How The West Was Won
The early 1950s saw the advent of a new cinema format, a gift for those for whom 70mm projection just wasn’t wide enough. The IMAX of its time, Cinerama was based on what seemed like a crackpot theory: what if you filmed something with three cameras stuck side by side, then spliced the film together to create one super-wide image? Remarkably, it worked, resulting in such landscape-scoped epics as The Wonderful World Of The Brothers Grimm, It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World... and this Western. John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Gregory Peck, James Stewart and Debbie Reynolds were among the big-screen stars roped in by the three largerthan- life directors (John Ford, George Marshall and Henry Hathaway) to tell the rabble-rousing tale of American pioneers in the Old West. One might think that a film format designed to make standard cinema look like TV would translate poorly to the small screen, but one look at the Blu-ray proves otherwise. The film has undergone a full digital restoration, and the joins between the three film strips have been digitally erased, resulting not only in a flawless print, but the best possible demonstration of the film’s panoramic splendour. (A second version on the disc, presented in a wraparound format, arguably gives an even truer representation of the Cinerama experience, but you have to sit dangerously close to the screen.) An equally wide variety of extras — commentaries, documentaries, interviews and more — cover the making of the film and the story of Cinerama itself. For those not yet convinced that Blu-ray is the format of the future, this is how the argument will be won.

		Black Hawk Down A grain effect enhances Ridley Scott’s expertly staged story of a disastrous US Army operation in Somalia. The Blu-ray boasts two talk tracks — one featuring screenwriter Ken Nolan, the other with Task Force Ranger veterans — plus an absorbing 150-minute documentary.
		Pearl Harbor Michael Bay’s World War II epic may not be historically accurate, but he certainly knows how to stage an action set-piece — and the central attack on the US Pacific Fleet alone would be enough to justify this purchase. With sharp sound and spiffy visuals, this package is enough to make you overlook the script.
		Band Of Brothers Steven Spielberg followed Saving Private Ryan with this TV event, based on the true World War II exploits of the US Paratroopers’ legendary Easy Company. The six discs offer ten hours of unforgettable drama in shimmering hi-def, plus a kit bag full of in-depth extras.
		No Country for Old Men Brilliantly written, masterfully performed and impeccably faithful to the source material. Yet it’s Roger Deakins’ luminous lighting that overwhelms on Blu-ray, whilst the absence of a score gives the superb soundmix an extra kick.
		The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford Brad Pitt, as the turn-of-the-century train-robber, and Casey Affleck, as the young James Gang member doomed to kill him, are equally impressive in Andrew Dominik’s elegiac exploration of celebrity and destiny.
		Rescue Dawn Christian Bale plays Dieter Dengler, a pilot imprisoned by enemy forces during the Vietnam war. Director Werner Herzog constructs a dark masterpiece, with the Vietnamese jungle never having looked lusher than in Blu-ray. Extras include featurettes and deleted scenes.
		300 Zack Snyder’s take on Frank Miller’s graphic novel, about the 300 Spartans who fought Xerxes’ million Persians at the battle of Thermopylae, is such a rich visual feast that your eyes will be full for a week. Blu-ray delivers the deliberate grain and unique colour palette with relish.
		Unforgiven Deadwood fans will appreciate this revisionist Western, in which a retired gunslinger is forced to leave his family and take up arms again. Clint Eastwood won his first Best Director Oscar, and the performances, not to mention the cinematography, make this a must-buy Blu-ray.
		Kingdom Of Heaven: Director’s Cut Sir Ridley Scott’s Orlando Bloom-starring Crusades epic was much maligned on release, but the Director’s Cut rehabilitated its reputation, proving popular with critics and audiences on both DVD and Blu-ray. The big step up here is in the detail: watch DVD and Blu-ray side-by-side and marvel as the Blu-ray makes every warrior’s banner and surcoat crystal-clear.

		Staff Pick Zulu Mark Dinning, Editor Zulu has received some questionable DVD transfers in the past, but this crisp, clear Blu-ray treatment will heal those years of hurt. The story of the heroic defence of the remote Rorke’s Drift outpost by British forces vastly outnumbered by Zulu attackers remains stirring, wildly entertaining stuff.