Operation Crossbow isn’t what I’d call a great World War II era film, but still all in all rather well made with a finale that easily outweigh some of the middling scenes that came before. That said, any fan of WWII movies, this is still well worth checking out.
Operation Crossbow
(1965)
Genre(s): War, Suspense/Thriller
Warner Archive | PG13 – 116 min. – $21.99 | November 12, 2019
Date Published: 11/30/2019 | Author: The Movieman
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Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
THE MOVIE — 3.5/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: London officials learn of a plan by Nazis to create new, more destructive missiles during World War II. Working quickly to stop the potentially catastrophic movement, the prime minister calls for an immediate investigation. Three experts (GEORGE PEPPARD, JEREMY KEMP, TOM COURTENAY) are instructed to enter Germany and inspect a plant that is believed to hold the explosives. The men pose as German soldiers in a mission that may save England, but not without consequences. Quick Hit Review: Stated before, but there can never be enough movies pertaining to World War II and here with Operation Crossbow, a rather unknown mission that, if it were released today, probably would be labeled “Inspired by True Events” as likely there was plenty of embellishment, much of which I’m guessing pertaining to Sophia Loren’s character, the wife of one of the men (Peppard) assuming her husband’s name. But even so, and while I did find this to be a middling war-drama, the final 10-minutes were pretty riveting and suspense-filled. In terms of everything else, nothing really stands out, though some of the production design and effects work were relatively impressive and the acting, albeit nobody was especially noteworthy, was solid all around. I also appreciated how director Michael Anderson doesn’t sensationalize the war and instead gives it a certain powerful realism, especially in the case of the deaths of a few characters, mostly cold as war and death is. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 1.5/5 |
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Features are light, but there is A Look Back at Crossbow (9:50) vintage featurette and the Theatrical Trailer (2:36). |
VIDEO – 4.5/5 |
| Warner Brothers releases Operation Crossbow onto Blu-ray through their Manufactured-On-Demand Archive Collection program, and is shown in its original 2.00 widescreen aspect ratio and given a new 1080p high-definition trasnfer. The picture quality here looks great with good splashes of colors even with the WWII backdrop and detail is sharp and well defined throughout, while the natural film grain is still present. |
AUDIO – 4.0/5 |
| The movie comes accompanied with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which was impressive. Dialogue comes through with nice clarity and there was a fair amount of depth that really comes to life during the bombing raids; sure, not on the level of a modern film, but have to think this is the best this movie has ever sounded, a surprising treat. |
OVERALL – 3.5/5 |
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Operation Crossbow isn’t what I’d call a great World War II era film, but still all in all rather well made with a finale that easily outweigh some of the middling scenes that came before. That said, any fan of WWII movies, this is still well worth checking out. As for the Blu-ray, released through the Warner Archive Collection, the video and audio transfers were both quite good, still wish they would invest a bit in the features department. |