Island in the Sky

 

Picture: B+     Sound: B-     Extras: B+     Film: B

 

 

As mentioned in my review for The High and the Mighty (elsewhere on this site), John Wayne would team up shortly before that picture with director William Wellman on Island in the Sky, an adventure drama set in post WWII Canada.  Wayne leads an all-star cast yet again in this grim tale shot in 1953 and “the Duke” must keep his men alive under the extreme conditions after their plane crash lands in the frozen tundra.  The film also stars Lloyd Nolan, Walter Abel, James Arness, Harry Carey Jr., and a few other prominent actors of the time. 

 

Similar to The High and the Mighty, Paramount has meticulously restored these two films to near perfection for their debut on DVD, both of which were never issued on VHS or even LaserDisc, so seeing either of these films within your household until now was nearly impossible.  These two films have both been on the list for fans for years as they searched out to find them, but the Wayne Estate has kept them under lock and key so it seems until now.  Now that they are out, they have brought them back to their near-original quality making them a must-see.

 

Both films have a similar sort of pulse, but they contrast one another in their look and feel, mostly contributed by the fact that this film was shot full-frame black and white, while The High and the Mighty would be shot in CinemaScope on a grander scale in glorious Technicolor.  Island in the Sky is much darker in content and the feel of the film is grimmer.  The black and white cinematography by Archie Stout, who would shoot both films in fact, looks great here.  Viewers will immediately sense the film has a darker look and tone to it, the print for this DVD keeps in touch with that and does not try to compensate by adjusting brightness or contrast in order to get more detail from the print.  You can tell that the hands of an expert have masterfully restored this film.  There are very few instances of print damage as well!

 

Unfortunately this film does not have the big sound of The High and the Mighty and therefore would not have benefited much for a 5.1 remix, therefore the Dolby 2.0 Mono only option on this disc works just fine.  Both the image and sound have great qualities and are free from much interference.  The picture is accurately grainy and dark with some minimal amounts of softness here and there, while the audio is free from distortion, compression, and extra hiss.  This disc impresses for sure! 

 

Island in the Sky is a single disc DVD edition, but boasts quite a few extras still. There is a commentary track by Leonard Maltin (who also does an introduction to the film), William Wellman Jr., aviation expert Vincent Longo, Darryl Hickman, and James Lyndon.  There is a few featurettes present as well, including some interesting pieces of flying and the making of the film.  Trailers and some additional footage from places like the premier of the film are also nice extras to round off one really sweet package all in all. 

 

I can’t think of too many gripes to have with any of these recent John Wayne films that are finally available thanks to Paramount on the DVD format.  There is no question that these will be key pieces for collectors and fans to have, and this marks a landmark for Paramount in their quality department.  This is also the type of work that reinvigorates people into seeing older films, and to perhaps enjoy the work of one of the biggest stars of the silver screen.

 

 

-   Nate Goss