By Fred Topel | Image property of respective holders
The Sand Pebbles
Fox is half right in releasing five war films on Blu Ray for Father's Day. Dads do like war, but they forgot that they hate technology. My dad will watch documentaries all day, but he'll never step up to Blu Ray. Anyway, the films do look great.
On Blu-Ray: Five HD War Films
The Sand Pebbles looks the best. It is flawless. All the cluttered scenes on the ship or in the Chinese town are crisp in perfect detail. The clean white naval uniforms shine brightly and you can see some detail in the crust of the ship's engine room.
The Longest Day is the clearest I've ever seen a black and white movie. You really notice it when they cut between stock footage and the restored film. You see matte lines a little more clearly too but that's quaint. There are few minute details but the vast backgrounds are clear. You will notice the crust of the barracks floor, the flakes of army blankets and old brick houses. Not so much the beach sand you might express. The soundstage battlefields glow in the "moon"light as does the shiny slick hair.
A Bridge Too Far is also crisp and clear. Maybe there isn't so much detail since it's all tanks and uniforms. It's overcast Germany so not much color and light. Even the greenery looks more like camouflage, not a lush countryside. You do notice all the smooth faced boys reinforcing the innocence of their sacrifice, and it is a clean print. There are some heavy grains in the dusk sky, but that's rare.
Battle of Britain is grainy throughout. Like not just as a result of the age of the film, like they didn't even bother and just slapped it together. There are some nice colors in the sky and countryside, but with so much taking place in the sky, the grain is very evident.
Patton actually didn't work in my PS3. I'm sure I could get it replaced and it's just a weird tech thing and this is probably the centerpiece of the collection.
Add to Heffee!
