Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

To Hell and Back Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov December 16, 2021

Jesse Hibbs' "To Hell and Back" (1955) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include exclusive new audio commentary by critics Steve Mitchell and Steven Jay Rubin as well as vintage trailer. In English, without optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The new guy

The generation that Audie Murphy and his buddies were a part of will be remembered as the greatest ever. It is true that ever is a long time, but the heroism of these men and the magnitude of their sacrifice will be impossible to surpass. If there are wars that have to be fought in the future, they will be different. Brilliant -- or perhaps completely mad -- tacticians will determine their outcomes in just a few minutes, and their only casualties will be produced by the armies of drones and AI ‘soldiers’ that will clash on the battlefield.

In Jesse Hibbs’ classic film To Hell and Back Audie plays himself, a fearless but initially slightly naïve patriot who became one of America’s all-time greatest war heroes. He grew up in rural Texas where the war was always in the news but most people apparently felt like it was a distant event. For a long time Audie was one of them too, so when America was attacked he immediately packed a travel bag and headed to the nearest military recruitment office. His boyish face nearly earned him a return ticket, but eventually he was given a uniform, and once he put it on, he never looked back. (This is literally what happened because once Audie reached the front, he basically kept bulldozing his way through the enemy. He became unstoppable).

The film is broken into multiple episodes that recreate some of the key events from Audie’s life. In one of them he is seen as a teenage boy (played by Gordon Gebert) trying to help his ill mother put food on the table, and eventually witnessing her premature death. In another Audie is already in North Africa where he matures as a soldier and begins earning the respect of his army buddies. By the time his unit is transferred to Sicily, Audie’s friendship with Johnson (Marshall Thompson), Brandon (Charles Drake), Johnson (Marshall Thompson), and Kerrigan (Jack Kelly) is already formed as well. Another episode chronicles the long and dangerous journey to Rome and reveals Audie as a fearless leader and exceptionally skillful fighter.

While a few of the episodes from the second half could have been edited slightly better, the visuals that emerge from them are simply breathtaking. Indeed, it is very easy to tell that all battle scenes were actually staged to appear as realistic as possible because not only is there a massive amount of military equipment before the camera, but the timing of the explosions and movement of people around the camera appear incredibly precise as well. As a result, once Audie and his buddies begin clashing with the enemy, it feels like the man holding the camera is actually part of their crew. It is rather remarkable.

The best combat footage comes when Audie and his men are ordered to attack an Italian farmhouse held by a large German platoon. The battle that ensues is long, fierce and quite graphic. The Americans force the Germans to abandon their position, but later on they return backed by multiple tanks.

To Hell and Back was a massive box office hit for Universal Pictures and it was many years later that Jaws finally broke its record.

After the war Audie actually had a rather impressive career in Hollywood and appeared in a number of really good films, such as No Name on the Bullet, Hell Bent for Leather, Destry, and The Gun Runners.

Audie died in a plane crash on May 28, 1971. He was only 46.

To Hell and Back Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, To Hell and Back arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

In 2019, we reviewed this Australian release of To Hell and Back from Umbrella Entertainment which was sourced from an older but quite nice master that was supplied by Universal Pictures. This release is sourced from the exact same master. I did not notice any meaningful discrepancies between the two releases to report in our review.

I still think that the film looks quite good in high-definition, though obviously the ideal scenario would have been to have it fully restored in 4K. However, there are no traces of problematic digital work, and as you probably know well by now, this is a major bonus on older masters that emerge from the major's vaults. The same minor but noticeable density fluctuations are retained, plus I could see the exact same unevenness in darker areas where shadow definition isn't optimal. Grain exposure is pleasing, but this is one of the areas where the age of the master shows. The same can be said about color balance. I think that it is convincing, but it is clear that there is room for improvement both in terms of saturation and depth. (By color depth I mean expansion of the existing supporting nuances, which at present can appear somewhat limited). Some minor stability enhancements can be made as well. A few specks and small blemishes can be seen popping up, but there are no distracting large debris, cuts, damage marks, warped or torn frames to report. All in all, even though the age of the current master shows, I think it has fine organic qualities. (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).

To Hell and Back 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. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

The lossless track reproduces the native qualities of the original soundtrack very well. However, I am quite certain that if the folks at Universal Pictures restored the film in 4K the audio will be redone and some minor yet meaningful improvements will be introduced. I think that there is some room for rebalancing adjustments, perhaps even better dynamics/oomph. To Hell and Back is the type of film that seems like an ideal candidate for one of these new Dolby Atmos tracks that are being introduced on recent 4K Blu-ray/ Blu-ray releases.

To Hell and Back Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - a vintage trailer for To Hell and Back In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Commentary - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by filmmaker and critic Steve Mitchell and Combat Films: American Realism author Steven Jay Rubin. As usual, these gentlemen provide plenty of interesting information about the production history and critical reception of the film as well as the era in which it emerged from. Plenty is said about Audie Murphy and his image as an American hero as well as his work in the film industry. I liked the commentary.

To Hell and Back Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Of course, it is good to have a local Blu-ray release of To Hell and Back so that people can pick it up for their collections, but this is the type of great and important American film that should have been fully restored in 4K. It is one of the very best Audie Murphy made, too. Kino Lorber's release is sourced from an older but nice organic master that was supplied by Universal Pictures. Also, it has a good exclusive new audio commentary that was recorded by critics Steve Mitchell and Steven Jay Rubin. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. (If the subject matter of To Hell and Back appeals to you, also consider adding to your collection Robert Aldrich's Attack!, which was released a year later).