Kino Lorber Press Release: The Cold Blue (Blu-ray) (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

Kino Lorber Releases Erik Nelson's
Critically-Acclaimed World War II Documentary
The Cold Blue
The Story of the Courageous Men of the Eighth Air Force, Featuring Stunning Archival Footage from 1943 Restored in 4K Shot by Oscar®-Winner William Wyler
Available on Blu-ray & DVD April 7
Featuring Audio Commentary by Director Erik Nelson and Executive Producer Catherine Wyler, Bonus Featurettes, and a New 4K Restoration of William Wyler's Classic War Documentary
The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress (1944)

New York, NY -- March 27, 2020 -- Kino Lorber is proud to announce the Blu-ray release of THE COLD BLUE, a new documentary by acclaimed filmmaker Erik Nelson that tells the story of the courageous men of the Eighth Air Force during World War II, featuring stunningly restored 4K footage shot by Oscar®-winning director William Wyler in 1943 as part of his own documentary, The Memphis Belle.
Set to street on April 7, THE COLD BLUE comes to Blu-ray and DVD packed with bonus features including a new 4K restoration of Wyler's short documentary, The Memphis Belle, A Story of a Flying Fortress (1944, 45 minutes), audio commentary with director Erik Nelson and executive producer Catherine Wyler, "Into the Cold Blue": Restoration and Reinvention (22 minutes), "The Flying Fortress" (2 minutes), and the trailer. The SRP for the Blu-ray is $34.95, and the SRP for the DVD is $29.95.

THE COLD BLUE is a stirring tribute to the men of the Eighth Air Force, who flew deadly missions during World War II. Half of the U.S. Army Air Force's casualties during the war were suffered by the Eighth. Director Erik Nelson tracked down nine of the surviving Eighth Air Force veterans to recall the harrowing experiences they endured in the summer of 1943.

THE COLD BLUE features newly restored 4K footage and outtakes shot by director William Wyler (Oscar® winner for The Best Years of Our Lives, Ben-Hur and Mrs. Miniver) for his 1944 short documentary The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress (also included on this disc). Wyler went to Europe in 1943 to film the air war in progress, where he and his crew flew actual combat missions on B-17s, during which one of his cinematographers was killed. Incredibly, all of the raw color footage Wyler shot for The Memphis Belle was recently discovered in the vaults of the National Archives, which has undergone a stunning frame-by-frame 4K restoration by Nelson and his team, and is incorporated to illustrate the veterans' remarkable stories. THE COLD BLUEis a meditation on youth, war and trauma, and a testament to the courage of the men of the Eighth Air Force.


The Cold Blue (2019) | Official Trailer | HBO


THE COLD BLUE
Director: Erik Nelson

Blu-ray and DVD Street Date: April 7, 2020
Blu-ray SRP: $34.95
DVD SRP: $29.95

Bonus Features:
The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress -- New 4K Restoration
(1944, directed by William Wyler, 45 minutes)
Audio commentary with director Erik Nelson and executive producer Catherine Wyler
Into the Cold Blue: Restoration and Reinvention (22 minutes)
The Flying Fortress Experience
(2 minutes)
Trailer


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[Mike2001]

I streamed this back in the fall. Terrific documentary.

 

[Flashgear]

I watched The Cold Blue on HBO back on June 6, 2019, aired by them just once on the 75th anniversary of D-Day. The original color film has been brilliantly restored, mind blowing to me and others who have only seen Memphis Belle in various stages of deterioration, fade, color shift and decay over these many years. In fact it looks otherworldly and ultra-realistic at the same time! See this for yourself and judge just how badly even state-of-the-art CGI utterly fails to do real battle action any justice at all! If you have an interest in history, especially WW2 history, and the epic air-war fought on a huge scale, buy this! And if you have an interest in all things William Wyler, do yourself a favor and buy this!

One more thought about the long missing film finally found in the National Archives that was used to augment what was retained by William Wyler in the original release of Memphis Belle, and restored to accomplish the brilliant documentary that is The Cold Blue...good to know that any treasure consigned to the caverns of the National Archives will never be lost...it just takes them 75-100 years or more to rediscover what they actually have in their collections that they couldn't have been bothered to catalog properly in the first place, back in the day...Thanks to that incompetence, at least the Nazis won't get their hands on the Ark of the Covenant again...

It kills me a little bit each day, knowing that we are one day closer to losing the last of the Greatest Generation...

 

[dana martin]

i have the Periscope release of The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress and am so looking forward to this release, The Periscope releases are what they are, not perfect, but there is some added features that i don't think are on this release. It would be nice if HBO decide to revisit some of the other WW II properties for a doc, it it would mean restorations of those films or programs, Victory at Sea, or all of the Capra Why We Fight. are definitely time capsules of the "Greatest Generation"

 

[Nelson Au]

I just heard about this film after seeing a video on YouTube about the restoration of the actual Memphis Belle B-17. How cool and it includes the Wyler documentary on the Memphis Belle. I assume the quality of the restored film will be improved over the included extra: Memphis Belle A Story of a Flying Fortress that’s included in the 1990 Matthew Modine film, Memphis Belle blu ray from Warner Archive Collection

 

[MartinP.]

I bought this and those with an interest should be blown over. Just excellent. It really feels like "you are there" and makes me wish when they make new films concerning WWII they'd stop trying to use artsy color palettes and just film what the camera sees. For example, look at John Ford's footage of the Battle of Midway and the 2019 film of Midway.