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Sahara (Blu-ray)
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray B - United Kingdom - Powerhouse Films Review written by and copyright: Rick Curzon (20th December 2024). |
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The Film
 Humphrey Bogart (The Harder They Fall), Bruce Bennett (Undertow) and J Carrol Naish (The Lives of a Bengal Lancer) star in Sahara, a thrilling tale of World War II heroism from director Zoltán Korda (A Woman’s Vengeance). Separated from his unit following the fall of Tobruk, Master Sergeant Joe Gunn (Bogart) and his crew flee in a tank across the Sahara, picking up a variety of stragglers and prisoners along the way. With their survival entirely dependent on the water from a depleted well, the group must defend it against a whole German battalion. Produced by Harry Joe Brown (Buchanan Rides Alone) and shot under harsh conditions in the unforgiving landscape of the Colorado Desert, the production of Sahara utilised an entire US Army division as extras, adding to the film’s gritty sense of realism.
Video
This is a first rate WWII action drama set in 1942 after the Battle of Tobruk (April-November 1941) and leading up to the Battles of El Alamein (July-November). It tells the story of an American M3 tank and it's crew and the straggling Allied soldiers (and one Italian) who they pick up as they cross the desert to safety and looking for water. Excellent performances, a decent script and production are the highlights. From the booklet accompanying this Powerhouse Films' release: Sahara was sourced from Sony’s HD remaster. The film’s original mono soundtrack was remastered at the same time.Sony masters are usually excellent and this one is no different. Beautiful inky monochrome with perfectly balanced gamma with no colour bias creeping in. As good a B&W, Academy ratio image as I've ever seen in nearly a decade of reviewing Blu-rays. There is some minor damage here and there but it's fleeting and not always noticeable in motion. Shy of a 4K UHD BD we aren't going to see an improvement on this BD50. The image has great dynamic range with deep dark shadows and detail to bright highlights (the film is set in the desert with the sun beating down. No crush, no blown out highlights in this perfectly balanced image. Fine detail and grain are ever present. You can see the hairs on all the manly, hairy legs with clarity! A superb HD transfer ('A'). 1080p24 / AVC MPEG-4 / BD50 / 1.37:1 / 97:41
Audio
English LPCM 1.0 (48kHz, 16-bit) Subtitles: English Sound is of limited range as one would expect but it's a solid mono track nonetheless. Dialogue is always clear and Miklós Rózsa's fine score knows its place and purpose, taking over when need and retreating with dialogue beckons. It's a topnotch track for its era and gets the job done well. Hard of hearing subtitles are typically excellent and translate every scrap and nuance of the dialogue ('B+').
Extras
Audio commentary with film historian C. Courtney Joyner (2024) Novelist and screenwriter Joyner does his usual great job covering Sahara. He kicks off by stating that Sahara is unusual in that it was made when the events it depicts, or discusses, had only just more or less happened. He covers all the bases one would expect for a yaktrak: cast, key crew, locations, military equipment featured, literary origins etc etc. Presented in lossy English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono (48kHz, 112Kbps); no subtitles. "Small Miracles: Ehsan Khoshbakht on Sahara" 2024 interview (12:34) Excellent short featurette in which Khoshbakht discusses how the film had such an impact that he didn't watch it again for over twenty years. He gives us a potted history of the film's genesis, its influences, literary origins and place in Bogart's career. We get info on several key players including director Korda. Presented in 1080p24 1.78:1 with lossy English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo (48kHz, 112Kbps) with optional hard of hearing English subs. Theatrical Trailer (1:39) Vintage promo is HD. Sahara Image Gallery: Original Promotional Material (50 images) Hefty HD gallery of promotional images. "Building a Tank" 1942 short film (19:39) "The Siege of Tobruk" 1942 short film (17:42) From the booklet: How to Build a Tank was transferred in High Definition from a 35mm finegrain master composite print by the US National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). The Siege of Tobruk was supplied in High Definition by the Imperial War Museum (IWM).Two welcome wartime documentary, propaganda shorts that have specific relevance to the main feature. The first takes us to Detroit and shows how an M3 tank was made, the second covers the devastating defeat of UK forces at the Siege of Tobruk (April-November 1941). Presented in 1080p24 1.37:1 with lossy English Dolby Digital 1.0 (48kHz, 192Kbps) with English hard of hearing subs. There's minor speckling throughout both films but it's not terribly noticeable. Image quality is surprisingly strong if not up to the quality of the main feature. 40-page liner notes booklet with a new essay by Imogen Sara Smith, an archival interview with actor Kurt Kreuger, an archival on-set profile of Humphrey Bogart, a look at how the film’s promotion assisted the war effort, new writing on the short films and film credits The usual chunky hardcopy companion has an excellent new essay by Smith and plenty of archival goodies.
Packaging
Not sent for review.
Overall
Zoltan Korda's fine WWII action drama Gets the deluxe treatment using Sony's excellent HD master as it's foundation. Image and sound are as strong as the HD format will allow and the extras are choice and build contextual added value. Highly recommended ('A-').
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