The Cold Blue [Blu-ray]

This is a great movie for WWII buffs. Real footage gives you a better understanding of life with B17 bomber crews

I don't recall if I previously tried to watch my Blu-ray disc version of The Cold Blue (ordered June 1, 2021); but today, February 20, 2023, I tried on two different Blu-ray players, to run my Blu-ray disc version of the Cold Blue; and the film would not play. I could see only the copyright infringement screen and the Kino LORBER screen.Something has failed on this Bluray disk.Now it's FEBRUARY 22, 2023:After the 2/20/23 failure-to-play disappointment i contacted the distributor of THE COLD BLUE, Kino-LORBER, and they promptly and graciously helped me discover the source of difficulty, which was a greasy thumb print on my Blu-ray playing surface.I cleaned the thumbprint from the Blu-ray playing surface, and the disc played perfectly.I watched the main feature and additional features included on The COLD BLUE; and am delighted with both my viewing experience and my interaction with Kino Lorber.It was interesting to learn the backstory to the restoration of William Wyler's World War II era documentary the Memphis Belle; as well as to hear the World War II vets reminisce, now with the advantage of age, experience, and perspective.I hope Kino Lorber replenishes it's Blu-ray inventory of THE COLD BLUE so I can recommend the Blu-ray disc to my friends in the United States and in England.The Blu-ray version of The Cold Blue appears to be sold out on Amazon in the United States; and the Blu-ray version might not be available for viewing on British Blu-ray players.Ps: I Googled KINO LORBER; it's quite an interesting company.

This documentary was shown in an 8th grade Social Studies class where I was working as a Special Needs Parapro. I promise you, whatever you think you know about our Brave Soldiers serving during WWII, this evenly paced and compelling documentary will provide you with a new sense of respect and gratitude for what our Courageous and INSANELY Young Fighter Pilots endured to help secure the Entire World's Victory for Freedom! Two especially informative chapters are the ominous message of the precariousness of the day's flight mission that being served Fresh Eggs for breakfast meant to the pilots, and the Unfathomable frostbite at their flight altitudes that would most certainly result in amputations if they so much as touched anything with their bare hands. Check out the ending credits to appreciate how they had to shake the ice out of their face masks in order to still breathe in life saving oxygen. These guys were BADASS, and HUMBLE just as we've all come to learn about our Greatest Generation, some never passing on the horrors they survived to anyone, taking it to their graves. Buy it for yourself, and then loan this story out to anyone you love!

This Blu-ray restores and presents much of the original film footage used to create the US Army Air Forces1944 documentary, "The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress". Intermixed with the footage are the moving reminiscences of a number of B-17 crew members. In addition, a major bonus of this disk is that it also includes a fully video- and audio- restored version of that original documentary, and this alone makes it worth the purchase price. The level of restoration is truly remarkable, and there simply is not better-looking footage anywhere of actual WWII bombing missions. If you are at all interested in this topic, buy this without any hesitation.And if you're interested in this, you'll also want to pick up the 1990 Movie "Memphis Belle", although that Hollywood history presents a poor picture of the brave men who flew and died for our freedom. You should also check out the 2012 movie "Fortress". Although it presents an equally debauched view of the Greatest Generation's finest and the CG graphics are sometimes subpar, this lesser-known movie is worth the purchase primarily for providing a better simulation of the intense flak and Luftwaffe fighter attacks than anything else I've seen.I recommend all three titles mentioned here for a well-rounded trifecta of B-17 bomber action.

I have been to the 8th Air Force Museum south of Savannah, Georgia off of I-95 several time and never saw this film or I would have purchased it. After viewing it I realized the film shot in 1943 was restored in 2018 (with the B-17 Memphis Bell aircraft , now in the USAF Museum in Dayton, OH) and released the next year.This is the real Twelve O’ Clock High film never seen before by this generation coupled with interviews of actual veterans who flew the missions over Europe in WW II. Original footage of the Memphis Bell in 16 mm Technicolor provides an astonishing cinematography.After viewing this film my stressful and trying flights in B-52s in the mid-seventies were a picnic in comparison. Although I was very uncomfortable and always scared on these missions, I was horrified viewing what these 8th Air Force veterans went through in unpressurized cabins under live-fire.The film provides a collage of vivid footage from that time which provides a rare view into the 8th Air Force’s harsh reality in the face of air combat. This Blu-ray provides an idea of what these veterans went through to defeat the German Third Reich. Every Gen X, Y, and Millennial should be require to view this film so they can appreciate the sacrifice that provides their freedom today.

Wonderful history of the 8th Air Force in WW2

For anyone with an interest in the air war over Europe in WW2, this is a must own film.

Ce Blu Ray est une excellente surprise. Le documentaire est passionnant et émouvant. La restauration du film Memphis Belle de 1943 est époustouflante. J'étais jusqu'alors habitué à la pauvre qualité d'image qu'offraient tous les DVD du commerce jusqu'à maintenant pour ce film iconique. Là, on a l'impression que le film a été tourné hier. Vraiment fabuleux. Seul bémol, le Blu Ray est codé en région A. Il ne peut donc pas être lu sur un lecteur standard européen, mais seulement sur un lecteur multi régions.

EIne solche Enttäuschung sollte nicht sein, wenn man sich auf diesen historischen Leckerbissen besonders gefreut hatte! Sehr schade, Produktbeschreibung mangelhaft!

Theirs was a War unlike any other. Their bases were scattered across England, but the B-17 Flying Fortresses, crewed by young men from across America, flew, fought and died some 25,000 feet in the skies above Occupied France, Belgium, Holland and Nazi Germany. In temperatures of -40 Fahrenheit, breathing oxygen because they would die without it, they flew against the Enemy.In restored images from raw filmed footage, shot by four cameramen and William Wyler; all of whom flew alongside their Eighth Army Air Force colleagues, and discovered in the National Archives, funded by Microsoft Paul Allen’s millions, this documentary brings to life the struggle between the Nazi fighters and the A.A. batteries; and the steely determination of those young American boys, all of whom were fighting to prove what King George said: ‘That might is not Right”.The Memphis Belle is mentioned, and the restored bomber is unveiled in all her shining glory, but the film is dedicated to the 28,000 Americans who could not watch that ceremony, because their sacrifice made that ceremony possible!Region 1 coding is the only drawback on a fantastic tribute to the Men who flew against Nazi Germany

Very well done documentary! The original footage restored is amazing.