The Secret Invasion Blu-ray Movie

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The Secret Invasion Blu-ray Movie United States

Kino Lorber | 1964 | 98 min | Not rated | May 05, 2015

The Secret Invasion (Blu-ray Movie), temporary cover art

Price

List price: $29.95
Third party: $49.96
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Buy The Secret Invasion on Blu-ray Movie

Movie rating

6.5
 / 10

Blu-ray rating

Users0.0 of 50.0
Reviewer3.5 of 53.5
Overall3.5 of 53.5

Overview

The Secret Invasion (1964)

The Nazis imprison an Italian general who was planning to switch sides and turn over his army to the Allied side. Allied headquarters sends a small, somewhat misfit group of soldiers to spring the general from prison and carry out his plans

Starring: Stewart Granger, Raf Vallone, Mickey Rooney, Edd Byrnes, Henry Silva
Director: Roger Corman

War100%
AdventureInsignificant
ActionInsignificant

Specifications

  • Video

    Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
    Video resolution: 1080p
    Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
    Original aspect ratio: 2.35:1

  • Audio

    English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0

  • Subtitles

    English

  • Discs

    25GB Blu-ray Disc
    Single disc (1 BD)

  • Playback

    Region A (B, C untested)

Review

Rating summary

Movie3.0 of 53.0
Video4.0 of 54.0
Audio2.5 of 52.5
Extras2.5 of 52.5
Overall3.5 of 53.5

The Secret Invasion Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf May 7, 2015

While working on his Edgar Allan Poe adaptations, director Roger Corman found time to make his first major studio feature with 1964’s “The Secret Invasion,” a WWII men-on-a-mission film that took the helmer out of literary fantasy and stuck him in the middle of history. Boasting a diverse cast that includes Stewart Granger, Mickey Rooney, and Edd Byrnes, “The Secret Invasion” attempts to marry the cold realities of life with excitable conflicts, making an effort to ground matinee adventure with a certain level of emotional gravity. Most of the picture feels like filler, yet Corman deserves credit for stretching, struggling to craft a movie that can play as a distraction and still land a few psychological gut-punches along the way.


“The Secret Invasion” has been compared to 1967’s “The Dirty Dozen,” and while the pictures share similarities in plot and character, the tone of Corman’s film is more about survival and introspection, with Henry Silva portraying an especially sensitive soldier, carrying a tortured quality that mutes the free-for-all attitude the effort explores but never indulges in full. After all, it’s impossible to view the feature as a wartime joyride when a subplot concerns the accidental death of an infant. Thankfully, Corman doesn’t get carried away, spending more time making sense of his characters than staging combat sequences.


The Secret Invasion Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality  4.0 of 5

The AVC encoded image (2.35:1 aspect ratio) presentation comes through with impressive clarity, delivering period cinematography with encouraging sharpness. Detail is secure and inviting, surveying aged faces and decorated interiors, while locations are handled with depth and texture. Colors remain defined, with bright blue skies and natural skintones, while costuming brings out additional hues. Grain is managed, preserving a filmic appearance, and blacks are true, with terrific delineation. Print shows signs of debris and hair, and speckling is detected. Harsh splices pop into view periodically.


The Secret Invasion Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality  2.5 of 5

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA mix doesn't carry the necessary sonic firepower to motivate a war film into cinematic position. It's a quiet track, require a major boost in volume to reach normal levels of engagement, while pronounced hiss runs throughout the presentation, muting clarity. Dialogue is largely intact, but rarely does it spark to life, maintaining a reserved position in the mix. Combat sequences carry major explosions and gunfire, but nothing is defined crisply, with muddiness restraining the listening experience.


The Secret Invasion Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras  2.5 of 5

  • Interview (5:35, HD) with director Roger Corman briefly runs through the production history of "The Secret Invasion," which began life during a dental appointment. Talk of location shooting is included, and praise is shared for the producer (and Roger's brother), Gene Corman.
  • And a Theatrical Trailer (3:12, HD) is included.


The Secret Invasion Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation  3.5 of 5

"The Secret Invasion" is pokey, never achieving a steady pace even with enticing turns of plot and an interest in exploring the team's use of finger-snap timing to work out their master plan of escape. Still, dry patches aside, solid performances keep "The Secret Invasion" involving, making it the rare war effort where personality, not brawn, demands the most attention.