"HANOVER STREET", an overlooked, underrated throwback to the war films of the '40s, is now available on dvd from COLUMBIA TRISTAR.  Director/Writer Peter Hyams' film has been available on laserdisc in a cropped format, but finally it can now be enjoyed with its proper 2.35:1 framing, improved image, and improved sound!

Harrison Ford plays a daring bomber pilot whom has instantly in love with a British nurse, played by the beautiful and extremely young(this film is 22 years old!)Lesley Anne Down.  Unfortunately, Down is already married.  Her husband, Christopher Plummer, is a British Intelligence Officer, putting together a dangerous plan to take place behind-enemy lines.  Knowing that his wife is drawn to a sense of mystery and adventure, Plummer decides to take on the mission himself, and Ford is assigned to drop him off behind the lines.  When things go wrong, both men are trapped in hostile territory, depending on each other to complete the mission and make it home.

This film has its moments of predictability, but it has many more moments of suspense! It's also well crafted.  Hyams has always had a great sense of composition and it comes in quite handy here.  There are great images achieved and the transfer from COLUMBIA TRISTAR is slick and well-polished for the most part!  While there's no sense of vibrancy in the color scheme, this is a WW picture, so darker, subtler colors are more suited.  Grain is minimal and the contrast is fine. 

There is both a 2.0 and discrete 4.0 track offered here.  The 4.0 track is better suited though, as it better represents the films intended soundstage with less distraction from composer John Barry's score. While the score sounds similar on the 2.0 track, it's less intrusive on the dialogue on the 4.0 mix.,

Hyams provides a running commentary, and while it's interesting at times, it's not very entertaining. However, fans of Ford will delight in a lot of the tidbits surrounding his scenes which Hyams freely discusses with great depth.  This is a pretty straight-forward commentary, with a mix of filmmaking information, and some production elements as well.