Force 10 from Navarone Blu-ray

Force 10 from Navarone

 (1978)

Action | Drama | War



In the darkest days of World War II, Hitler's armies are storming through Europe, annihilating all opposition in their path. But U.S. Colonel Barnsby (Ford) plots to strike a crippling blow to the brutal Nazi forces. To succeed, he'll need to help of the most skilled and lethal soldiers in the world: the Force 10 squad, fresh from its triumphant mission at Navarone.

For more details about Force 10 from Navarone on Blu-ray, see the Force 10 from Navarone Blu-ray Review

Force 10 from Navarone Blu-ray, Video Quality

 


Presented in 1080p utilizing the AVC codec (at an average bitrate of 21Mbps), Force 10 from Navarone is not your typical high-definition experience. For a film that’s just over thirty years old, I expected somewhat better proficiency in fine object detail. From the moment the film opens, the transfer exhibits a level of softness that barely surpasses an upconverted DVD. This is likely present in the source material and not a deficiency of the transfer, but it’s still worth mentioning in case you were hoping to see video quality on par with some of the recently remastered Blu-ray's of classic films. To make matters worse, some scenes exhibit a heavy dose of grain that gives the background a noisy characteristic, and there are numerous specks or scratches that pop up from time to time. On the bright side, I was impressed with the natural skintones and appropriate color saturation throughout the film (which is likely the area of greatest improvement over the standard definition release). Black levels and contrast are excellent during daytime sequences, but most of the nighttime sequences contain subpar contrast with a significant drop in shadow detail.

Overall, the transfer should reflect a marginal improvement over the DVD edition, but stands as a below-average example of Blu-ray’s high-definition capability.

Force 10 from Navarone Blu-ray, Audio Quality

 


Similar to the visual quality, the 5.1 DTS-HD MA English track is clearly limited by deficiencies in the original recording. I didn’t expect much surround use since you can’t turn applejuice into an apple, but I hoped the audio experience would at least exhibit occasional spatial dynamics. Grounded securely in the front soundstage, the track is notably proficient in the clarity of voices and effects, but still managed to sound a tad bright and tinny (mostly in the highs). A good example would be the reproduction of gunshots, which lack a realistic tone. Lastly, you should expect zero use of your subwoofer, since the LFE channel seems almost nonexistant.

Force 10 from Navarone Blu-ray, News and Updates

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