Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Watership Down Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 26, 2019

Martin Rosen's "Watership Down" (1978) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Australian label Umbrella Entertainment. There are no bonus features on this release. In English, without optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

The New World

The rabbits fear the supreme creator that has given them the world they live in. They have different colonies in which different rules determine how they reproduce and feed each other. They have leaders who have defined their individual freedoms and merciless watchers ready to punish them if needed. They live and die without questioning what they have been told to believe in.

When the humans come dangerously close to their warren while developing a beautiful piece of land, a group of rabbits decide to find a new home. They don’t know where to go, but they trust that Fiver, Hazel’s younger brother, will get them there because he has seen it in his dreams. Before they leave the rabbits attempt to warn their leader that the warren will soon be destroyed, but instead of organizing a mass relocation of the community he labels them traitors and orders his loyal watchers to hunt them down.

Along the way, the rabbits face numerous threats -- some they understand and avoid, but some confuse and terrify them. Eventually, a friendly and much more experienced bird, Kehaar, helps them reach their destination.

What makes Martin Rosen’s Watership Down a special film is its ability to tell a seemingly simple story in a way that forces the mind to think about a variety of different subjects. Kids will like it because it reveals a magical world in which the extraordinary very quickly becomes ordinary and good always finds a way to triumph over evil. There is also depth and sincerity in its characters -- the good and the bad ones -- that are incredibly attractive. There is even more for adults to like. Behind the colorful visuals there is a fascinating deconstruction of the world we live in and numerous strikingly accurate observations about our strengths and weaknesses and the ways they define us.

Watership Down is based on the best-selling novel by Richard Adams, which was published in 1972. At the time the world was divided by political ideologies that are virtually identical to the ones that form the key conflicts in the film. Indeed, the rabbits’ journey is essentially a litmus test that exposes a string of flawed concepts of patriotism, loyalty, and treason that years later would crumble the Soviet Bloc much like they collapse the closed system the rebel rabbits abandon. The film’s take on religion and death is equally fascinating. In it there is an obvious relationship between the two that imitates the conventional relationships our world’s major religions have promoted for years and eventually highlights some of its weaknesses.

The rabbits are voiced by a truly spectacular cast. John Hurt is Hazel, Richard Briers is Fiver, Simon Cadell is Blackberry, and Michael Graham Cox is the strong Bigwig. Additionally, Harry Andrews is the dangerous Gen. Woundwort, Zero Mostel is the friendly bird Kehaar, and Lynn Farleigh is Cat.

The animation is lush but not overdone. Many of the darker images are especially atmospheric. Oscar nominated composer Angela Morley‘s (The Little Prince) soundtrack opens up the film in all the right places but does not affect its pacing.

In 1999, director Rosen produced a TV series remake of his feature film. A co-production of Alltime Entertainment (United Kingdom) and Decode Entertainment (Canada), it aired for 39 episodes and three series from 1999 to 2001.

Watership Down Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Martin Rosen's Watership Down arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

I did some direct comparisons with the North American release of the film that Criterion produced in 2015 and I thought that the basic characteristics of the two presentations are virtually identical (in this particular case, the slight difference in the framing is meaningless). If there are some nuanced but important discrepancies, then I most definitely missed them because when I played the discs I focused on delineation, depth, and color balance and on my system these areas looked identical. Some native fluctuations are visible, but these are the type of density fluctuations that I was also able to spot on the Region-A release. Finally, there are no distracting large debris, cuts, damage marks, warped or torn frames to report. (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).

Watership Down 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 not provided for the main feature.

The audio is clean, stable, and nicely balanced. There is a good range of nuanced dynamics that allow the soundtrack to further strengthen the dramatic atmosphere, and quite predictably it is in these areas that the most meaningful contrasts can be heard. There are no traces of age-related anomalies.

Watership Down Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Unfortunately, there are no bonus features to be found on this Blu-ray release.

Watership Down Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I compared this recent release of Watership Down from Umbrella Entertainment with the one that Criterion produced in North America a few years ago and I think that Australian fans of the film will be quite happy with it because as far as the technical presentation is concerned the two seem practically identical. What is missing on this release is a good selection of bonus features, but on the other hand it is very reasonably priced. RECOMMENDED.