Operation Dumbo Drop Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

Operation Dumbo Drop Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman March 14, 2021

In a movie landscape populated with grim Vietnam War films -- the Platoon's and The Deer Hunter's of the world -- 1995's Operation Dumbo Drop looks at, maybe to a degree, the lighter side of the war. Released almost a decade after Oliver Stone's Oscar-winning epic, perhaps it is the gift of time that allows the cinema medium to approach the war from a curiously different perspective. While not a serious wartime commentary or strict historical recreation (though based on a true story), the film does take some liberties to lighten the load while remaining essentially faithful to basic ebbs and flows that define the war. It's different, and different is good...to a point. The film works for as cockeyed as its plot may look on the surface, yielding a relatively fun picture with, of course, some darker undercurrents working well below the surface.

Captain T.C. Doyle (Ray Liotta) has been ordered to take command of a public relations mission with a Vietnamese village strategically located near the Ho Chi Minh Trail. His predecessor, Captain Sam Cahill (Danny Glover), has tirelessly toiled to win over the villagers, allowing U.S. forces vital access to a key observational position. When the NVA realize that the village is cooperating with the Americans, they kill the village elephant in retaliation. In order to preserve relations, Cahill and Doyle promise the villagers that they will replace the elephant in time for it to play a part in a vital village ceremony. Of course, transporting an elephant through a war-torn country is, well, just about as difficult as it sounds.

The movie is surprisingly adept at blending together pieces that would otherwise feel more or less disparate in a single movie: wartime action, animal humor, character drama, and the list goes on. None of these elements by themselves inspire much but the sum is a rather unique movie watching experience that builds beyond its external limitations. It's really quite impressive that it works as well as it does, even if the movie is not all that noteworthy in the grand scheme of things, in the much broader overall cinema landscape. Add that the film enjoys solid technical know-how on both sides of the camera -- the cast is really quite good, doing solid work even when the scripted characters are not overly impressive on paper -- and Operation Dumbo Drop winds up playing quite well as a perfectly serviceable time waster that surprises much more often than it disappoints.

Operation Dumbo Drop Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Operation Dumbo Drop plops onto Blu-ray with a workmanlike 1080p transfer. The picture is stable and pleasing if unable to be described as showy or flamboyant. It's a hair soft in spots but essentially of very fine quality. Grain is a little lacking in visible density but the image is rarely, if ever, the victim of any serious, significant noise reduction. Details are stable and pleasing mostly, with fine skin and military uniform detail readily apparent in most every medium- and close-up shot. Likewise the cargo plane interior shows plenty of fine textural definition to the items scattered about or on the material comprising the hull itself, and of course the elephant's skin and fine hairs are sharp and well accounted for, respectively. The picture struggles a bit in exteriors, where either dense jungle under canopy or wide open fields look a little softer than they do sharper, but really it's hard to imagine the movie looking all that much better in theaters in 1995. Much the same applies to the color spectrum. It's not at all vibrant or micro-nuanced but broad tones – mostly greens and earthy browns – are presented with nice depth and general tonal variance. Some of the more boisterous colors come in small details like the Nestle candy bar wrapper seen in several scenes with its whites and blues. Skin tones and black levels are fine, neither notably excellent nor obviously poor. The print is in relatively good shape and there are no major, obvious encode issues to note.

Operation Dumbo Drop Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Operation Dumbo Drop's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack demonstrates fine command of movement, particularly as helicopters power across the sky from one side to another or, more fully stage filling, as rotors spin as heard from inside the chopper with excellent command of the depth and heft involved. The heavy airlift cargo plane rumbles about in several key scenes, too, with impressive feel for weighty movement inside and out alike. Location din is very pleasing on the ears, whether on military bases, out in the jungle, or again inside the airborne vehicles. Battle scenes offer plenty of activity for surround immersion, drawing the listener into pitch battle scenes where gunfire and explosions pop and thump, respectively, with all the necessary (though not fully lifelike) detail and positioning elements. Music is impressively engaging for stage saturation and instrumental and, as necessary, lyrical fidelity. Dialogue is clear, smooth, precise, and well prioritized as it flows from its natural front-center home.

Operation Dumbo Drop Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of Operation Dumbo Drop includes no supplemental content. The main menu screen offers only options to play the film and select scenes. No DVD or digital copies are included with purchase. This release does not ship with a slipcover. A strange aside: upon initial load-up the Disney castle "loading screen" center box never disappeared and played atop the main menu screen and the movie. It was fixed with a player restart. Probably a player glitch but worth noting anyway.

Operation Dumbo Drop Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Operation Dumbo Drop does not score highly for serious wartime commentary but, with the grace of time, it successfully takes a lighter approach to one of the darker, and more prolonged, wartime chapters in world history. It's a solidly built movie that boasts fair production values, capable acting, and a relatively fun time at the movies. Disney's featureless Blu-ray, currently exclusive to its online movie club, delivers capable 1080p video and a solid 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Recommended.