Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

To Hell and Back Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov October 21, 2019

Jesse Hibbs' "To Hell and Back" (1955) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Umbrella Entertainment. There are no supplemental features on the disc. In English, without optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

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 2.34:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, To Hell and Back arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Umbrella Entertainment.

The master that was used to source the release is old, but it is actually quite nice. Yes, it does have some rough spots -- some transitions for instance have small but obvious density drops -- and there are some darker sequences where the less-than-optimal shadow definition flattens the visuals a bit, but the master still reveals plenty of decent to good depth, as well as many areas where clarity is pleasing. The best news here is that there are no traces of digital adjustments, which ensures that the film has a good organic appearance. Again, if restored the film will look better, but what you are getting with this release is a dated organic appearance of an older film, which often looks quite good. (For reference, this is exactly what you are not getting from the recent release of ffolkes, which is also sourced from an old master that emerged from Universal's vaults. This particular master, however, has a very harsh digital appearance that makes the film pretty much impossible to enjoy). The color scheme can be better. The primaries should be better saturated and stability can be improved. Plenty of nuances can be expanded as well. However, the overall balance and saturation are still decent. Some white specks and blemishes remain, but there is no serious damage that could make your viewing of the film an annoying experience. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

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 (48kHz, 24-bit). Optional English SDH subtitles are not provided for the main feature.

The audio is clean and stable. I think that there is room for some balance adjustments, and perhaps even additional optimizations in the mid- and upper registers. This should help the overall dynamic balance of the soundtrack as well. However, as it is the lossless track is still quite nice.

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

Most unfortunately, there are no supplemental features to be found on this Blu-ray release.

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

To Hell and Back is the type of great and important American film that deserves an elaborate restoration and equally impressive Blu-ray release with plenty of informative bonus features. (All films do, but To Hell and Back desperately needs one. I can place it well ahead of so many films that have received big makeovers and found a spot in the Criterion Collection, which is exactly where To Hell and Back belongs). Hopefully, we will see one soon. In the meantime, I strongly recommend that you pick up this recent Blu-ray release from Australian label Umbrella Entertainment for your library. It is sourced from an older master that was supplied by Universal Pictures, but this master is actually rather nice. It has decent organic qualities and I think that it represents a good upgrade in quality over the old DVD release of the film that the studio produced more than a decade ago. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.