Overview: During the last days of WWII, the merchant ship ‘Mount Kyle’ is sunk by a German U-boat off the coast of Venezuela and the sailors machine-gunned in the water. Only Murphy (O’Toole) survives, making his way to shore where he is nursed to health by Dr. Hayden (Sian Phillips), a pacifist Quaker who runs a missionary settlement near the mouth of the Orinoco River.

When Murphy discovers that the U-boat is now hiding further up the river using the jungle for cover, he becomes obsessed with retribution and begins a one man war to sink the German U-boat, no matter the cost.

Iconic actor Peter O’Toole (Lawrence of Arabia, The Stunt Man) joins forces with director Peter Yates (Bullit, The Friends of Eddie Coyle) in this blisteringly acerbic, wildly entertaining film about the absurdity of war.

Blu-ray Verdict: For those not in the know, Murphy’s War is based on a 1969 novel by English novelist and playwright Max Catto. It’s a fictitious story of war action, war crimes, obsession and revenge in the closing days of World War II.

As with others of his action-adventure-war novels, Catto set this story in a somewhat exotic place. It is along Venezuela’s Orinoco River, one of the longest in South America. The river itself is a major player in the film, and the river scenes for the film actually were shot there.

Most people in the 21st century, other than historians or history buffs, may not realize that German submarines ranged around the world before and during World War II. Many of them operated off the coasts of North America, South America and Africa. They sank an alarming number of merchant ships that hampered the Allies supply lines.

From 1942 through 1945, 20 U-boats were sunk off the coast of the United States, including three in the Gulf of Mexico. There were 10 more U-boats sunk in the Caribbean, including four off the coast or near to Venezuela – two each in 1942 and 1943.

So, while the story for this film is fictitious, events like it were possible during the war. The Orinoco River empties into the middle Atlantic just below the string of Caribbean islands. The Allies were concerned about German efforts to build support among South American countries. Venezuela remained neutral until a few months before the end of the war when it declared war on Germany.

During the war, it quietly sided with the Allies, yet it continued to sell and supply oil and raw materials to Axis powers, including Italy and Japan. It’s business with Germany ended with the British blockade of the French seaports. Venezuela then was the largest oil exporting country of South America.

The British and Dutch had naval stations and operations in the Caribbean since before the war. Once the U.S. entered the war, American naval units beefed up defense and security in the Caribbean and mid-Atlantic, as well as off the U.S. coast.

The entire cast for this film is superb. Peter O’Toole is Murphy, a British seaman whose rank we never learn. Siãn Phillips is Hayden, a medical doctor who runs a Quaker clinic and dispensary among aborigines. Philippe Noiret is Brezan, an oil company employee who in charge of some local holdings that have been abandoned during the war, and who operates a dredge to keep the company docks open to sea traffic. Horst Janson is the German U-boat commander, Lauchs.

The time of the film is late in 1945. The film opens with a scene of the U-boat above water and a foundering ship that British sailors are jumping from and sliding off with lifeboats and rafts into the water. Oil is burning on the water, and we see the Germans machine-gunning the men in the water.

The next scene is Murphy who has pulled himself up onto a crossbar of a river piling, and a boat with Brezan on board is coming to rescue him. After he recovers in Dr. Hayden’s clinic, Murphy sets out to sink the submarine that he saw going upriver the day after it sank his ship and massacred his shipmates.

This becomes an obsession with Murphy. One can understand his anger and desire for justice. Besides his fury over the inhumane slaughter of his defenseless shipmates, Murphy might have thought that with war’s end his German enemies would not likely receive justice and be tried for war crimes because they and their deed would go unknown.

When Dr. Hayden hears the news on the radio that the war in Europe has ended, she hurries to tell Murphy. He has heard it also on the dredge radio, and he smashes the radio so that Brezan won’t hear the news. He pretends not to hear Dr. Hayden, and heads off instead with the dredge to sink the U-boat.

The ending of the film is perfect. One can say that justice was done all around. If not by civil means, by providence. This is a good war film, with excellent acting, that shows a side of war not often exploited.

LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation
Original lossless mono audio
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Running Out of War, a new visual essay by film critic David Cairns
A Great Adventure, an archive interview with assistant director John Glen
Dougie, Chic and Me, an archive interview with focus puller Robin Vidgeon
One Man Army, an archive interview with film critic Sheldon Hall
Theatrical trailer
Image gallery
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Peter Strain
Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing by film critic Philip Kemp

www.arrowvideo.com