Review: Dog Soldiers 4K UHD
4K UHD Blu-ray: Dog Soldiers (2002)
Neil Marshall, one of the great UK filmmakers, gave us a gift of lycanthropy with Dog Soldiers. A gritty, funny, gory tale of soldiers, one evil, one good, the others disgruntled, soggy, and out of their depth trapped in a house far away from anywhere in the middle of Scotland, surrounded by a load of 9 foot tall werewolves. If they can only make it till morning – maybe they’ll revert back to human form and the soldiers will be safe.
Saved after the first assault by Megan (Emma Cleasby), a lupine looking beauty who just happened to be passing in her Land Rover, the squad: Wells (Sean Pertwee), Cooper (Kevin Mackidd) Spoon (Darren Morrfit), Joe (Chris Robson), and Terry (Leslie Timpson), attempt to ward off the constant monster attacks, not aided by ‘evil’ captain Ryan (Liam Cunningham) who has been attacked by a werewolf (ah yes, we all know what’s going to happen there…) who reveals that the government had sent him on a mission to capture a live werewolf so that it could be studied and used as a weapon, while the soldiers are the expendable bait.
Marshall is known for ‘popping in’ to direct powerhouse episodes of TV series, perhaps mostly well known for his amazing episodes of Game of Thrones, and here he’s raised the bar of werewolf tale.
A simple story, with a twist that can be guessed early on, but does nothing to stop the enjoyment of this stand alone, classic of UK Horror. Covered in muck you’re there with the squad willing them to succeed and live, made all the more immersive in this Second Sight Films 4K UHD Blu-ray release, where hitherto unseen details in the dark are now clearly visible, making those shadowy moments even more tense and fingernail biting.
The film grain keeps the action looking as gritty as it is meant to be, but the level of detail is still so high that you can plainly see the fear in everyone’s eyes, while Second Sight Films continue to knock it out of the park with their superb special features and beautiful packaging which adds a layer of class to anyone’s movie collection.
Turn out the lights, turn up the sound, then sit back with a bonafide horror classic.
Special Features
- A new 4K restoration from the Original Camera Negative approved by Director Neil Marshall and Director of Photography Sam McCurdy
- Features 4K UHD and Blu-ray with bonus features on both formats
- 4K UHD presented in Dolby Vision HDR
- Archive audio commentary by Director Neil Marshall
- Archive audio commentary by Producers David E. Allen and Brian O’Toole
- New audio commentary by writer and Associate Professor of Film Alison Peirse
- Werewolves, Crawlers, Cannibals and More: a new 40-minute interview with Neil Marshall
- A History of Lycanthropy: author Gavin Baddeley on Werewolf Cinema
- Werewolves, Folklore and Cinema: a video essay by author Mikel J. Koven
- Werewolves vs Soldiers: The Making of Dog Soldiers with Neil Marshall, Producers Christopher Figg and Keith Bell, Actors Sean Pertwee, Kevin McKidd, Darren Morfitt, Leslie Simpson and Emma Cleasby, Special Effects Artist Bob Keen and more!
- A Cottage in the Woods: an interview with Production Designer Simon Bowles
- Combat: a short film by Neil Marshall
- Deleted Scenes and Gag Reel with optional commentary by Neil Marshall
- Trailers and Photo Gallery
- Optional English subtitles for the hearing impaired
Limited Edition Contents
- Rigid slipcase with new artwork by Chris Malbon
- 108 page book with new essays by Craig Ian Mann, Alison Peirse, Zoë Rose Smith, Anya Stanley, exclusive interview with Neil Marshall by Matthew Thrift, plus Behind the Scenes photos
- 6 collectors’ art cards
Also, make sure to listen to our Spotlight Reflection show about Dog Soldiers too.
Review by Tina from a disc kindly supplied by Second Sight Films via Aim Publicity.
