{"id":12199,"date":"2011-06-20T22:26:36","date_gmt":"2011-06-20T21:26:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/?p=12199"},"modified":"2011-06-20T22:26:36","modified_gmt":"2011-06-20T21:26:36","slug":"blu-ray-the-cruel-sea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/2011\/06\/20\/blu-ray-the-cruel-sea\/","title":{"rendered":"Blu-ray: The Cruel Sea"},"content":{"rendered":"

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This new Blu-ray release of The Cruel Sea<\/a><\/strong> is a good opportunity to experience this unusually gritty 1953 drama depicting life during the Battle of the Atlantic<\/a> in World War II<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Based on the best-selling novel<\/a> by Nicholas Monsarrat, it tells the story of life on board a Naval corvette<\/a> led by Captain Ericson (Jack Hawkins) and his inexperienced crew, who include Lockhart (Donald Sinden), Ferraby (John Stratton), John Morell (Denholm Elliott) and Hallam (Virginia McKenna).<\/p>\n

Directed by Charles Frend<\/a> and produced by Leslie Norman<\/a> (father of Barry<\/a>), it was a commendably frank depiction of the hardships of warfare.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The sense of realism is impressive for a film of the time: using a mixture location shooting, studio shots and model work, life on board the ship is portrayed with an admirable attention to detail.<\/p>\n

We never fully see the enemy German U-boats<\/a> and the effect keeps the tension high, whilst the stormy Atlantic is almost presented as a dangerous enemy of a different kind.<\/p>\n

The hardships and moral dilemmas of World War II are also well presented, making the characters feel like real people struggling with life during wartime and not one-dimensional heroes.<\/p>\n

Nominated for one Oscar (Best Screenplay) and three BAFTA Awards (including Best British Film and Best British Actor), it established Hawkins as a star and greatly boosted the careers of Sinden, Elliot and McKenna.<\/p>\n

Sinden is especially worth watching, as he invests his role with considerable depth, which may come as a surprise for those more familiar with his later work in UK television.<\/p>\n

It remains one of the better British depictions of World War II and still stands up well nearly sixty years on from when it was released.<\/p>\n

This re-release from Optimum Home Entertainment has been digitally restored and is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1: the 1080p transfer is impressive and wisely no digital corrections have been added to remove the natural grainy look of the film.<\/p>\n

As with any film of this age there some slight imperfections but overall this looks very good for a film of this age, with the close ups of characters looking especially good.<\/p>\n

The LPCM 2.0 audio track is handicapped by the original source material (often a problem with films of this age) but despite that, the dialogue is clean and easy to follow, whilst the action and overall ambience is fine.<\/p>\n

The extras feature the following:<\/p>\n