Murphy’s War — Murphy’s War( Blu Ray)

Murphy’s War is a 1971 war movie directed by Peter Yates (Krull, Bullitt and The Dresser) and starring the legendary Peter O’Toole (Lawrence of Arabia, Zulu Dawn and The Lion in Winter) Sían Phillips (Dune, I Claudius, Clash of the Titans and also Warrior Queen where she played the role of Queen Boudicca), Phillipe Noiret (Cinema Paradiso, El Postino and La Grande Bouffe), Horst Janson (Captain Kronos, Vampire Hunter, Der Bastian and Härte 10) and the wonderful John Hallam (Flash Gordon, Dragonslayer and Lifeforce). 

The film is set during the final months of the Second World War. Peter O’Toole stars as the titular character,  the sole survivor after a German U-boat attack on a British naval ship, who vows to avenge the deaths of his crewmates. The German U-boat Captain, played by Horst Janson, examines the ship and is satisfied that he has killed all aboard, however, Murphy somehow survives and is picked up from the wreckage by Louis Brezon, an oil worker who found himself stranded in the Amazon during the war. Brezon takes Murphy to a female Doctor (Dr Hayden) who is working among the tribes of the Amazon. Initially, Hayden disbelieves Murphy’s claim that his ship was sunk by a German U-boat in the Orinoco River, until Lauchs (Janson) and his crew arrive looking for survivors of the wreck. They discover an injured English pilot who Brezon has been picked up and Lauchs shoots him before leaving in an attempt to leave no evidence of what he has done. Murphy returns from visiting the pilot’s aeroplane to find out what has happened and this is the final straw in his growing desire to seek revenge upon the U-boat crew. 

Murphy’s War has a powerful anti-war message and Murphy’s descent into single-minded madness as he plots his revenge clearly mirrors that of Captain Ahab in Moby Dick. The film has a particularly downbeat ending but this allows Yates to make his point clearly and succinctly. The cast is superb, O’Toole is a tour de force as Murphy, highlighting the character’s descent into near madness as he seeks revenge for the lives of his crewmates. It is also worth noting that Noiret is outstanding as the ageing oil worker, Brezon, who helps Murphy to retrieve the plane and get it up and running again. From a technical perspective, Yates’s direction is excellent and the film looks gorgeous throughout, this is largely down to the work of DOP Douglas Slocombe and the film’s stunning locations.

This new limited edition Blu ray release from Powerhouse features a brilliant new HD print of the film, alongside interviews with cast and crew, as well as several brand new featurettes highlighting the film’s production alongside the usual trailers and images. The limited-edition comes with a bonus 36-page booklet, with an essay from Julian Wheeler and an interview with O’Toole. Overall, this is an excellent release of an oft-forgotten anti-war classic. O’Toole takes all the plaudits for his performance but his supporting cast are excellent too. The film has a decidedly downbeat ending but it's one of the key reasons it lives on in the viewer's mind.