The Bermuda Triangle Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

The Bermuda Triangle Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov June 23, 2025

Richard Friedenberg's "The Bermuda Triangle" (1979) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include exclusive new audio commentary by producer James L. Conway and critic Howard S. Berger and vintage TV spot. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked" .

A lot of the programming on the History Channel mimics and sometimes even copies what films like Richard Friedenberg’s The Bermuda Triangle did several decades earlier. It is because the format these films invented is very effective. It borrows various bits of factual information from somewhere, embellishes it, and then produces a range of speculative but often enormously thought-provoking theories. Also, plenty of this material is reconstructed in segments that easily could have been extracted from various legitimate genre films.

The Bermuda Triangle is broken into multiple segments, each introduced and then addressed by a narrator (Brad Crandall) who moves around various interesting bits of information from them. Sometimes these bits of information are placed in possible logical explanations of what very intelligent people have been unable to logically explain for decades. Sometimes these bits of information are linked to other bits of information to create alternative explanations that are pretty wild. But both always come back to the same point of perpetual confusion: what is the catalyst of the phenomena documented in a massive area between Miami, Bermuda, and Puerto Rico, known as the Bermuda Triangle?

Nearly two-thirds of the material in The Bermuda Triangle comes from a novel by Charles Berlitz, which identifies several plausible variations of the perplexing catalyst. Here are a few of the more intriguing ones:

In an early segment, the crew of an old ship like the one Christopher Columbus used observes flying objects in the sky, creating all sorts of different atmospheric anomalies, which today can only be described as UFOs. Some years later, a plane heading towards Miami disappears from all radars and, with its crew not realizing, temporarily enters a time-bending hole. When the plane eventually lands in Miami, no one is able to explain the troubling event. The Philadelphia Experiment is reconstructed, too. In front of a high-ranking Navy official, several engineers demonstrate how advanced technology can make an entire Navy ship disappear. Another segment presents supposedly reliable information that Atlantis may have existed in this exact area, and somewhere on the bottom of the ocean is a giant power generator, built by its people, that is still active and causing atmospheric disturbances.

The Bermuda Triangle mixes too much information that cannot be taken seriously by a rational mind, so it is much more effective as escapist entertainment. But what if the rational mind has always been the major obstacle preventing scientists from identifying with an indisputable authority the catalyst of the phenomena documented in the Bermuda Triangle? What if there really is something there, something too big, too complex for the rational mind to identify? After all, even today, despite previously unthinkable advancements in technology, there are deep, unexplored areas of the ocean, with completely unknown ecosystems, that remain fascinating enigmas.

Even though it was produced for TV, The Bermuda Triangle is graced by a shockingly good soundtrack created by Oscar nominated composer John Cameron, whose credits include A Touch of Class, The Mirror Crack'd, and TV's Jack the Ripper.

The Bermuda Triangle 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, The Bermuda Triangle arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The master that was used to produce this release is not brand new. However, it produces very nice organic visuals that make it a treat to revisit the film. Nevertheless, you should expect to see some obvious fluctuations in terms of delineation, clarity, and depth because some segments use archival footage. Also, some segments are shot in a very particular way to emulate dated, archival material. This is a stylistic preference that is quite effective, though the special effects are, entirely unsurprisingly, pretty underwhelming, or at least by contemporary standards. Color reproduction and balance are wonderful. Saturation levels could be a little bit better, but all primaries and supporting nuances are properly set and already look very good. There are no stability issues. I noticed a few nicks, but there are no distracting large cuts, debris, warped or torn frames to report. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

The Bermuda Triangle 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.

I had seen The Bermuda Triangle many moons ago, and to be honest, I do not recall being impressed with its soundtrack. However, I had seen it on VHS. The other night, while revisiting it on Blu-ray, John Cameron's score impressed me a lot. It is the type of score you would expect to be commissioned for a big-budget genre film, and the lossless track made it shine in all the right ways. The narration and dialog are very clear, sharp, and easy to follow. I did not encounter any anomalies to report. It is possible that some small rebalancing improvements can be made, but the current lossless track is excellent.

The Bermuda Triangle Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• TV Spot - presented here is a vintage TV spot for The Bermuda Triangle. In English, not subtitled. (1 min).

• Commentary - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by producer James L. Conway. It is moderated by critic Howard S. Berger. Conway, who was involved with other similar films, discusses the genesis of The Bermuda Triangle and how the original material from Charles Berlitz's bestselling novel was transferred to it, as well as the appeal of the film during the '70s and the trend it became part of. Later in the commentary, there is also interesting information about the narrative construction, visual effects, and music.

The Bermuda Triangle Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A rational mind will easily find a lot to disagree with in The Bermuda Triangle. However, virtually all of the information Brad Crandall presents is meant to only entice the curious mind and, in the process, entertain. On the other hand, if one acknowledges that the rational mind has failed to convincingly explain all documented phenomena from that notorious area between Miami, Bermuda, and Puerto Rico, as Crandall rightfully points out, then perhaps there really is something quite bizarre happening there. The Bermuda Triangle is a great little film to see on a lazy Sunday afternoon, so if its subject appeals to you even a tiny bit, grab Kino Lorber's Blu-ray release for your library. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.