Night Of The Generals (1967/Sony/Columbia/Twilight Time Limited Edition Blu-ray)/The Salvation (2014/MPI/IFC Blu-ray)/Tangerines (2013/First Run DVD)/The Treatment (2014/Artsploitation Blu-ray)/The Water Diviner (2015/Warner Blu-ray)

Picture: B/B-/C+/B/B Sound: B-/B/C+/B-/B+ Extras: C Films: C+/C+/B/C+/C+

PLEASE NOTE: The Night Of The Generals Blu-ray is now only available from our friends at Twilight Time, is limited to only 3,000 copies and can be ordered while supplies last from the links below.

These dramas with serious subject and (usually historical connections) have been issued recently for your consideration...

Anatole Litvak's Night Of The Generals (1967) was released as a big screen prestige drama by Columbia Pictures with the secret Valkyrie assassination project backgrounding and playing into the mysterious murder of a female prostitute being killed by someone very high up in the Nazi command. Who did it? Suddenly, we find ourselves in the middle of a murder mystery where anyone could have done it, but all of them should (and probably will) die for the many crimes against humanity they have already committed. However unjust, this one is one 'too far' for the elites and the investigation moves forward via a police Major (the late, great Omar Sharif).

His suspects are played by no less than Charles Gray, Peter O'Toole and Donald Pleasence in performances that make them a little too sympathetic for the pathetic Nazis they portray which might be a problem for some viewers. However, the film run a long 148 minutes and is not always successful, despite some fine moments throughout. Twilight Time has issued this as one of their Limited Edition Blu-rays and it is an important enough that it deserves this kind of top rate treatment, but it is better for its parts than the whole thing. Tom Courtenay, Joanna Pettit and Philippe Noriet also star.

Extras include another illustrated booklet on the film including informative text and an essay by Julie Kirgo, while the Blu-ray adds an Isolated Music Score track and an Original Theatrical Trailer.

Kristian Levrign's The Salvation (2014) has the underrated Mads Mikkelsen (Casino Royale, TV's Hannibal) as a good family man traveling with his wife and son on a train when a group of men joining them get crazy and decide to kill both of them, but not without assaulting them (her sexually for certain) first, thinking they can do this and get away with it. He is thrown off the train, barely survives, then spends the rest of the film looking for them and getting revenge.

The reason they think they can do this also has to do with them being tied to the power of some powerful, evil men who are running a local town with terror. Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Jonathan Pryce show up playing to type, but they do it so well, while Mikkelsen's Royale co-star Eva Green shows up involved in the middle of all this madness. Too bad the script is weak and predictable, making this an over-stylized Revenge Western with better than average acting talent. Too bad.

Interviews, a Trailer and Behind The Scenes piece are the extras.

Zaza Urushadze's Tangerines (2013) is the big surprise on this list, not to be confused with the recent feature release of the same name shot on cellphone cameras about a transgendered prostitute, but a smart, sometimes remarkable film about a man farming the title fruit in the 1990s during the awful, hideous war in Georgia. With one assistant, they keep harvesting what looks like really delicious food, but they know the war is nearby and between that and the upcoming bad weather they expect, are trying to figure out a strategy about how to deal with the food, get it where it needs to go and then maybe go themselves... for at least a while.

Instead, a shootout between the two sides suddenly happens outside of the main home leaving all but two of the men dead, one of each opposing side. The main farmer has them in, sets house rules and gets to know them. The older man is very knowing and wise, which will come in handy as thing are about to become worse and they will not be alone for long.

Rightly nominated by the Academy for Best Foreign Film, this runs an intense 87 minutes and is the title on the list most worth going out of your way for. Bravo to all involved!

A brief featurette clip and trailers for other First Run releases are sadly the only extras.

Hans Herbois' The Treatment (2014) is an initially bold thriller about child sexual exploitation involving at least two men from the very opening scene, but it becomes more complex as an investigator still tries to find his missing brother who may have been abducted decades ago and a new case starts have far too many common denominators for comfort. He is correct, but how?

The script and directing can be very tough and graphic in a way you would never see in a U.S. production, but having the guts to go that far, take this appropriately seriously and make this work at the same time is another issue and until the last few reels keeps things together. However, the police procedural approach eventually backfires and the ending is so bad, illogical, ludicrous and unreal that any of the good work in this Dutch production quickly goes down the drain.

That's very disappointing as it was going so well and I appreciated its maturity and boldness, but it still falls apart at the end. This is easily the most important title the fledgling (and recently revived) Artsploitation company has issued to date and there is no doubt some serious talent is involved here. If you want to see it, just expect a bad ending and know that this is NOT for children!

Deleted Scenes, a Trailer and Premiere Featurette are the extras.

Russell Crowe's The Water Diviner (2015) is actor Crowe's first attempt at directing, playing an Australian farmer circa 1919 looking for his three lost sons after fighting against Turkey in the Gallipoli war. There are some good scenes, good acting and well-done action/war sequences, but the script (side from ignoring genocide in the conflict, which is something serious to be dealt with in separate historical essays) is on the weak, formulaic side playing like a war/Western melodrama that gets the period correct, but does not stay with you.

The money is on the screen and Crowe has definitely learned from his work with some of the biggest director's alive, but I was disappointed after its 111 minutes finished, as if more had been left on the cutting room floor or simply not shot. If this is the whole thing, was the original script draft longer? Crowe at least proves he can helm a film, but he should be able to do better next time.

Extras include Battle Of Gallipoli & Making Of featurettes.

The 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image on all four Blu-rays look as the films are pretty much meant to look and have little to hold them back, but Salvation way overdoes the color changing, monochromatic recoloring and that backfires. All are digital shoots save the real 35mm anamorphic Panavision scope shooting on Generals which was originally issued in high quality, dye-transfer, three-strip Technicolor prints that are worth serious money today. You can get the impression of how great that color was on many shots in this transfer, but there are also those shots with more grain than expected and/or those with color that is not as good.

The anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image on the Tangerines DVD cannot compete with the Blu-rays, but should be issued on one since it is as consistent any of the other such new productions on the list with a great use of the scope frame and is as impressive as any entry on this list.

As for sound, all four Blu-rays offer DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes, save General with a DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 1.0 Mono lossless mix that is as good for its age, though you wish for a stereo upgrade, especially when hearing the isolated score track. Diviner has the best mix here with some exceptional sonic moments, followed by the very consistent Salvation and then the somewhat inconsistent Treatment, which sounds good often despite its limits and part of it might be time and budget for the points where the recording has shortcomings. Otherwise, it is good enough.

The lossy, mulit-lingual Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo on Tangerines is well-recorded, but you can tell sound is missing from the presentation of the older codec. Bet this would really impress on a lossless Blu-ray!

To order Night Of The Generals limited edition Blu-ray, buy it and other great exclusives while supplies last at these links:

www.screenarchives.com

and

http://www.twilighttimemovies.com/

- Nicholas Sheffo