4K ULTRA HD REVIEW / HDR SCREENSHOTS
(1) The leader of the unsanctioned, unauthorized, and unofficial mission Operation Postmaster, Gus March-Phillips played by Henry Cavill (“Man of Steel,” “Mission: Impossible - Fallout”). (2) The other commandos left, Freddy “The Buzz” Alvarez (Henry Golding) a convicted arsonist, and Henry Hayes (Hero Fiennes Tiffin), a young Irishman whose older brother was killed during a U-boat attack. Background, the Danish hammer Andres Lassen (Alan Ritchson) who grew up wrestling bears, and Geoffrey Appleyard (Alex Pettyfer), who was captured during a reconnaissance mission to the Spanish-controlled island Fernando Po, where the Germans are refueling North Atlantic U-boats with torpedoes and carbon dioxide filters for oxygen.
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“THE MINISTRY OF UNGENTLEMANLY WARFARE”
4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, 2024; R for strong violence throughout and some profanity; Digital copy; Apple TV (4K), Fandango (4K)
Best extra: “The Ministry of Filmmaking” featurette
DIRECTOR AND CO-WRITER GUY RITCHIE steps up with a no-holds-barred World War II adventure in “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” starring Henry Cavill., only Mayhem and wisecracks rule in the whip-sharp style of “The Gentlemen,” “Snatch,” “Sherlock Holmes,” and “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.”
Are there inaccuracies? Exaggerations? Absolutely, but you will be entertained and informed.
The story is based on a novel by war correspondent Damien Lewis, “Churchill’s Secret Warriors: The Explosive True Story of the Special Forces Desperadoes of WWII.” The files were recently declassified. “England was on the verge of surrendering to Hitler at the start of the war in 1941,” Producer Ivan Atkinson says in “The Ministry of Filmmaking,” the lone extra on the Blu-ray and UHD-4K discs.
It is unacceptable. So Prime Minister Winston Churchill (Rory Kinnear) consults with Brigadier Colin “M” Gubbins (Cary Elwes) to create 1941’s Operation Postmaster, a clandestine mission to sabotage the Nazi U-boat supply operation on the Spanish-controlled island of Fernando Po. Meanwhile, another covert and unsanctioned mission takes place on the island led by Special Operations Executives Marjorie Stewart (Eiza González) and Richard Heron (Babs Olusanmokun). They’re tasked with infiltrating the Nazi camp and leading them astray. Gubbins enlists Gus March-Phillips (Henry Cavill) to lead a team of renegades and rogues to destroy the Italian supply ship and the two tugboats assigned to it.
(1&2) The Turkish coastline near Antalya, subs for the African coast. A German officer (Tim Seyfi) and his 10-man patrol board the Swedish-flagged fishing trawler Maid of Honor. (3-5) The British commandos, Lassen, March-Phillips, and Hayes overpower the German Captain and his men and blow up the German ship. The scene resembles one in the 1961 WWII adventure film “The Guns of the Navarone.”
England needs the United States to enter the war. President Roosevelt, despite personal feelings, can’t agree unless England demonstrates they have a chance to win. Churchill, despite the urging of military and cabinet advisors, opts for this unauthorized mission to defeat Hitler and his Nazis, completely against the Honorable Rules of Engagement, once considered a requirement in warfare. Even so, the rules were often broken, i.e. when Queen Elizabeth I used privateers during England’s war with Spain.
“Hitler is not playing by the rules so neither are we. … The Germans cut off our supply chain with U-boats, we cut off the supply chain to the U-boats.” — Churchill, played by actor, Rory Kinnear
Chaos and complications ensue as Gus and his men – Henry Hayes (Hero Fiennes Tiffin) and Danish naval officer Anders Lassen (Alan Ritchson, “Reacher”) – head for the island. On the way, they stop to rescue SOE saboteur Geoffrey Appleyard (Alex Pettyfer), who’s been captured by the Gestapo. Cue the explosions, fisticuffs, knife work, bow and arrow kills, and machine gun fire as German agents and Nazis perish at sea and on land.
Additional cast members include Til Schweiger, Danny Sapani, Henry Golding, and Henrique Zaga.
(1&2) Center, Prime Minister Winston Churchill (Rory Kinnear), left, Naval Intelligence officer Ian Fleming (Freddie Fox) and Brigadier Colin “M” Gubbins (Cary Elwes) release Gus March-Phillips from prison and provide the opportunity to lead Operation Postmaster. (3&4) Special Operations Executive (SOE) agents Marjorie Stewart (Eiza González), an actress of Jewish descent whose family was killed by the Nazis, and Richard Heron (Babs Olusanmokun), who runs a casino bar and illegal exports game on Fernando Po. (5) British military leaders suggest to the Prime Minister that the British Empire should consider surrendering.
An end montage reveals the future of several participants. Here we learn that a young Ian Fleming (Freddie Fox), an intelligence officer in Gubbins’ espionage team, goes on to base his fictional character, James Bond, on Gus March-Phillipps. In the film, he introduces himself as, “Fleming. Ian Fleming.”
“You just can’t replicate certain environments. Shooting at sea is one of them.” — Guy Ritchie
VIDEO
Here’s a big “thank you” to Ritchie and Director of Photography Ed Wild (“Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant”). The picture on this film is off the charts gorgeous captured on 8K digital cameras and mastered in TRUE 4K. After all the dark films, “Ungentlemanly Warfare” takes us on water and land under sun-bright blue skies, sea, and beaches in HDR 10 grading. Interior and night scenes are colorful and well lit, yet natural, everything visible in sun and shade. “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” also boasts fine detail in 4K UHD resolution (2.39:1 aspect ratio). Its peak brightness level hits 833 nits and averages 227 nits.
The flesh tones of its international cast look natural, with solid depth and black levels throughout.
This is the way adventure films used to look in brilliant Technicolor, only better.
(1&2) First they must rescue SOE agent Appleyard held at a German base on La Palma near the Canary Islands. (3) Stewart and Heron arrive at Fernando Po after a long train ride. (4&5) Part of Stewart’s mission to divert the Germans from the team’s raid includes the seduction of senior German officer Heinrich Luhr (Til Schweiger).
AUDIO
A fine Dolby Atmos track blends in with the action and does not overwhelm. There’s an excellent balance between clear dialogue, effects and score by Christopher Benstead. Benstead also worked on Ritchie’s live-action “Aladdin” starring Will Smith, and “The Gentlemen” Netflix series. Music also includes “The School Bus” from “Dirty Harry” by Lalo Schifrin, and features Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht’s “Die Moritat von Mackie Messer,” also known as “Mack, the Knife.”
EXTRA
Yes, only the one mentioned, the 24-minute “The Ministry of Filmmaking.” I could wish for more, but the EPK covers the basics and provides interviews with Ritchie, producers, and cast. As can be expected, it's a lively bunch.
“His sets are so joyful, and that humor finds its way into his films,” — Cary Elwes (Brigadier “M” Gubbins)
“For me it was trying to make a film that I would want to see that I thought other people would like to see … It’s the first clandestine mission that took place in the Second World War which really gave rise to Special Forces.” — Guy Ritchie
— Kay Reynolds
(1-3) Stewart and Heron meet an arms dealer and ally in the mission, Kambili Kalu (Danny Sapani). (4&5) In the Nazi costume party, Heinrich Luhr dresses as Ceasar, and Stewart provides some of the evening’s entertainment as March-Phillips and his men prepare the explosives.
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