9th Company (Collector’s Edition) (9 Rota) (Blu-ray Review)

This Collector's Edition of "9th Company" adds some much-appreciated supplements found on a separate DVD disc.

This isn't basic training, this is war. You don't get bad grades, you get killed.

9th Company is a film of lofty ambitions and admirable goals, though it never quite achieves
its desired level of effectiveness as either an anti-war commentary or as memorable War picture that
was destined to nestle up alongside the genre's greats. Instead, first-time Director Fyodor
Bondarchuk's picture moves along at a nice pace but seems to channel other War pictures rather
t...

Video

9th Company fights its way onto Blu-ray and wins a steady, good-looking 1080p transfer.
Although it can't escape something of a slight digital sheen while playing host to a few minor problems
including light aliasing and a few jagged edges -- the transfer sometimes has a hard time rendering
the blue and white striped Russian Army undershirts in particular -- 9th Company's Blu-ray
release, in general, looks quite good. Detail is often very strong and the highlight of the t...

Audio

Though its picture quality is up to par, 9th Company's two soundtrack offerings fall well short.
Well Go USA's Blu-ray offers two options: a Dolby Digital 2.0 presentation in the film's original Russian
language and a fuller Dolby Digital 5.1 mix accompanying the English language dub. Unfortunately,
neither option delivers a satisfying listen; the absence of a multi-channel mix for the Russian language
option is sure to disappoint, and the lack of a lossless presentation for eit...

Supplements

This two-disc collector's edition of 9th Company contains the identical Blu-ray disc that's packaged with the single-disc release; included is the film's theatrical
promo (1080p, 3:18) and trailer (1080p, 1:45). Disc two is a separate DVD disc that houses the remaining additional
content. Making the Movie (480p, 38:53) is a comprehensive Russian language (and English subtitled) extra
that begins with a look b...

Final Words

9th Company desperately wants to be the next great War picture, and one can't help but
admire its ambitions and efforts. Unfortunately, the picture neither achieves its lofty goals, but
it doesn't sink to the depths of third-class pictures destined to be forgotten to the scrap heap of
War movie history, either. Director Fyodor Bondarchuk shows promise, but his film simply cannot
escape the
tedium of trying to either duplicate or one-up the genre greats. Instead, the picture f......

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9th Company (Collector's Edition) (9 Rota) (Blu-ray Review)