The Cruel Sea Blu-ray Review

• 7th Jun 2011

The Cruel Sea is finally released for the first time on Blu-Ray so we can now experience this World War II classic in a gloriously crisp high definition print. The film follows the crew of the HMS Compass Rose through the course of the war in the pacific and other waters. Produced by the now legendary Ealing studios this superbly authentic war movie was one of the first to move away from propaganda. Starring such legendary names as Jack Hawkins, Stanley Baker, Denholm Elliott and Virginia McKenna this has by today become a classic of the genre.

Following the career of Captain Ericson (Jack Hawkins) the film starts at the inception of the war and goes through to its conclusion in 1945. The film, like the book it was based on, concentrates on painting a realistic portrayal of the pressures and horror of being in the Navy. The immediate years following the end of the Second World War saw films continue in a far more rousing vein. The public had been fed a diet of propaganda films that painted the War effort as partially glamorous and always successful.

A decade on and a far more realistic appraisal of the battlefield began to dominate films. The narrative of the film is over the entire length of the war and basically involves one desperate mission after another. At no point in the film is anything easy or fun as the crew is constantly in fear for their lives. The only joyous happening in the film comes in the shape of a re-fit that allows the crew a brief shore leave. As the years role on even leave becomes a nightmare as they find themselves returning to more and more destruction on the home front and relatives and friends having died months earlier. The key sequence in the film has Captain Ericson forced to chose between the lives of British seamen adrift at sea or the sinking of a U-Boat. He follows protocol and kills the British survivors in the hope of sinking the German submarine.

The photography which is utterly astounding almost resembles a documentary, especially the sequences at sea. The sets and location work is impeccable with even the fake weather believable. The performances are all excellent especially Staley Baker as the class conscious Bennett who’s demise is actually celebrated by his fellow servicemen.

The print of the DVD is a crisp monochrome with every detail brilliantly highlighted in stunning high definition. The extras are limited to an interview with the great Sir Donald Sinden himself who I remember fondly from the comedy series Never the Twain.  The Cruel Sea is an absolute must for all fans of war movies. The Cruel Sea may even be argued to be somewhat anti-war in its sentiment as it explains that nothing could be worth all the pain and suffering of the conflict itself. A radical film that has a definite undertone of questioning the war machine being of worth given the immense pain and loss that is suffered by all involved.

Aled Jones