Warfare - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

Some films you see in theaters, you’re left stunned by what you saw, and you can’t wait to see it again. Some films you see in theaters, you’re left stunned by what you've seen, and no matter how amazing the experience was, you feel like you never need to see it again. That’s what Writers/Directors Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland’s Warfare was for me. I went into the film as cold as possible. I didn’t see a trailer, I only knew the framework of the story that it told events Mendoza experienced, and the cast -  that was it. I had no idea what I was going in for and was left stunned by it. 

The story is essentially a near-real-time breakdown of a mission gone wrong during the Battle of Ramadi on November 19th, 2006. During the battle, the Navy SEAL platoon Alpha One takes up position in a domicile, occupying both floors in order to aid Marine operations in the area. At first, all is quiet, but when a call to arms is broadcast throughout the area, enemy combatants set their sights on the home and the American soldiers inside. With critical injuries, the mission objectives for the SEALs shift from engaging the enemy to getting every man out alive. 

Straight talk, I loved Warfare. I loved the intensity and suspense. I loved how it’s presented so that we never leave the point of view of one of the soldiers or the overwatch. I loved how the events transpired like a single-location play. Build a two-story set, and you’d have a combat stage performance ready for a live audience to endure. What I loved most of all, as a war film, it’s not focused on the glory of the kill.

Compared to something with similar intensity like Black Hawk Down, we virtually never see the kill shot of the enemy. No gratuitous head shots, or nameless/faceless bodies ripped apart by machinegun fire or attack helicopters set against a grand orchestral score. It’s the best attempt at an anti-war film I’ve seen in a great long while. All of the harrowing events are brought to life with intense performances from Will Poulter, D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai (as co-writer/director Ray Mendoza), Joseph Quinn, Cosmo Jarvis, and Michael Gandolfini, among many others. 

If I have a criticism, similar to Black Hawk Down, Warfare doesn’t exactly give character to the names of the soldiers. Once the title card drops inside the first few minutes, the film is focused on reliving the events as closely as they happened as possible. We get very little time to know these men-at-arms, who they are as people or within the military structure. We barely understand their respective roles as SEALs. While that could be considered a detriment, it does feed the film’s central thesis about the pointlessness of everything that happened. How well that plays into your idea of what a “good” war film or what an anti-war film should be will be subjective. 

Warfare is 95 minutes of unrelenting suspense and intensity, and one of the most visceral theater-going experiences I’ve had in a great long time. I was plastered to my seat for the entirety, right through the credits. As I said, I left the theater thinking that was one of the best films I’ve seen and experienced in theaters, but also not one I felt I ever needed to see again. But with this disc, I did give it another run through. While I will add the caveat that I’ll probably watch through Warfare again, I have no idea when or if that day will happen. Two times through inside a few months, and I’m good for a long while. 

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray 
Warfare comes home to physical media with a single-disc 4K UHD release from A24. The film is pressed on a Region Free BD66 disc and housed in A24’s signature digipak packaging with slipcase and six art cards. The disc loads to an animated main menu with basic navigation options.

Firing away with a 2160p Dolby Vision transfer, Warfare scores full marks. While most of the film is a single indoor location without a whole lot to look at, this transfer makes the most of everything it has to offer. Facial features, details in the costuming,  and the soldier’s hardware are all on display. There are a few scenes where the action moves outdoors, and those moments hold strong as well. Colors might be a bit more subdued, again, not a whole lot to see, beyond some red curtains and the occasional shot of blue sky, but skin tones are healthy and human. Where the Dolby Vision grade scores the most points is how well it manages the shadows and dark spaces. There are a lot of shadowy areas inside the home, and after some explosions and “shows of force,” the dust and smoke add their own scheme to the lighting. Bitrate is a nice healthy average, 60mbps and up. Even within the tight confines of the location and several instances of intense smoke and dust, the sense of three-dimensional depth is very appreciable. All around an impressive transfer.

The showstopper for this release is the terrific Dolby Atmos mix. This was a true banger to see in theaters. When it was over, the IMAX screen next door was getting out, and it was something to hear all of those people filing out of whatever movie they saw complaining about how they could hear this film through the walls! That same intensity is brought home with this disc. How the sound builds from the quieter moments into the full insanity of combat is quite something to experience. As the battle rages, the sound design kicks in, breaking away from the quieter front/center-focused moments into a full wall-to-wall sonic attack hitting all of the baseline channels hard. There are some incredible moments where fighter jets come in on the deck to deliver a sonic boom “show of force,” and that effect is an incredible hit through the overheads. And to that point, every bullet, every explosion thunders at the subs, hitting those LFE impact points hard. It’s one hell of a sound mix; through and through, this is demo-worthy material.

On the bonus features front, this disc doesn’t offer a whole hell of a lot. The best and most informative piece is a great audio commentary with Ray Mendoza, Alex Garland, and Brian Philpot. It might be a bit clinical and direct, but it’s the best look at the making of the film this disc has to offer. The making-of featurette runs about thirty minutes and is a nice piece, but again, not lengthy or too in-depth but does well with the time given. 

• Audio Commentary featuring Ray Mendoza, Alex Garland, and Brian Philpot
• Courage Under Fire: The Making of Warfare (HD 28:34)

Films like Warfare are a rarity. War films, even ones proclaiming to be “against war,” often fail their task by glorifying combat. This one is different. Co-writer/director Ray Mendoza was there. This is an event he experienced and wanted to tell for the sake of his wounded friends and brothers in arms. You can feel the pride of having served, but also the frustration of the lives ruined. It’s a hell of a film. Not one I’ll pull off the shelf often. Honestly, after seeing it in theaters, I didn’t feel the pull to ever see it again, but I sat down with it at home, and it doesn’t lose its punch. On 4K UHD the film earns a fantastic disc release with an impressive Dolby Vision/Atmos A/V package. I wish the bonus features were a little stronger, but the commentary is worth it. Watch it on the biggest screen you can and crank the volume as loud as you can. Highly Recommended