Demon Warriors [DVD] [2008]

Peter Watkins established his reputation as one of the most gifted and adventurous political filmmakers of his generation with his first two professional assignments, both produced during his brief tenure with the BBC -- 1964's Culloden and 1965's The War Game. These two films finally make their DVD debut in the United States with this two-fer disc from New Yorker Video. Both Culloden and The War Game have been transferred to disc in their original full-frame aspect ratio of 1.33:1; while The War Game was sourced from a print that has clearly seen better days, the materials for Culloden are in significantly better condition, and the noticeable black-and-white grain of both features actually serves them well, convincingly replicating the look of early-'60s television news coverage. The audio for both films has been mastered in Dolby Digital Stereo, preserving the original monophonic sound mixes. The advances in audio technology since the early '60s are sometimes noticeable on playback, though this has to do with the quality of the original recording rather that the production of this DVD, and they ultimately sound as good as current technology will allow. Both films are in English, with optional subtitles in English and French. As a bonus, both films feature a commentary track; Dr. John Cook of Glasgow Caledonian University discusses Culloden, while Patrick Murphy of York St. John University College shares his thoughts on The War Game. These are the same commentaries that first appeared on the PAL-format U.K. DVD releases of these titles from BFI Video, but both are lively and well informed and serve their subjects well. Finally, the booklet accompanying this DVD includes an essay by Patrick Murphy on the controversy that greeted The War Game upon initial release, and its banning by the organization that initially commissioned it. These two films are landmarks of political filmmaking and the rise of the faux-documentary style, and New Yorker Video and the Canadian firm Project X are to be congratulated for making them available again in North America.