ÍøÆغÚÁÏ

These amongst others (eg 'Where Eagles Dare', 'The Guns of Navarone') are WWII films of some distinction - in this case the most obvious is that the 'slant' is most definitely towards Great Britain in terms of both artistry and depicted events.They are also, of course, 3 terrific movies with (for those with a bent towards the subject-matter) a tangible meaning and genuine 'repeat-viewing' credentials, as it's not necessarily the plot revelations that make them so watchable but the pre-CGI production-values (the most obvious fact being that largely real equipment is on show), action scenes and acting performances.I already own these 3 films in their 'Special Edition' DVD format and was a little reticent about 'double-dipping' to HD, with accompanying DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtracks, as some reviews were unfavourable.Well, after watching for the umpteenth time all 3, this time on Blu-ray I can categorically confirm that they ALL offer improvements in the viewing experience; they haven't been restored/remastered to the degree many other older films have BUT they have been given some attention, when even more modern releases are just ported over to the HD format and an improvement relied on just because of the higher capacity/bit-rate capability of Blu-ray....Before I give examples, it should be noted that this 3-pack contains exactly the same 3 discs you can buy separately, so the entire/almost complete lack of any special features (depending on which disc is compared to the SE DVD) is a deficiency for those first-time buyers, APART from 'The Great Escape' which replicates the DVD features exactly.Unfortunately, the price of this set fluctuates a lot and seems now to be regularly a LOT higher than I paid...However, the comparative low-cost goes a long way to justifying that difference - UNLESS you buy the discs in their solo format where the prices are about 'normal', making them potentially a disappointing purchase....The first and most important improvement for all 3 films on Blu-ray is that, when compared to the SE DVD editions, every single one of those annoying little white specks/scratches which are on the recording and hence appear/flash momentarily on the screen at regular intervals are GONE.Some reviewers say these Blu-rays offer no improvement over the SE DVD, but this 'cleaned-up' matter is a fact and not reliant on perception; maybe, for whatever reason, others don't think it's an issue but for me it is - this print damage is noticeable and mars the viewing experience, when the picture quality is otherwise decent.------'The Battle of Britain'------The overall 'picture quality' is not a massive improvement for 'The Battle of Britain' in terms of sharpness/contrast, the fact that the print has been cleaned IS !!!The other issue less relevant to this particular film is that the sound quality is not much improved either, since the SE DVD had an excellent DTS soundtrack - all 3 films in this set have a lot of notable music in them, but this film in particular majors in that aspect so it's probably why it got DTS even on the DVD.So, for this film the print has been cleaned and, for me, it offers a noticeable improvement, albeit slight, in picture quality in terms of sharpness/contrast.As far as 'The Great Escape' and 'A Bridge Too Far' are concerned, the additional differences present with these Blu-rays are (to varying degrees) with the colour palette, contrast/brightness and sound quality.------'The Great Escape'------This film on Blu-ray has a wildly different colour filtering when compared to the SE DVD; red has been minimised and blue enhanced ('Teal' is the technical colour term I believe). This makes the appearance of most things much, much lighter in colour and to my eye MUCH more representative of reality for things like skin tones, earth/wood colour.*** To see what I mean, you can see it displayed on an excellent website I refer to a lot which deals with these kind of reviews - search the term 'dvdbeaver The Great Escape Blu-ray' and the first result 'hit' should be to the relevant webpage.So, for this film the print has been cleaned, for me the colour palette is improved/made more representative plus it offers a noticeable improvement, albeit slight, in picture quality in terms of sharpness/contrast. The sound quality is also better as the SE DVD 'only' had DD5.1. Finally, this disc stands out from the other 2 as it replicates the SE DVD features.[BTW, they compare all 3 of these films so just change the film title in your search term to see the other 2 !!!]------'A Bridge Too Far'------This film on Blu-ray also has a different colour filtering when compared to the SE DVD; I think that again red has been minimised BUT the bigger difference is with brightness/contrast. The Blu-ray picture can often look much, MUCH darker in scenes where the DVD is much lighter (but note the DVD can also look very dark, the Blu-ray 'simply' replicates the darkness for those scenes !) - but that is because the DVD had those aspects artificially boosted, as a lot of the initial invasion action occurs in the early morning hours so obviously is dark, AS IT OF COURSE WOULD HAVE BEEN !!!So, for this film the print has been cleaned, for me the colour/contrast/brightness improved/made more representative PLUS in lighter scenes it offers a very noticeable improvement in picture quality in terms of sharpness - much more than with the other 2 films. The sound quality is also better as the SE DVD 'only' had DD5.1.It is possible to pick this set up for a very decent price, so upgraders should be happy and if the absence/loss of special features can be tolerated (especially versus the DVD editions) then even initial purchasers should also be satisfied !I've attached a photo of the Blu-ray box exterior with all the disc info as ÍøÆغÚÁÏ omits it.and if you are a fan of the music in these, and other well-known WWII, films then this CD should definitely be on your list :World War II Film Themes