4/5 FORCE 10 FROM NAVARONE BLU RAY
  by SOCRATES
VERY GOOD TRANSFER TO BLU RAY. EXCELLENT SELLING PRICE. DEFINETELY YOU GET YOUR MONEY'S WORTH! EXCELLENT PICTURE ESPECIALLY THE BRIDGE AND THE DAM EXPLOSION SCENES.

5/5 My favorite WWII movie shines in Blu-ray
  by Darren Harrison (Washington D.C.)
You really cannot go wrong with any movie that stars Robert Shaw, Harrison Ford, Barbara Bach and Edward Fox and this movie - although blasted by the critics upon its release really is a great action adventure war movie. In fact the Jimmy Carter White House picked the movie only weeks before its December 1978 opening to be the Thanksgiving movie to be screened at Camp David.
The movie was previously released on DVD in 2000 in what was a simply horrible transfer with scratches and print dirt all over the place. Even so I would watch it over and over again, reveling in a 1978-era nostalgia when, as a six-year-old, I would sit in the local town hall (which once a month was converted into a movie theater) wowed by the action unfolding on the screen.
The problems with that release have been mostly rectified for this Blu-ray release which is simply pristine in comparison. It's not the best Blu-ray release I have ever seen, with a large degree of softness and some grain but it does a good job recreating the film stock of the time and is certainly the best the movie has ever looked since its 1978 theatrical release. The Yugoslavian scenery in particular is breathtaking. I did not notice any of the problems that plagued the DVD release and, hey, who can argue with a Blu-ray that features the impossibly beautiful Bach in high definition :)
Many saw this as a disappointment due to its attachment to the Guns of Navarone, but if it is taken up on its own merits then one can see that this is really nothing more than a fun movie for funs sake, no serious character studies here and the movie is all the better for it.
The movie gets its title from the Alistair MacLean book of the same name, but bears little resemblance to the actual narrative of the novel. Indeed there had been plans to film this movie shortly after the 1961 original with Peck and Niven reprising their roles. Following the success of the original movie producer Carl Foreman asked MacLean to write a hardcover sequel novel on which a follow-up film would be based, but the author was reluctant to write an entire novel and instead delivered a screen treatment. The film was announced for 1967 but after the script got bogged down in studio development hell MacLean decided to develop the screen treatment as a book and "Force 10 From Navarone" was published in 1968.
Throughout the 1970s Foreman tried to get enough financial backing for the movie and eventually patched together enough money to finance the production from no fewer than five different international sources but by the time the movie finally went before the cameras (some 17 years after the original) it was thought that Peck and Niven were too old and the decision was made to recast.
Bond fans will notice a number of actors in this movie that had already occupied roles in the Bond franchise or would go on to appesar in the series. In addition to Shaw (from "From Russia With Love") and Bach (who was fresh off playing the Russian spy Anya Amasova in "The Spy Who Loved Me") and Edward Fox (who would go on to play M in the rogue 007 movie "Never Say Never Again") there is also Bach's co-star from "The Spy Who Loved Me" Richard Kiel, who was riding high as somewhat of a cultural icon (hey, he appeared in a Shredded Wheat TV commercial) after playing perhaps the most famous 007 henchman Jaws.
I suppose the Bond connection is most apparent in the choice of director with "Goldfinger"'s director Guy Hamilton handling the honors. His sure direction shows his usual flair and expertise handling action that he so ably previously demonstrated in (perhaps the best of the early James Bond movies) the aforementioned "Goldfinger" and the World War II drama "Battle of Britain." Hamilton does succumb to some espionage cliches at times, such as when one of the characters stumbles across the traitor sending a message, but all of these instances are handled capably and add to the familiar nature of the plot.
As already mentioned the plot of the movie is also very different from the MacLean book, but some good Boy's Own adventure that actually flows slightly better than its literary namesake. Shaw (in his last movie role) plays Mallory (yes the same character that Gregory Peck played in the original) and he and Fox's character (who was played by David Niven in the original) are sent into Yugoslavia to identify and kill a traitor from the first movie. So, they hop a ride along with Force 10 (headed by Ford's character) who are headed to the same location with the mission of destroying a key, strategic bridge. Of coursre things do not go entirely to plan, and soon the action begins to come thick and fast.
Filmed on location in Yugoslavia, England and Malta the crew had to endure freezing temperatures and even a rash of kidnapping that led producers to limit the actors movements. Shepperton Studios in England (where the original had also been filmed) provided four soundstages for interiors and the largest studio tank in Europe (in Malta) was used to film the movie climax with a $1 million miniature dam .
The one negative towards this Blu-ray release is the lack of special features. All we get is a trailer for the movie whereas the original DVD release featured an sketch (hidden as an "easter egg")and a collectible booklet with trivia notes.
A movie that would get a lot more respect if it didn't have the name "Navarone" attached to it. Incidentally here's hoping that the 1961 movie gets a Blu-ray release soon :)