Warfare Blu Ray Review (A24)

Warfare is a 2025 war action film written/directed by Alex Garland (Civil War, Annihilation, Ex Machina, Devs, and Men) and Ray Mendoza (Live to Tell, Safehouse, and The Warfighters). It was produced by Andrew Macdonald (Civil War, Shōgun, Men, Annihilation, Ex Machina, Sunshine, Shallow Grave, Trainspotting franchise, Dredd, and the 28 Trilogy). The budget was $20,000,000 and it grossed $32,909,931 worldwide at the box office!!!! A platoon of American Navy SEALs which includes Erik (played by: Will Poulter from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Death of a Unicorn, and We’re the Millers), Ray (played by: D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai from Hell of a Summer, Reservation Dogs, and Fitting In), Elliot (played by: Cosmo Jarvis from The Alto Knights, Shōgun, and Peaky Blinders), Sam (played by: Joseph Quinn from The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Stranger Things, and A Quiet Place: Day One) and Macdonald (played by: Michael Gandolfini from The Many Saints of Newark, Beau Is Afraid, and Daredevil: Born Again) gets trapped in the home of an Iraqi family. The elite team suffers heavy casualties during it’s fatal mission but the survivors keep fighting for their lives during all of this madness. They are overwatching the whole movement of the U.S. forces through insurgent territory!!!! Warfare is more about actions than actual words. It doesn’t depend on a complicated story and it shows the struggles of war. It takes a skilled unit that gets stuck in a brutal scenario with not much chance of survival. It’s co-directed by the talented Alex Garland and real life vet Ray Mendoza that shares his legit experiences when going into danger. It doesn’t make war look like anything to celebrate about or glorify with it’s detailed grim visuals of what really happens behind the scenes during battle. It doesn’t give major character development or flashbacks to their previous memories. It shows these soldiers as they deal with it while it takes place and it’s not sugar coated at all. It puts you deep into the dirt, mess, and trenches of pure chaos while just trying to make it out alive. The main cast is packed with all kinds of familiar faces from other projects. Will Poulter, Cosmo Jarvis, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Michael Gandolfini, and Joseph Quinn are all excellent in this gritty action packed war feature as some of the main Navy Seals. Most of these actors have been leads in major productions but Warfare isn’t about one lead character. It focuses on a group and a team going through this hell. The rest of the cast includes Aaron Mackenzie (Lockdowners), Alex Brockdorff (Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One), Finn Bennett (True Detective), Evan Holtzman (Hit Man), Joe Macaulay (Secret Invasion), Laurie Duncan (Hollyoaks), Jake Lampert (Last Christmas), Aaron Deakins (Alien Outbreak), Henrique Zaga (The Stand), Kit Connor (Slaughterhouse Rulez), Noah Centineo (Black Adam), Taylor John Smith (Hunter Killer), Adain Bradley (Wrong Turn), Charles Melton (Riverdale), and Aso Sherabayani (American Assassin). It shows a brotherhood that’s all experiencing darkness and why there’s actual PTSD. They do everything right but something always comes out of nowhere in this, that’s really how it is. Warfare is loaded with action, drama, violence, realistic gore, suspense, and pure anxiety. It’s much more than a film, it’s an actual experience the entire time. There’s been countless of war features from the past but nothing has ever felt exactly like this one. It’s basically the beginning of Saving Private Ryan but it’s like that the whole time for Warfare, non stop crazy situations. It’s truly original and unique for being in a highly popular sub-genre. Warfare is very powerful and it stays with you long after it’s done. I already want to revisit it, it’s gruesome but it always feels completely legit. This is a must watch and one of the current highlights of 2025. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!! Let’s discuss this high definition presentation and special features from A24! This 1080p (2.00:1) transfer looks amazing on blu ray, I can only imagine what the actual 4K looks like but I unfortunately didn’t get that version for coverage. The gritty cinematography, gruesome action, and intense locations really pop out for this when it comes to it’s visuals. It has a few different audio options which includes English: Dolby Atmos and English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 tracks on the disc. I think it’s safe to say that Warfare is the best sounding home video release in 2025 so far. It’s suspenseful environment and it’s natural violence really adds to it’s quality sound design. All of the dialogue is crisp, the battle is elevated, and the music has a killer boost to it. It has English SDH and Spanish subtitles. It has an “Audio Commentary” with Ray Mendoza, Alex Garland, and Brian Philpot. Ray Mendoza spent 17 years as a Navy Seal so Warfare is based on his true life experiences while over there. They said they did a few different versions of scenes in this. They break down the movie as they all revisit it. They were able to shoot 95% of Warfare in sequence which made the action production easier to get completed. They joke about having dance offs while filming this. They show appreciation for their crew and the various things they did for the movie. They provide so much information and stories from Warfare. It’s definitely an interesting listen, they really put in work for this. It has the almost 29 minute “Courage Under Fire: The Making of Warfare”. It has interviews with some key members from the production. Ray Mendoza was a Military consultant on Civil War and that’s where Warfare was developed as a possible feature. The cast chats about respecting the real life people that these events are based on. It goes over some of the challenges making this. D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai goes over his experience playing Ray in Warfare while the real Ray was directing him in it. The actors go over their process and they actually learning during their camp training. It has a variety of additional boot camp footage while the cast was all training for Warfare. It comes in a slipbox with a digipack and additional art cards from the film. There’s a 4K/UHD version besides this standard blu ray home video release. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!