothing special, they're at least interesting from a historical perspective.) All things considered, it's a solid disc that die-hard fans will certainly enjoy and newcomers should check out too.

Objective, Burma! Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Keeping in line with their ever-growing collection of perfect and near-perfect scores, this brand-new 1080p transfer of Objective, Burma! is outstanding and represents a giant leap beyond previous Region 1/A home video editions, the last two being a 2003 "snapper case" DVD by Warner Bros. and a 2013 DVD by Warner Archive themselves. Gone are the persistent judder, dirt, and faded black levels of previous transfers, revealing a very rich and film-like image with plenty of grain, incredibly strong textures, and much-improved depth that greatly highlights James Wong Howe's excellent black-and-white cinematography. Even the opening and closing text looks razor-sharp. The only exceptions, of course, are a few early clips of stock footage (these return intermittently as the film unfolds) and the climactic nighttime battle, which was obviously shot under very low natural light but still comes through clearly at the right moments. (A few missing frames and jumpy cuts are also present, although it's difficult to tell if it's part of said stock footage or the film proper.) Since most, if not all, of these items are source material issues -- or deliberate stylistic choices, in some cases -- their shortcomings are completely understandable, and they still look much better in comparison to their earlier home video equivalents. At the risk of repeating myself, this is simply another home run that checks all the boxes for a top-tier catalog release: a careful restoration, no contrast boosting or heavy noise reduction, and great disc authoring, all of which adds up to another Blu-ray that will absolutely thrill purists of classic cinema.

Objective, Burma! Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There's less to say about the DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track, but only due to format limitations. Obviously more recent war films have spoiled us with bombastic soundscapes that use six or more channels to creative a fully enveloping, immersive atmosphere punctuating every gunshot and explosion. And while that obviously isn't the case with this rather modest one-channel mix, Objective, Burma! serves up a few sonic surprises that exceed the typically narrow sound field and thin dynamic range usually associated with older films. Dialogue and background details are quite well-defined and employ a decent amount of space in the front, while sporadic bursts of action -- none more so than the plane takeoff, battlefield chaos, and the buzzing atmosphere of dense jungle life -- are reasonably powerful without sounding tinny or shrill in the high end, although portions of Franz Waxman's original score do sound a bit strained in that respect. Dialogue is mostly clean and clear, save for a few dodgy moments that likely weren't smoothed over with ADR. Overall, though, it's a faithful and largely satisfying port of the original mix and that's good enough for me.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during the main feature, but sadly none of the extras. It's especially annoying since Warner Bros.' original DVD release, which the bonus features were sourced from, had them.

Objective, Burma! Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a standard keepcase with statuesque one-sheet poster artwork and no inserts. The on-board features are limited to DVD-era carryovers but are still worth a once-over.

• The Tanks are Coming (20:05) - This 1941 Technicolor short (not to be confused with the studio's own 1951 film), produced in cooperation with the U.S. Army, is described as being about "the status of battle tanks and training in the American Army in pre-War 1941, featuring a comical Army trainee from the Bronx." So yeah, we get a nice little mix of dated jokes and star-spangled propaganda... but hey, it's all in good fun.

• The Rear Gunner (20:29) - This black-and-white 1943 short follows a young rural armed forces trainee who, despite his initial assignment as an air mechanic, uses his marksmanship to score a sweet gig aboard a bomber. If that doesn't sell it for you, the trainee is played by a young Burgess Meredith... and hey, Ronald Reagan's in it too! He should try screwing up the country with trickle-down economics in 40 years or so.

• Theatrical Trailer (2:16) - This short promotional piece can also be seen here.

Objective, Burma! Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Raoul Walsh's Objective, Burma! is an obvious propaganda piece that's nonetheless well-acted, entertaining, and provided audiences at that time with a reasonably realistic depiction of life behind enemy lines. (It's also loosely based on similar events later seen in Warner Bros.' Merrill's Marauders, and a better piece of cinema too.) Beautifully shot and featuring a fine ensemble cast, this underrated war drama is still worth watching for die-hard fans and newcomers too. As usual, Warner Archive gives it top-tier A/V treatment, pairing a rock-solid 1080p transfer with lossless audio and a few carryover DVD extras. A solid package from top to bottom, Objective, Burma! comes firmly Recommended.