Murphy (Peter O’Toole) is the only survivor of the merchant ship Mount Kyle, which was sunk by a German U-boat and the survivors all shot. He gets to the shore of Venezuela, where he is nursed by Dr. Hayden (Siân Phillips), a pacifist who may not be interested in his plans to kill everyone who put him here.

Based on the book by Max Catto, this was directed by Peter Yates and written by Stirling Silliphant, this was originally going to have Frank Sinatra as Murphy.

Robert Evans brought the director and producer Michael Deeley to the project before losing interest. However, they had a pay or play contract and Evans wanted them to make The Godfather instead. They chose this.

It’s definitely not a movie that makes war look romantic or in any way filled with honor. Instead, it’s just people losing and dying and failing. No wonder critics were so rough on it.

The Arrow Video blu ray of this movie comes with a new visual essay by film critic David Cairns, archive interviews with assistant director John Glen, focus puller Robin Vidgeon and film critic Sheldon Hall, a trailer, an image gallery, a reversible sleeve and an illustrated collector’s book. You can get it from MVD.