Breaker Morant: Premium Edition (1980)

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General		Extras
Category	War	Main Menu Audio & Animation Featurette-The Breaker (Award Winning Documentary) Featurette-The Myth Exploded (Director's Postscript) Theatrical Trailer Poster-Original Poster Gallery-Photo
Rating
Year Of Production	1980
Running Time	102:44
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (63:51) Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Bruce Beresford
Studio Distributor	South Aust Film Corp Reel DVD	Starring	Edward Woodward Jack Thompson John Waters Bryan Brown Charles Tingwell Terence Donovan Chris Haywood Vincent Ball Lewis Fitzgerald Rod Mullinar
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	$34.95	Music	None Given

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	Unknown	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English dts 5.1 (768Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Breaker Morant fully deserves its acclaimed critical reputation as a seminal film of Australian New Wave cinema. Director Bruce Beresford, famous for his Barry Mackenzie films and Don's Party prior to this film, got his break in Hollywood where he would go on to make other notable films such as Tender Mercies, Driving Miss Daisy, Black Robe and recently, Mao's Last Dancer. British actor Edward Woodward, who plays the title role of Harry 'Breaker' Morant, would be forever known for this role after this. Jack Thompson and Bryan Brown also went on to have prominent international film careers after this film. It all seems so unlikely, especially as Breaker Morant was shot for a paltry $AU650000 and financed by the South Australian Film Corporation.

     Breaker Morant is based on Breaker Morant: A Play in Two Acts by Kenneth G. Ross, not Kit Denton's 1973 book labelled Breaker Morant as is usually cited (although Denton's book was used as a source of information for the film and is acknowledged in the credits). It tells the story of how Lieutenants Morant (Edward Woodward), Hancock (Bryan Brown), and Witton (Lewis Fitzgerald), all serving in the Boer War effort in South Africa with the Bushveldt Carbineers a special unit set-up to counter the Boer fighters with guerrilla-style fighting, are court-martialled for shooting Boer prisoners and a German missionary. It was the shooting of the German missionary that cost the lives of Morant and Hancock. The British military wanted to make an example of these lowly 'colonials' to appease the German government and so to prevent them from having a reason to enter the war. The film depicts the court-martial, led by Lieutenant Colonel Denny (Charles Tingwell), as a 'fait accompli', as fellow MichaelDVD reviewer Tony Rogers wrote in his review on the 2001 'pan and scan' release of Breaker Morant here, 'most of the men who could give evidence for the defence have been transferred to India; the defence attorney has no court experience (he was a country solicitor in NSW); and the prosecutor (Rod Mullinar) has been given six weeks to prepare his case (and the witnesses, some of whom are shown to be lying via flashbacks)'. The accused trio's defence lawyer, Major Thomas (played by Jack Thompson in his Cannes Film Festival Best Supporting Actor role) arrives just as the proceedings are about to begin.

     Breaker Morant has been compared to Stanley Kubrick's 1957 anti-war film Paths of Glory, which similarly tells the tale of three innocent soldiers scapegoated by the French Army as a means of setting an example to others. Whilst this film is not the masterpiece that is Paths of Glory, it still holds up well after 30 years. There are some famous sequences in the film such as Edward Woodward's lines about shooting under rule '303' and exhorting his executioners to shoot straight and 'not make a mess of it'.

     This 2 DVD Premium Edition by Reel is the third DVD release of Breaker Morant in Australia, and the second by Reel. What can this release have to offer fans of the film that the other two releases did not? Read on...

Video

     Just like Reel's previous Silver Anniversary Edition release, this release has a 16x9 enhanced image unlike the 2001 Roadshow pan-and-scan 1:33:1 full-frame cropped release.

     The aspect ratio is 1:85:1, 16x9 enhanced. I have read in my research that the original theatrical aspect ratio for Breaker Morant was 2:35:1, but the movie's IMDb page states the original aspect ratio was 1:85:1 and all credible DVD releases on the home video market worldwide support this presentation.

     The main presentation comes on a 5.76gb dual-layered DVD with an average bitrate of 7.47 m/b per sec. The average bitrate alternates between 5.5 and 10 m/b per sec, so the film looks reasonably sharp overall.

     The colour scheme emphasises earthy colours such as browns, light yellows and greens. The image looks slightly saturated to evoke the early 20th-century era in which the film is set. Even though this is marketed as the 'Premium Edition' of Breaker Morant, there are still film artefacts present, mainly positive (black) and negative (white) dust marks.

     Unfortunately, there are no subtitles included with this release.

     The RSDL change occurs at 63:51, during a change of scenes.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     The Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 tracks represents the first time that Breaker Morant has been released in Region 4 without its original mono soundtrack.

     The Dolby Digital 5.1 track is encoded at 448 kbps, whereas the DTS 5.1 soundtrack is encoded at 768 kbps and is slightly louder than the default Dolby Digital 5.1 track. Dialogue is clear and synchronised throughout. There is no score for the film, rather there is a brass band present outside the court which plays songs from the era. Soldiers of the Queen, sung by Edward Woodward, also plays over the closing credits.

     Surround channel usage is limited as the film is mainly dialogue-driven and so therefore most of the audio comes from the front speakers. The subwoofer also sees little action.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Main Menu Audio & Animation

    The main menu features the song, Soldiers of the Queen.

The Breaker - Award Winning Documentary (52:37)

    Director Frank Shields made this documentary on the life of Harry 'Breaker' Morant in 1975. It also includes information on the Boer War and the court-martial of Morant, Hancock and Witton. Divided into twelve chapters, we get an insight into Harry 'Breaker' Morant the legend, bush poet, soldier, horse-breaker, womaniser, drinker and rebel.

The Myth Exploded - Director's Postscript (5:40)

    Frank Shields provides a modern-day postscript which quotes a letter from George Witton to Major Thomas written in 1929 which casts doubts on his conclusions in his 1975 documentary. Very interesting, yet Shields states in conclusion that Morant's and Hancock's legend will live on despite the contrary evidence shown here.

Theatrical Trailer (2:59)

    The original trailer, shown in a full-frame aspect ratio (1:33:1, not 16x9) is presented here with a soft and slightly blurred image transfer.

Original Poster

     The original theatrical poster is included here as an extra.

Photo Gallery

     You get an option of viewing 49 colour and black-and-white stills from the film or viewing them in a slideshow which goes for 5:15.

     Breaker Morant has seen three DVD releases in Region 4 Australia and three DVD releases in Region 1 United States.

     The 2001 Roadshow Region 4 DVD had a pan-and-scan video transfer, Dolby Digital 2.0 audio soundtrack and no extras. The Region 4 2006 Reel Silver Anniversary Edition release included a 1:85:1 aspect ratio 16x9 enhanced and Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack, as well as a poster and image gallery and the original theatrical trailer for extras. The 2010 Reel 2 DVD Premium Edition has a 1:85:1 aspect ratio 16x9 enhanced, Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 soundtracks and the documentary, The Breaker, as well as a postscript and poster and image gallery and the original theatrical trailer for extras.

     The 2001 Fox Lorber Region 1 DVD includes a 1:85:1 aspect ratio which is not 16x9 enhanced. This release includes the original theatrical mono track but no extras. The 2005 Wellspring Masterworks Edition has a 1:85:1 aspect ratio 16x9 enhanced, a Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack, an audio commentary with director Bruce Beresford, a 16-minute interview with actor Edward Woodward, the theatrical trailer, text notes, a director biography, filmographies and a liner-note essay by Nick Blesynski entitled, "Shoot Straight You B******s!". The 2008 Image Entertainment DVD has a 1:85:1 aspect ratio 16x9 enhanced, an English Dolby Digital 5.1 track and Spanish and Portuguese dubs, a 40-minute documentary on the Boer War and a 30 second promotional radio spot.

     In my opinion, The Region 1 2005 Wellspring Masterworks Edition with the commentary by Bruce Beresford and interview with Edward Woodward and The 2010 Region 4 2 DVD Premium Edition, with a DTS 5.1 soundtrack and the 52-minute documentary, The Breaker, are the best available versions of Breaker Morant on DVD currently available.

    The 2010 Reel 2 DVD Premium Edition is the best available version of Breaker Morant released in Region 4 Australia so far. If you haven't got a copy of Breaker Morant, do yourself a favour and pick up this edition!

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall