Press Release SPHE Press Release: The Guns of Navarone (1961) (4k UHD) (1 Viewer)

[commander richardson]

Over on Bluray.com, some dumbbell commenter called TGON "The epitome of silly 60s action movies.."

People are entitled to their opinion but one thing for sure and that is it is not a silly 60's action movie. There is nothing silly about it in anyway whatsoever.

 

[Tino]

Over on Bluray.com, some dumbbell

Par for the course over there!

 

[Alan Tully]

Well, as I hinted, I agree with the guy over at blu-ray.com. British war films of the fifties (mostly b/w & small scale) tended to be from the soldiers point of view, & then in the sixties we got the big widescreen boys own adventure films, mostly from the officer's point of view, & it looks like that started with The Guns Of Navarone. A few others: Operation Crossbow, The Great Escape, The Dirty Dozen, Battle Of The Bulge, The Battle of Brittan, Von Ryan's Express, & of course the daft but totally enjoyable Where Eagles Dare (& that one really needs a new 4K scan). No criticism is implied, as I love a lot of those films (The Great Escape is in my top ten of all time favourites).

I just thought of another daft thing with Guns, the young Greek guy, he dies because he forgot he was in a war movie & thought he was in a western.

 

[RICK BOND]

My WWII Bluray Collection 1958 to 1970 I LVE them all !

 

[lark144]

Well, as I hinted, I agree with the guy over at blu-ray.com. British war films of the fifties (mostly b/w & small scale) tended to be from the soldiers point of view, & then in the sixties we got the big widescreen boys own adventure films, mostly from the officer's point of view, & it looks like that started with The Guns Of Navarone. A few others: Operation Crossbow, The Great Escape, The Dirty Dozen, Battle Of The Bulge, The Battle of Brittan, Von Ryan's Express, & of course the daft but totally enjoyable Where Eagles Dare (& that one really needs a new 4K scan). No criticism is implied, as I love a lot of those films (The Great Escape is in my top ten of all time favourites).

I just thought of another daft thing with Guns, the young Greek guy, he dies because he forgot he was in a war movie & thought he was in a western.

"Guns of Navarone" was more a precursor of James Bond than a serious, stiff-upper lip British war film. It wouldn't call it silly, as the war was recent enough for there to still be a certain gravitas to the proceedings, but it was definitely implausible, and also great fun and directed and produced and acted with immense style--except for Richard Harris' aussie accent--so one didn't mind that a lot of it didn't make sense. It was a star vehicle, not a character study. The basic concept was adapted for numerous spy and WWII war films in the 1960's: take a small group of commandos, have them trapped in what seems an impossible situation, have them escape in a surprising--albeit implausible--way, have them trapped again in an even more hopeless situation, have them escape again, and then blow everything up at the end. It's repeated in "Dr. No", "You Only Live Twice", "The Dirty Dozen", "Where Eagles Dare", etc. It's an idea going back to the Pearl White serials. Whenever I watch it, I'm aware how arbitrary and unrealistic it all is; but I'm having too much fun to care.

 

[Alan Tully]

I agree, the acting's great, esp. from Gregory Peck, as good a performance as he's ever given. I do feel sorry for Stanley Baker, you hardly remember that he's in it, his part is so underwritten (or maybe a lot of it ended up on the cutting room floor).

 

[Chewbabka]

My WWII Bluray Collection 1958 to 1970 I LVE them all ! View attachment 108259

Do you make all your cover art yourself? What a sick looking collection.

 

[RICK BOND]

Do you make all your cover art yourself? What a sick looking collection.

Many I do myself and others I have other people design for me and I print them. Glad you like my collection. It's a Hobby.

 

[YANG]

My WWII Bluray Collection 1958 to 1970 I LVE them all ! View attachment 108259

Oooh... ... ...!!! I'm drooling over your collection!!!
Noticed that most of your titles seems to be concentrated on the European side of battle, with exception of Tora Tora Tora which i'm familiar of. Just a little surprised that A BRIDGE TOO FAR is not included here.

Anyway... just a little suggestion on what to add... for your interest...
Universal's MIDWAY and McARTHUR.
Paramount's IN HARM's WAY.
Columbia's BRIDGE ON RIVER KWAI, ANZIO,
FOX's DESERT FOX and THE ENEMY BELOW
...and last but not least CROSS OF IRON and THE DIRTY DOZEN and ICE STATION ZEBRA.

 

[Tom St Jones]

My WWII Bluray Collection 1958 to 1970 I LVE them all ! View attachment 108259

Criterion's actual "The Great Escape" cover art is very good.. However, yours/Frank McCarthy's is decidedly better. :>]

 

[RICK BOND]

Oooh... ... ...!!! I'm drooling over your collection!!!
Noticed that most of your titles seems to be concentrated on the European side of battle, with exception of Tora Tora Tora which i'm familiar of. Just a little surprised that A BRIDGE TOO FAR is not included here.

Anyway... just a little suggestion on what to add... for your interest...
Universal's MIDWAY and McARTHUR.
Paramount's IN HARM's WAY.
Columbia's BRIDGE ON RIVER KWAI, ANZIO,
FOX's DESERT FOX and THE ENEMY BELOW
...and last but not least CROSS OF IRON and THE DIRTY DOZEN and ICE STATION ZEBRA.

I also have these other WWII Bluray & 4K Classics 1944 to 1962

 

[mike--]

I happened to notice TGON is showing this month on Netflix. I started watching this (knowing that a 4K/BR would soon be released) , and immediately noticed a slightly more sharper image, deeper blacks and a way increased soundtrack--from the previous BR. I paused it, and popped in my BR of TGON--to compare by switching the inputs on my TV. It is definitively an upgrade, and I would assume as the presentation was only in 1080P, and I don't own any 4K equipment--yet, that everyone will be presently surprised to this new release in 4K/BR.

 

[dpippel]

The 4K streaming version of TGON has been available (for purchase) for months. Unfortunately I haven't found the time to watch it yet.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Update from studio:

*NEW* Release Date: 11/2

 

[Angelo Colombus]

Website avforums has a review of the 4K disc.

The Guns of Navarone 4K Blu-ray Review

Review of The Guns of Navarone 4K Blu-ray disc release featuring a native 4K image and Dolby Atmos sountrack

www.avforums.com

 

[Edwin-S]

WOW, talk about a blast from the past. Superbit, another defunct fad just like HD DVD and Real 3D.

HD DVD wasn't a "fad". It was a competing format to Blu-ray that lost the competition. Real 3D is still being used in theaters and theatrical 3D releases are still being done, so it isn't a fad either.

 

[RICK BOND]

Getting mine Tuesday 11-2 from Amazon ! Will post photos.

 

[Edwin-S]

TGON is a pretty big piece of cheese as far as WW2 films go. It is pretty well a fanciful action film than any accurate depiction of WW2. In fact, a lot of 60s war pics are cheddar when compared to how film makers started depicting war from the 70s and on.

However, there are plenty of older movies that can be considered actual war movies such as "All Quiet on The Western Front" or "Paths of Glory". TGON just isn't one of them. That doesn't make it a bad film. It just really isn't a story about the actual war. It is just a good adventure yarn in the same vein as " The Sea Wolves". It is like the film version of The Howling Commandos without actually being THC.

 

[Robert Crawford]

TGON is a pretty big piece of cheese as far as WW2 films go. It is pretty well a fanciful action film than any accurate depiction of WW2. In fact, a lot of 60s war pics are cheddar when compared to how film makers started depicting war from the 70s and on.

However, there are plenty of older movies that can be considered actual war movies such as "All Quiet on The Western Front" or "Paths of Glory". TGON just isn't one of them. That doesn't make it a bad film. It just really isn't a story about the actual war. It is just a good adventure yarn in the same vein as " The Sea Wolves". It is like the film version of The Howling Commandos without actually being THC.

I actually consider "All Quiet on the Western Front" and "Paths of Glory" anti-War films.

 

[Chewbabka]

I actually consider "All Quiet on the Western Front" and "Paths of Glory" anti-War films.

I think an “anti-war movie” can in a broader sense still be called a war movie insomuch as it depicts war. They also tend to be much more realistic depictions of war than the average fare, which I think is Edwin’s point.