Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came? Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came? Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 22, 2019

Hy Averback's "Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came?" (1970) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include new audio commentary by film historians Dr. Eloise Ross and Dr. Dean Brandum. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked.

How do you stop a speeding tank?

Of course the men and women serving in the military are not the type of party animals and loons that you will see in Hy Averback’s Suppose They Gave a War a Nobody Came?. And, of course the folks living in the countryside were never as paranoid about the Soviet Army invading the country as they are portrayed in the film. Is this something that actually has to be clarified? All of the unhinged behavior is needed to legitimize the type of comedy that the film is selling. It is the exact same formula that was used in The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming and It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. Some small nuances are different, but everything else is mixed and delivered in the exact same fashion.

The film is set in a small town somewhere in the South whose residents have tried and failed to accept the values shared by the military personnel from the nearby Army base. The town’s leaders have promoted various programs to improve the social environment, but there has been little progress and now there is plenty of static in the air.

The most outspoken critic of the local resistance has been Sheriff Harve (Ernest Borgnine), a veteran with an incredibly colorful vocabulary, who has openly threatened to arrest any ‘outsider’ that disrupts the peace in ‘his town’. As a bachelor, Sheriff Harve has also grown enormously tired of the many young soldiers who have been trying to impress his favorite resident, the very sexy and divorced Ramona (Suzanne Pleshette), which is why recently he has changed his mind and actually started doing exactly the same thing -- flirting with her.

Sheriff Harve’s strategy to win Ramona’s heart, however, is tested when officer Michael Nace (Brian Keith) arrives in town to assist Col. Flanders (Don Amiche) and soon after his old pals Shannon Gambroni (Tony Curtis) and Sgt. Jones (Ivan Dixon) join him while he learns about life in the area. During a visit to a local bar, Gambroni approaches Ramona and then immediately clashes with her powerful protector. But the real fireworks begin a little later on during a big ball staged by Col. Flanders and his assistants to ease tension in town, where alcohol finally reveals how the two sides really feel about each other and shortly after all hell breaks loose.

There is so much going on in Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came? and there are so many different characters with interesting personalities that at one point it becomes a challenge to decide which ones are actually worth spending time with. Fortunately, after the gloves come off at the ball the film brings everyone together and becomes so unhinged that the wild action makes the dilemma irrelevant.

Before the mayhem begins in the second half, the film delivers a good number of social messages but without the preachy commentary that exists in Norman Lear’s similarly-themed comedy Cold Turkey. Basically, the right and wrong become so loose and easy to interchange that the film manages to remain neutral. This is the exact reason why the humor and the outlandish action come together rather nicely.

The most obvious but actually not surprising flaw is the editing. The fact that there are so many colorful characters that seem irreplaceable complicates the flow of the film and at times it just looks like someone struggled to make the right cuts at the right places. Interestingly, this exact same issue is actually present in It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and precisely the reason why there was so much quality footage that did not make it into the original theatrical version of the film.

*This upcoming release of Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came? is sourced from a new 4K remaster that was struck from the original camera negative.

Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came? Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Hy Averback's Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came? arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The release is sourced from a new 4K remaster that was struck from the original camera negative. I like it a lot, though I must point out that it is not a 'restoration'. Indeed, a few minor flecks and white specks remain, and there are also some small density fluctuations where some optimization work could have been performed. The overwhelming majority of the film, however, looks very good, and if the encoding was optimized in a few places it would have looked terrific. There are no traces of compromising digital work. The color grading is excellent -- there are wonderful and very healthy primaries as well as equally healthy and nicely balanced nuances. Image stability is great. My score is 4.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came? Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The audio is stable, clean, and easy to follow. There is plenty of action throughout the film and dynamic intensity does not disappoint either. There is good depth, and nicely defined high-frequencies. If there were any distracting distortions, hum, or obvious hiss in the past, now it is impossible to tell. Perhaps there is room for some minor cosmetic work and further optimizations, but the overall quality of the lossless track is excellent.

Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came? Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary - in this new audio commentary, film historians Dr. Eloise Ross and Dr. Dean Brandum discuss some of the key social themes in the film, its visual style, and the era in which it emerged.

• Trailers - a gallery of trailers for other Kino Lorber catalog releases.

Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came? Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I would concede that Hy Averback's Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came? embraces a fair number of Hollywood cliches that are used to promote some familiar messages. But they are incredibly easy to discard, and the rest, which is plenty, is quite enjoyable. The editing could have been better, but the end result is still solid. Kino Lorber's upcoming release is sourced from an exclusive new 4K remaster. RECOMMENDED.