Operation Seawolf Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.0

Operation Seawolf Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Stephen Larson March 21, 2023

While the Second World War is likely the most well-chronicled war on celluloid, only a small pack of films have been made about its sub-genre of submarine warfare. The most prominent include Anthony Asquith's We Dive at Dawn (1943), Charles Frend's The Cruel Sea (1953), Dick Powell's The Enemy Below (1957), and C.M. Pennington-Richards's Mystery Submarine (1962). René Clément's Les Maudits (The Damned, 1947), which details Nazis heading to South America at the tail-end of the war, has been one one of the most overlooked pictures of its kind. Steven Luke has directed several shorts and low-budget features about both world wars. Operation Seawolf (2022), Luke's most recent feature, tells the largely unknown story of ten German submarines that comprise the titular Nazi U-boat, who hope to launch torpedoes into New York City during the final days of WWII. As the film opens in April 1945, German naval Capt. Hans Kessler (Dolph Lundgren) is on leave in Norway and not at all anxious of participating in any more missions. A participant in both world wars, Kessler has become a grizzled and disillusioned officer who no longer believes in the Führer's cause. For example, when his fellow officers give the Nazi salute, he opts for a traditional military salute. But since he's still patriotic about the German motherland (but not necessarily all of Hitler's decrees), he agrees to captain the naval mission, Operation Seawolf. This doesn't sit well in the least with Lt. Reinhart (Andrew Stecker), who was originally going to lead it, but has been demoted in favor of Kessler. On the other side, the US Navy has stealthily organized Operation Teardrop to try to prevent the German attack. Cmdr. Race Ingram (Frank Grillo) oversees submarine chaser USS PC-1264 while Capt. Samuel L. Gravely Jr. (Hiram A. Murray) heads its Tenth Fleet. (Gravely Jr. is a real character who was the first African-American commissioned naval officer. He was later promoted to the rank of vice admiral.)

I feel too tired to fight Rocky today.

The movie works well in two ways. One is when Luke (who also scripted) dramatizes the chain-of-command conflict between Kessler and Reinhart, the latter of whom may orchestrate a mutiny inside the sub. Reinhart is clearly at odds with Kessler about the most effective methods for tactical naval warfare that are the most attainable. The conflict is a little reminiscent of the one between Ramsey (Gene Hackman) and Hunter (Denzel Washington) in Tony Scott's superior Crimson Tide (1995). Scott's naval thriller does a far better job of exploring the conflict involving the two principals and their contradictory philosophies. By contrast, Luke's Operation Seawolf is short on character development, particularly the American officers. Both Frank Grillo's Ingram and Hiram A. Murray's Gravely Jr. do a lot of standing around strategizing Operation Teardrop's next move and delivering orders. Ingram spends much of the film studying coordinates on maps. The movie is redeemed somewhat by the semi-exciting battles scenes at sea. The CGI and animation work by the visual effects company Postmodern Digital is decent and adequate. It helps make Operation Seawolf a fairly compelling watch.

Operation Seawolf Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

UPDATED 3/22/23

Shout! Studios gives its Blu-ray-only release of Operation Seawolf an MPEG-4 AVC encode on a BD-25 (disc size for feature: 24.70 GB) that comes with a slipcover. Steven Luke's fourth directorial feature appears in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1. Blu-ray.com community member Jerry Dam informs me that the director's chosen aspect ratio was 2.39:1, which is the format it was framed and composed in during production. However, the studio VMI Worldwide decided to crop the film to 1.78:1 in post-production. This information was confirmed to Dam by cinematographer Joseph Loeffler. It doesn't appear that any of the European BDs are in Luke's preferred AR.

The DP shot the movie using a RED Digital Cinema Professional camera. (I couldn't ascertain if the DI was finished at 2K or 4K.) Color grading and color correction was done using DaVinci Resolve software. The image is clear with a color palette predominately made up of blue, gray, tan, and some red. The red tint inside the German sub (see Screenshot #s 5 and 8) is impressively lit. The visual effects firm Postmodern Digital does pretty solid work for shots of the naval vessels (see frame grabs 16-18). However, the shot of the sun beaming towards Lady Liberty is doubtlessly animated (see capture #15). Some of the vfx shots can look relatively flat with two-dimensional compositional planes. Still, this is nearly a blemish-free transfer. Shout! has encoded the feature at a very healthy standard video bitrate of 34000 kbps.

A dozen chapters accompany the 87-minute feature.

Operation Seawolf Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Shout! has supplied a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround track (2763 kbps, 24-bit) and a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo (1665 kbps, 24-bit), which is a downmix of the 5.1. Spoken words are clean, crisp, and distinct. The 5.1 mix delivers a completing enveloping multi-channel experience during all the battle scenes, with all speakers outputted in full force. The viewer will hear with high fidelity the rippling of the waves. Composer Alex Kharlamov crafts a dramatic action score that blends in well with the other elements in the film's sound design.

A majority of the movie is spoken in English and Shout! has included optional English SDH. Some of the dialogue at the beginning is in German. Shout! has included compulsory English subs in all caps (see the last screen capture).

Operation Seawolf Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Original Theatrical Trailer (2:31, 1080p) - Shout!'s official trailer for Operation Seawolf presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen (avg. bitrate: 33990 kbps) with an English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo track (1702 kbps, 24-bit).

Operation Seawolf Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If you're seeing the new 4K UHD SteelBook of Rocky IV (1985) or viewing it (as part of the Rocky: The Knockout Collection), then Dolph Lundgren's Capt. Hans Kessler in Operation Seawolf makes for a character to contrast with his Capt. Ivan Drago, which is perhaps his most famous character. Kessler is an old warrior with decaying masculinity and it's interesting to see how Lundgren deconstructs it. Operation Seawolf comes up short in character development, though, which can be attributed to Luke's screenplay, the film's low budget, and short run time. You may also want to check out Torpedo: U235 (2019), which my colleague Brian Orndorf recommends. Seeing Operation Seawolf whets my appetite for 4K scans of Das Boot (1981), U-571 (2000), and K-19: The Widowmaker (2002). Operation Seawolf is WORTH SEEING. Shout! Studios delivers excellent audio-visual presentations with the one caveat that you're watching the picture in a ratio approved only by the studio and not the director. Extras are nil, though, which downgrades this release to a MILD RECOMMENDATION. For fans of Lundgren and submarine pictures. Only pick it up if it's offered for under $20.