Objective, Burma! is an American war film from 1945 that is based on, to some extent, the six-month raid by Merrill’s Marauders in the Burma Campaign during World War II.
The film is directed by legendary director Raoul Walsh and stars screen legend Errol Flynn who discards swashbuckling tights for military clothing.
The main crux of this film is about a platoon of United States paratroopers led by Captain Nelson (Errol Flynn, The Adventures of Robin Hood) are tasked to parachute into Burma and destroy a hidden Japanese radar station in the Burmese jungle and take out the troops guarding it. This mission is a success, but the Japanese army is waiting for them as they try to leave Burma in their rescue planes. Nelson decides that it would be best to escape on foot and split the team into two smaller units. One unit is captured and killed, and it only gets worse for Nelson with the Japanese army closing in.
Objective, Burma! is a superb War movie with some excellent performances by the cast including James Brown, William Prince, George Tobias, and Henry Hull. Director Walsh captures a lot of tension and a lot of action to boot. The excellent cinematography is courtesy of James Wong Howe with some panoramic jungle shots. One of the best scenes which stood out for me was when the troops are sneaking their way in through the jungle without any music. To me it has a Hitchcockian feel to it which hooked me.
On the downside, for those that are sensitive to racism, the word “Japs” is used in abundance by the cast. This was 1945 and views on racism were different back then, with the word “Jap” being used in various films where the plot was related to World War II propaganda, including a Batman and Robin serial from 1943! The other drawback with the length of the film, clocking in at nearly 150 minutes.
Worthy of note, legendary actor Hugh Beaumont, Mr. Ward Cleaver himself has a small role in this picture and is one of many roles he had in his career that were uncredited.
Warner presents Objective, Burma! on Blu-ray. The video presentation is superb, with a bright, clear image throughout. Black levels are deep with a balanced grey scale. There appears to be no print damage whatsoever. No DNR has been applied, and film grain is present which assists in providing a vast amount of detail to the picture in a natural, organic way. Another revelation in Warner Archive’s video department.
Warner uses English DTS-HD Master Audi0 2.0 soundtrack is excellent with dialog, music, gunshots coming in clearly without any drop-offs, hissing. The great score from Franz Waxman never overpowers or dominates. Spoken dialogue is easy to follow. Overall, the audio for this Blu-ray is well-balanced without any hissing, or other defects. There are optional English SDH subtitles for this release
Extras include a 20-minute short Technicolor film from 1941 titled “The Tanks Are Coming” which is nothing more than propaganda for World War II.
Another 20-minute short, “The Rear Gunner”, features Burgess Meredith and Ronald Reagan in another war related picture.
A theatrical trailer is the remaining extra for this package.
Despite the long running time, Objective, Burma! is an outstanding war drama that I would recommend to those who have not had the opportunity to watch. I recommend this Blu-ray offering from Warner Archive with the top-of-the-line audio and video quality and a couple of cool short films in the supplemental package.
Objective, Burma!
Director- Raoul Walsh
Cast- Errol Flynn, James Brown, William Prince
Country of Origin- US
Distributor – Warner Archive / Warner Home Video
Number of Discs – 1
Reviewed by – David Steigman
Date-8/8/21