Anthropoid – Blu-ray Movie Review

Based on the extraordinary true story of Operation Anthropoid, this powerful drama follows two Czechoslovakian soldiers sent to Prague to assassinate Hitler’s third in command, the main architect behind the Final Solution, Reinhard Heydrich. Outmanned and facing impossible odds, the two men lead a small group of rebels that would change the course of history.

This is an amazing story of the price people were willing to pay during WWII in order to resist the Nazi occupation. With few helpers and extremely limited resources, these two men faced impossible odds to kill Heydrich, an outrageous act of resistance. It was the devastating reprisals that will leave you speechless at the end of the film, but will certainly make you ponder how far you would be willing to go and sacrifice in order to fight back against foreign occupiers. Those who were not so brave, stood by and did nothing. Taking a stand often comes with a cost and this mission paid a huge price, so I am glad the story is being told.

The story is moderately paced and the action scenes are sparse, but the build up to the climactic ending is worth the wait. The acting is very good and except for Murphy (Scarecrow in the Batman series), I did not recognize any of the others. It makes you wonder about the hundreds of other untold stories that will never make it to the silver screen. This one though was worth the telling!

The picture and sound are very good. Dialog is clear and centered and when the bullets start to fly, you are put into the action. In spite of some dimly lit interiors, the contrasts and colors are solid. The color palette lends towards earth tones and gives the film a “period” feel. Details are finely focused. All-in-all, a handsome looking picture.

Besides a DVD copy, you get: The Making of Anthropoid- the cast discuss the challenges of making a film that recreates an historic piece of history, and a Storyboard to Film Comparison.