Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.0

Overlord Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 28, 2014

Stuart Cooper's "Overlord" (1975) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; excerpts from the journals of two D-day soldiers read by actor Brian Stirner; "Capa Influences Cooper", a photo essay featuring the American director on photographer Robert Capa; video piece featuring archivist from the Imperial War Museum; archival short films; audio commentary with director Stuart Cooper and actor Brian Stirner; and more. The release also arrives with an illustrated booklet featuring an essay by critic Kent Jones, a short history of the Imperial War Museum, and excerpts from the "Overlord" novelization by Stuart Cooper and Christopher Hudson. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

"I don't like the whole sodding army."

The film begins with a premonition of death. A young man (Brian Stirner, TV's Madame Bovary) then emerges and joins the British Army. After a series of training exercises, he is sent to the front lines of D-Day.

A large part of the film is dedicated to the young man’s struggle to come to terms with the nature of war. He understands the goals that justify it, but not its mechanics -- they seem too distant, too illogical to him. The chaos and isolation war inevitably brings frustrate him, while the uncertainty that accompanies them angers him.

Occasionally he lets his frustration be noticed by other soldiers around him, but most do not seem to care. A few are just as frustrated as he is, but they have been around for much longer and learned to wear masks hiding how they truly feel.

The young man eventually meets a beautiful girl (Julie Neesam) in a club. They dance and then take a long walk. By the end of the night they can tell that they were meant to be together -- and that war will keep them apart. They agree to meet again a few days later, but the young man is sent to the front lines.

Stuart Cooper’s Overlord plays out like a vivid dream which slowly merges with reality. At its core there is an obvious desire to replicate the sense of inevitability that permeates Lewis Milestone's classic All Quiet on the Western Front -- there is raw documentary footage that highlights real events and conflicts as well as various uneven episodes that chronicle a young soldier's gradual realization that his days may be numbered. The world in which he exists reminds of that captured by Mikhail Kalatozov in The Cranes are Flying -- the cold breath of death is easily felt, but it seems trivial; there is beauty everywhere, the sun shines bright, and people still fall in love.

These unusual visual contrasts created by the overlapping of raw and fictional footage are what make Overlord so fascinating to behold. In it war is not a gigantic event in which men and women die like flies but a state of mind, a series of feelings and emotions, a maddening process of anticipating one’s own death.

Overlord was lensed by the great cinematographer John Alcott, who collaborated with Stanley Kubrick on many of his most memorable films (2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange). Alcott frequently manipulates light and contrast to brilliantly visualize the soldier's polarizing emotions and dreams. The raw footage, provided by the Imperial War Museum, comes from unedited material shot by cameramen who were part of the armed forces. Also used in the film is authentic German footage from the Imperial War Museum’s Captured film collection.

The film is based on an original script by director Cooper and writer Christopher Hudson. Large portions of the script were inspired by the surviving diaries of two Scottish soldiers, Sergeant Edward Robert McCosh and Sergeant Finlay Campbell.

In 1975, Overlord was screened at the Berlin International Film Festival, where it won Silver Bear Award and Interfilm Award - Otto Dibelius Film Award.

Overlord Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.67:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Stuart Cooper's Overlord arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The supervised and approved by the American director high-definition transfer boasts pleasing detail, but because of the manner in which the film was shot -- the narrative blends raw archival footage and new footage -- there are various fluctuations. Inherited contrast and clarity fluctuations are also present. For example, most close-ups convey good image depth (see screencapture #7), but the archival footage looks appropriately rough (see screencaptures #8 and 19). Color saturation and balance can also fluctuate between different sequences. There are no traces of problematic degraining corrections, but some extremely light noise is mixed with the grain (see screencapture #14). Also, there are no traces of problematic sharpening corrections. Overall image stability is very good and there are no transition issues. A few extremely light scratches/vertical lines remain (see screencapture #11), but they are never distracting and it is easy to see that debris, cuts, blemishes, and cuts have been carefully removed without affecting the integrity of the film. Lastly, the encoding and compression are excellent. To sum it all up, this is a strong high-definition presentation of Overlord which offers good upgrades in quality over the existing R1 DVD release of the film. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Overlord Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 1.0. For the record, Criterion have provided optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature.

The sound is crisp and stable, but there are sporadic dynamic fluctuations. These fluctuations, however, are part of the film's original sound design. There are absolutely no dropouts, pops, problematic background hiss, or distortions. Paul Glass' soundtrack has primarily a supportive role.

Overlord Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original trailer for Overlord. In English, not subtitled. (3 min, 1080p).

• Mining the Archive - in this video piece, Roger Smither (Head, Imperial War Museum/Film and Photo Archives) and Anne Fleming (Former Head, Imperial War Museum/Film and Photo Archives) discuss the use of archival footage in Overlord. The two interviewees also discuss the origin of the archival footage (the film uses British and German archival footage) and the type of equipment that was used by cameramen to produce it. Also included is extra footage shot on D-day that is not used in the film. In English, not subtitled. (24 min, 1080p).

• Soldiers' Journals - presented here are excerpts from the journals of two D-day soldiers, Sergeant Edward Robert McCosh and Sergeant Finlay Campbell, both from Scotland, whose experiences were reflected in Overlord. Actor Brian Stirner, who plays Tom in the film, reads these excerpts. Also included is a brand new introduction by director Stuart Cooper. In English, not subtitled.
  
  1. New introduction by Stuart Cooper. Audio only. (3 min, 1080p).
  2. Sergeant Edward Robert McCosh. Audio only. (9 min, 1080p).
  3. Sergeant Finlay Campbell (13 min, 1080p).

• Audio Commentary - this audio commentary features director Stuart Cooper and actor Brian Stirner. It was recorded in 2006 in Los Angeles, and initially appeared on Criterion's DVD release of Overlord.

• Capa Influences Cooper - in this visual essay, director Stuart Cooper discusses a collection of photographs taken by legendary photographer Robert Capa on Omaha Beach on D-day. These photographs had a tremendous impact on the director and his work. In English, not subtitled. (8 min, 1080i).

• Germany Calling - presented here is the 1941 propaganda film Germany Calling, clips of which appear in Overlord (the cinema sequence). The film was edited by Charles A. Ridley and released by the British Ministry of Information during the war. Music only. (3 min, 1080p).

• Cameramen at War - this film was produced by the British Ministry of Information in 1943 as a tribute to newsreel and service film unit cameramen. There is a short clip in it showing the great director D.W. Griffith (The Birth of a Nation) operating a camera. Also included are the first shots of a tank going into action. In English, not subtitled. (15 min, 1080p).

• A Test of Violence - Stuart Cooper devised and directed this short film about the work of Spanish artist Juan Genoves in 1969. The film won C.I.D.A.L.C. Ghandi Award at the Berlin International Film Festival. With music only. (15 min, 1080p).

• Booklet - an illustrated booklet featuring an essay by critic Kent Jones, a short history of the Imperial War Museum, and excerpts from the Overlord novelization by Stuart Cooper and Christopher Hudson.

Overlord Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Stuart Cooper's Overlord is one of the most unique war films ever made. Lensed by Stanley Kubrick's longtime cinematographer John Alcott, it can best be described as a brilliant meditative summation of what war feels like. Criterion's upcoming Blu-ray release of Overlord features a restored high-definition transfer supervised and approved by the American director, as well as all of the supplemental features from the existing DVD release of the film. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.