Murphy's War (Bounty) (1971)

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General		Extras
Category	War	None
Rating
Year Of Production	1971
Running Time	101:16 (Case: 107)
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Programme
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Peter Yates
Studio Distributor	Bounty Films	Starring	Peter O'Toole Siân Phillips Philippe Noiret Horst Janson John Hallam Ingo Mogendorf
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	?	Music	John Barry Ken Thorne

     In the closing days of WW2 Murphy (Peter O’Toole) is the sole survivor when his freighter is sunk by a U-boat off South America, the rest of the crew machine gunned in the water by the orders of the submarine’s captain, Lieutenant Lauchs (Horst Janson), to preserve the secret of the U-boat’s location. Murphy is found by a barge operated by French national and oil company worker Brezan (Philippe Noiret) and taken to the Quaker mission on the banks of the Orinoco River, where he is treated by female Dr Hayden (Sian Phillips). Murphy knows that the U-boat went up the river to hide, but no one will believe him.

     However, it turns out that Murphy is not the only survivor; the pilot of the freighter’s float plane had managed to take off and although the pilot was wounded and the plane damaged he landed it further up the river. While Murphy and Brezan are absent from the mission looking for the plane, the U-boat, alerted by Dr Hayden’s radio signals, returns to the mission, destroys their radio and Lauchs executes the pilot. When Murphy returns he is determined to destroy the U-boat. He repairs the float plane, teaches himself to fly and, when he finds the U-boat, rigs up some home-made bombs and attacks. He believes that he was successful, but is mistaken as the U-boat returns to the mission and destroys the float plane. Shortly afterwards Germany’s surrender and the end of the war is announced on the radio. But it is not the end of the war for Murphy; he is just getting started.

     Murphy’s War is based on the novel by Max Catto and directed by Peter Yates who received two Oscar best director nominations for Breaking Away (1979) and The Dresser (1983). However, Yates will probably always be best remembered for Bullitt (1968), especially that fabulous car chase through the streets of San Francisco that set the benchmark for all subsequent chases. This proved that he can do action and in Murphy’s War the sequence where Murphy first gets into the float plane and attempts to take off is exhilarating! Like the car chase in Bullitt this is done for real, using a Grumman J2F Duck amphibian. There are no models in Murphy’s War and of course in 1971 no CGI; the submarine is real, loaned from the Venezuelan navy, the barge used by Brezan an authentic WW2 tank landing craft. Filmed on location in Venezuela, the delta of the Orinoco looks spectacular thanks to cinematographer Douglas Slocombe, whose credits include the original The Italian Job (1969) and all the Indiana Jones films for Steven Spielberg; he received an Oscar nomination for Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981).

     Murphy’s War is a film about obsession, an obsession that becomes increasingly closer to madness. The film has divided critics, possibly because the character of Murphy initially has our sympathy for his revenge but as he becomes more and more unreasonable, alienating those who try to help him and causing the deaths of innocent people caught up in his vendetta, he is a hard man to continue to like. However, Peter O’Toole is excellent, bringing all of Murphy’s intensity and obsession to the screen and he carries the film with the aid of Philippe Noiret, who is also excellent. Sian Phillips, who was married to O’Toole at the time, does not however have a lot to do.

Video

     Now for the bad news: this release of Murphy’s War is 4x3, pan and scan, not the original 2.35:1 aspect ratio. A mark is deducted in accordance with site policy.

     This pan and scan is a travesty for a widescreen film shot in Panavision on location in the spectacular Orinoco River delta in Venezuela. Otherwise, the print is acceptable. Wide shots are soft but detail is firm in close-ups of O’Toole’s grizzled and whiskered face, the float plane and the submarine interior. Similarly, colours in long shots are muted but are much deeper in mid and close ups, with good skin tones. Blacks and shadow detail are fine. There are a range of artefacts; frequent dirt marks occur, mostly small, and reel change markers, but nothing is too distracting.

     No subtitles are provided.

Video Ratings Summary

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Audio

     Audio is English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono at 192 Kbps. The film was released with mono audio at the theatre.

     The reviewer of the previous Australian DVD release noted distracting hiss and pops; at least this Bounty DVD is an improvement. There is occasional slight hiss but dialogue is clear while the airplane engine, explosions and the submarine guns have a nice roar. The score by five times Oscar winner and “Bond” composer John Barry and Ken Thorne is effective.

    I did not notice any lip synchronisation issues.

Audio Ratings Summary

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Overall

     Nothing.

    There is censorship information available for this title. Click here to read it (a new window will open). WARNING: Often these entries contain MAJOR plot spoilers.

     Over the years there have been a number of releases of Murphy’s War in Region 1 and Region 2. Most seem to have had numerous artefacts, some are in the correct 2.35:1 aspect ratio, others pan and scan. None, as far as I can see, have any extras. The previous release of the film in Region 4 was not particularly good, but was at least 2.35:1; the MichaelDVD review can be found here.

     I think that this Bounty release sounds similar to the Region 2 UK release that was modified for television; both are 4x3 and censor out a couple of “f” words said by Murphy.

     I fall on the side of those who think that Murphy’s War is a gem, a study of obsession with beautiful location photography and a mesmerising performance by Peter O’Toole. I saw the film years ago and own the previous Region 4 DVD release, but sadly I am still waiting for a decent release of the film. This version from Bounty is a backwards step.

    The video is pan and scan; the audio is Dolby Digital 2.0. No extras. The previous Region 4 release was not great, but better than this; stick to that one if you can find it.

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