Pressure: A Strong Ensemble Tries to Lift Up a By-the-Numbers War Drama (Blu-ray)

The Film:

Over the past 80 years, we've seen just about every conceivable film or TV show that could be made about World War II. From biopics of the major players involved to various missions to key battles, it seems like there couldn't possibly be anything else that hasn't already been tackled at one time or another. This brings us to Anthony Marras' "Pressure," based on the play by David Haig (who co-wrote the script), a peculiar WWII entry that delves into a rather unlikely and far-less-mentioned subject, one that asks the simple, yet all-important question: What was the weather going to be on the day of the D-Day landing in Normandy? With the focus of the project being meteorology, and not the battle itself, could these filmmakers possibly take something that's generally seen as mundane and turn it into a compelling cinematic experience?

On June 2, 1944, with the Allied forces poised to invade German-occupied Europe, Group Captain James Stagg (Andrew Scott) is summoned by General Dwight D. Eisenhower (Brendan Fraser) to the center of operations for the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) so that he can give him a forecast for June 5th, the planned day of invasion. Stagg, leader of the British team, immediately begins to butt heads with Colonel Irving Prick (Chris Messina), the head of the US team, with the former believing that a convergence of storms will lead to nasty weather on the day, while the latter believes that similar patterns will merely repeat themselves, leading to clear skies. With the day of the invasion quickly approaching, Stagg will have to convince General Eisenhower that he's right, or risk having the entire operation end in disaster.

With "Pressure" being a film based on rather famous historical events, obviously there isn't going to be much in the way of surprise as to how things turn out, so just like with any other project facing that dilemma, the question of how successful it ends up being is going to be seen mainly in the way it relays the events it explores. In this case, it goes about its story in a rather orderly fashion, giving us the two sides of the argument, building up the suspense (or pressure, if you like) as the scheduled time for the invasion draws closer. On the whole, the decision to go forward basically hinges on Eisenhower's gut feeling as to whose report he can trust more, making it all the more important for him, and the audience, to understand the reasoning behind each as he comes to the choice we know he's destined to make.

As far as the story itself goes, it's more than fair to say that there's not exactly a lot of substance to it. As mentioned, the film is basically about trying to get an accurate forecast for the time of invasion, which is a mildly interesting topic, though perhaps not one that really needed a theatrical feature film based around it. That said, the filmmakers do what they can with the material, trying to make it as compelling a story as they can given that just about everyone watching will know that D-Day was on June 6th, not June 5th. Helping out in that regard is a fantastic cast that includes Emmy/Golden Globe nominee Andrew Scott, Oscar winner Brendan Fraser, SAG Award winner Chris Messina, and Oscar nominee/BAFTA winner Kerry Condon (as Eisenhower's private secretary), all of whom do a great job of bringing this lesser-discussed angle of WWII to life.

In the end, "Pressure" ends up being a somewhat middling film, though also a rather handsomely-mounted one that features fantastic production design & costumes. One certainly wouldn't say it was bad, but it's not exactly the most riveting tale of the war either, though there may be a few aspects of this particular angle contained within that some viewers weren't aware of. It's fine if you're looking for nothing more than a quick little dive into its unique topic, but just be prepared for a mostly by-the-numbers rendition that, while it's told with a wonderful ensemble, doesn't go particularly deep into what would ultimately be a rather impactful moment in world history.

Video/Audio:

"Pressure" comes to Blu-ray in a 1.85:1, 1080p High Definition transfer of excellent quality. The picture is quite sharp & clear throughout the entire 100-minute duration, perfectly highlighting its period production design & costumes. Likewise, the Dolby Atmos audio is fantastic, giving you all of the dialogue, sound effects, and music in outstanding quality. Overall, Universal has done a marvelous job in both areas for the film's physical debut.

Special Features:

Building Pressure (9 Minutes): A behind the scenes look at the film, featuring interviews with cast & crew.

An Authentic World of War (10 Minutes): A featurette that focuses on the shooting locations, production design, and costumes that helped bring the film to life.

Conclusion:

Anthony Marras' "Pressure" does a decent job of relaying the events of a lesser-discussed event of World War II, and features a remarkable ensemble of talented actors, but as far as its story goes, there really isn't that much substance to be found in its discussions of the weather, not to mention the obvious lack of surprise as to where it ends up. Ultimately we're left with a somewhat middling outing that contains a few interesting aspects to convey regarding its topic, but one that could be argued didn't really need a theatrical feature-length film to tell its tale.

Score: 3/5

Now available on Blu-ray.

Follow me on Twitter @BeckFilmCritic.