Warfare Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

Warfare Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 2, 2025

Note: I am continuing to caution prospective consumers about utilizing A24's own online shop for any Blu-ray purchases, since it has been something of a disaster for me personally in terms or order fulfilment and response to inquiries.

A number of prominent film directors have either had direct combat experience or at least been tangentially involved in various global conflicts going back to World War I. That fracas saw "recruits" who would later become iconic names in cinema, including William Wellman, King Vidor, Merian C. Cooper, Howard Hawks, Lewis Milestone, and in the world cinema department Jean Renoir and Fritz Lang. Many of those men were officially too old to be either conscripted or volunteer for World War II, but as the appealing multi-part 2017 documentary Five Came Back illustrated, any number of new iconic names participated in that conflict, including William Wyler, Frank Capra, George Stevens, John Ford and John Huston. Now, the World War II guys tended to be utilized as filmmakers, famously contributing to the war effort with propaganda pieces, but it's salient to note that their war experiences certainly informed at least some of their subsequent work, as in Wyler's The Best Years of Our Lives and/or Stevens' The Diary of Anne Frank. There's absolutely no doubt, however, that some of the World War I vets made spectacular use of whatever "particular set of skills" they may have picked up in the service, with ace flyer Wellman helming Wings and Milestone helming one of the all time great anti-war efforts, All Quiet on the Western Front. Later directors, perhaps most saliently Oliver Stone, also famously put their wartime experiences to use in their filmmaking careers, and Stone contributed a triptych of sorts documenting aspects of the Vietnam War in Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July and Heaven & Earth. This is all to say that while Warfare is another film (co)-written and (co)-directed by a veteran, in this case the story is arguably more personal than in any of the above productions, even the redolent works of Oliver Stone. Warfare documents an ambush of sorts that Ray Mendoza (that aforementioned writer and director) experienced in Iraq as part of a Navy S.E.A.L. team. The story here is based entirely on the documented memories of Mendoza's platoon and is therefore an unusual visceral account of what it's like to be a soldier caught in a trap of someone else's making, in more ways than one.

Of course "war is hell" is the indisputable subtext of this piece, one which unfolds in real time as Navy SEAL platoon Alpha One enjoys a little R&R with a funny exercise video featuring hot babes thrusting their pelvises suggestively, before they all head out into Ramadi under the cover of darkness to more or less "invade" an apartment building which is going to give them the ability to provide cover for a later Marines ground operation. Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC) Ray Mendoza (D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai) may not officially be in command, but he's a logistical wizard helping to coordinate both the guys surrounding him and the soon to be interloping Marines. Officer in Charge (OIC) Erik (Will Poulter) is attempting to deal with both relatively grizzled vets and some newcomers. The "hell" part actually takes around a half hour or so to fully unfold, and the first part of the film might be characterized as "war is a slog", as the guys take over the building, deal with frightened natives, and get ready for whatever is coming next.

Things become decidedly more precarious when an ill considered decision to let a sniper without much experience replace the more highly skilled Elliot (Cosmo Jarvis), which leads to a spiraling downward trajectory toward chaos which ultimately ends with devastating injuries to Elliot and another platoon member (the film is actually dedicated to the real life Elliot, who survived his wounds, but is badly disfigured and evidently unable to speak). That then of course changes the "mission", as that "no man left behind" ethos kicks into high gear and the guys have to figure out how they're going to get out of a veritable battle zone with badly injured comrades. The (outside) command structure in place is also not particularly helpful, making things even more fraught.

Rather interestingly, Mendoza's collaborator in the writing and directing departments is Alex Garland, whose immediately prior film, Civil War, depicted internecine conflict, though one intentionally opaque enough that it was something of a challenge for audiences to easily "choose a side". In that regard, it's probably again intentional and notable that Warfare doesn't really have any of, say, Stone's screed like tendencies, and is instead "simply" an up close and personal deconstruction of a group of men in a combat situation not of their choosing having to try to find a way out.

Warfare Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Warfare is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of A24 with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.00:1. The IMDb lists the DJ Ronin camera and a 4K DI as relevant data points. This 1080 release sports some surprisingly consistent detail levels despite a number of potential problem areas. Firstly, there's a quasi-vérité approach toward the cinematography, though interestingly in that regard there's (thankfully in my opinion) relatively little "jiggly cam", something that helps to elevate the ability to actually perceive fine detail. There are any number of peripatetic camera moves, especially during some of the actual moments of "battle" that can obfuscate things, and two key moments include explosions where dust and debris further complicates matters, but this 1080 presentation delivers fulsome detail almost all of the time, and handles any compression hurdles vis a vis haze in the wake of a bomb with ease. The digital grain is probably less apparent here than in A24's 4K UHD release. There are some moments of near total darkness, especially in an early sequence where the guys are walking through abandoned city streets in the middle of the night, and very little shadow detail can be discerned. This 1080 version kind of interestingly tends to point out the interlaced source of the disjunctive opening exercise video more than A24's 4K release.

Warfare Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Warfare features an explosive Dolby Atmos track that provides at least two absolute whirlwinds of activity during an initial grenade attack and then later an IED explosion. But quite impressively even in the cloistered confines of the house the SEALs take over there is consistent engagement of the surround channels, which actually only helps to support the claustrophobic atmosphere, as various looming ambient environmental effects dot the side and rear channels, at times menacingly. There's actually not much music other than the disjunctive opening exercise video, which features "Call on Me" by Eric Prydz. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Forced subtitles accompany a few moments in Arabic, but otherwise optional English and Spanish subtitles are available.

Warfare Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Filmmaker Commentary with Ray Mendoza, Alex Garland and Military Consultant Brian Philpot


• Courage Under Fire: The Making of Warfare (HD; 28:34) has a number of good interviews and some interesting footage of the guys attending a quasi "boot camp" where they were instructed in military demeanor and techniques.

This comes with A24's standard DigiPack with art cards in the left pocket. This is the first release I recall where A24 offers different images on the slipboxes for its 4K and 1080 releases.

Warfare Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This is a visceral examination of a group of men under incredible duress, and it's obviously an homage crafted by Mendoza to both his own experience but probably more importantly to his comrades in arms. Technical merits are solid and the supplements enjoyable. Recommended.