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The Movie:
This 1961 war film revolves around a group of British soldiers who work together to take over the greek Island of Navarone, which is controlled by German soldiers helming heavy guns. Taking out the placement would disable a controlling element of their force.
The film, a big budget epic with some impressive locations and performances, stars the fine cast of Gregory Peck, Anthony Quinn, David Peck and others. Some of the sequences show effects that are remarkable for a film of its age, and it did win an Oscar for Best Effects. What's remarkable besides all of that is how quickly the film moves along, packing a solid amount of tension and quick pacing into the over 150 minute running time. A superbly entertaining picture that I found very enjoyable on this, my first viewing of it.
The DVD
VIDEO: Tristar. That's all I've got to say about the quality of this DVD edition. Ok, I have more to say than that, but I have to say that, like the rest of the studio's work, I was greatly pleased with their work on this film, which is now about 39 years old. It does, of course, show some signs of age, but in general, it's of very good quality. The image remains sharp and clear throughout, with good detail. It's not a terribly colorful picture, and that pretty much keeps with the tone of the film.
The 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen edition of the film does have a few problems to note, but they're fairly minor; the picture occasionally looks grainy, but not to the level of being distracting. There is also the occasional mark and scratch on the print used as well, but this is a problem that is also not hugely noticable. Overall, this is a very pleasing visual experience, bringing a fresh life to this entertaining film.
SOUND: "Guns Of Navarone" has the option of listening to the film in Dolby Digital 5.1; although it's not agressive(with the exception of the ending), it does open up the sound a little bit to give a touch more fullness to the music. Some of the gunfire scenes get suprisingly lively, as well. The overall quality of the sound is very good - there is no noticable background hiss or distortion; although the audio is not full or rich, there is also no flaws with it.
MENUS:: As usual, Tristar has provided non-animated main menus. These are well-designed though, offering film-themed images and easy navigation.
EXTRAS:
Commentary: This is a commentary track from director J. Lee Thompson, who sits down to share his memories of making this picture during the film's production in 1959. The discussion does have a few pauses, but overall, the director shares his thoughts well, speaking about the production, working with the actors as well as filmmmaking in general.
His comments bring to light how the film was able to present some of the bigger sequences, and how the effects were done even at that point in time, pointing out what sets were built in the studio. It's interesting to hear his comments as someone who is looking back at a film almost 40 years later, and thinking about what he might have done differently, as well as what he still enjoys about the final film.
Again, there are a number of pauses of silence between comments, but that is something expected from 40 years since the film's production. There are also some areas where he simply points out what was shot in the studio, or speaks about what's going on in the story. When the director does chat about the production though, he does give a good amount of insight on what it took to pull off such a major movie that long ago.
"Memories Of Navarone": This is a retrospective documentary that visits with some of the cast and crew to collect their viewpoints on what it was like to play their specific characters in "The Guns Of Navarone". The insights and stories that they have to share are quite interesting and offer a wealth of information about the making of the film. The documentary runs a little over 29 minutes.
A Message From Carl Foreman: This is a short introduction from Foreman that introduced the film at the time of its release, thanking those involved.
Trailers: "Behold A Pale Horse" and "Guns Of Navarone".
Featurettes: These are four featurettes that were made during the picture's production - mainly promotional in nature, they still show some very cool behind-the-scenes footage of the production at work. One documentary, "no visitors", details how security was able to be kept on the locations, and shows the locals watching filming. The feaurettes are "No Visitors", "Great Guns", "Honeymoon On Rhodes" and "Two Girls On The Town".
Also: Talent files.
Final Thoughts: I found "Guns Of Navarone" to be a very entertaining film, and Tristar's DVD is definitely not a dissapointment, offering video quality that shows a few signs of age, but nothing distracting. Fine audio quality as well as some entertaining extras round out the package nicely.
Film Grade
The Film A-
DVD Grades
Video 87/B = (348/400 possible points)
Audio: 83/B = (332/400 possible points)
Extras: 87/B = (261/300 possible points)
Menus: 75/C (150/200 possible points)
Value: 84/B = (252/300 possible points)
TOTAL: 1343/1600
DVD GRADE:B/84%
FILM GRADE: A-
DVD GRADE: B
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