Battle of the Bulge (HD DVD)

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A narrator begins by telling us the story is about "a few battle-weary American divisions. To them the war seemed already won." The German hope was to divide the Allied troops and throw them into disarray long enough for Germany to get its new secret weapons readied, things like jet airplanes and new, superior tanks. According to the film, it was the few American divisions we see that saved the War from going on any longer than it might have.

The most harrowing sequences in the show occur at the beginning and the end: a car chasing down a dirt road and then the final tank battle. The film executes both of these segments well, and they keep our attention. It's the two-and-a-half hours in between that are the problem.

Video:
Warner Bros. originally filmed the movie in Ultra-Panavision for showing in Cinerama, one of the widest formats available for theaters at about 2.76:1. Across my screen, the HD-DVD picture shows up at a whopping 2.52:1 ratio, one of the widest I've ever measured, and it may appear even wider on your set depending on overscan. More important, WB restored the picture from the best elements they had at their disposal, making the video look better than most new movies.

The movie's Technicolor holds up beautifully, with hues that are vivid, solid, realistic, and deep, and black levels that are extraordinarily strong. Definition is superior, even for an HD-DVD, with some shots looking absolutely spectacular, with a bare minimum of visible print grain. Like the movie "Grand Prix," from about the same time, "The Battle of the Bulge" represents some of the best picture quality the medium has to offer.

Audio:
WB revamped the soundtrack, too, presenting its original multichannel in Dolby Digital Plus 5.1. Given its age and the fact that many soundtracks of the era tend to come off as edgy and metallic, this one is quite smooth and natural sounding by comparison, especially the music. The sonics have a wide dynamic range, good clarity, strong impact, and a reasonably well-controlled bass. There is a wide front-channel stereo spread, although a somewhat restricted rear-channel response. The surrounds limit themselves mainly to musical enhancement, and a few explosions and gunshots. At times, too, the sound seems slightly muted, while at other times it seems a touch nasal, perhaps the result of noise reduction, I don't know. In any case, most of it comes off pretty well.

Extras:
The primary bonus item is an audio commentary by the film's director, Ken Annakin, and one of its actors, James MacArthur. They may not be the most stimulating speakers in these kinds of things, but they are enormously informative. Given the fact that the film was made over four decades ago, it's nice to hear from people still around who worked on it. In addition, there are two vintage, black-and-white featurettes, "The Filming of Battle of the Bulge," nine minutes, and "History Recreated," eight minutes, both in standard definition.

The extras conclude with forty-seven scene selections, but no chapter insert; a widescreen theatrical trailer; English and French spoken languages; and English, French, and Spanish subtitles. For the HD-DVD, there are also English captions for the hearing impaired, a zoom-and-pan feature, bookmarks, an indicator of elapsed time, and an Elite Red HD case.

Parting Shots:
I couldn't help thinking that "The Battle of the Bulge" has a lot in common with "The Great Escape"; they're both superb visually. But in terms of plot and character, the similarity ends. "The Great Escape" concentrated on people; "The Battle of the Bulge" concentrates on tactics. One comes away loving "Escape" for its fleshed-out, three-dimensional characterizations; one comes away from "Bulge" merely admiring its craftsmanship.

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