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'Operation Crossbow' Blu-Ray Review - A Thrilling Wartime Espionage Tale

Geek Vibes Nation

13-06-2025

Entertainment
Geek Vibes Nation

'Operation Crossbow' Blu-Ray Review - A Thrilling Wartime Espionage Tale

A fearsome rumor reaches Britain's World War II command. The Nazis are developing rocket technology that could rain death on London and then New York. Quickly, England develops a plan to send saboteurs into the sites manufacturing the rockets. Just moments after the carefully chosen commandos parachute into the drop zone, their pilot receives an urgent message: The mission may be compromised. Abort. Operation Crossbow is the partly fact-based tale of how that team succeeded against daunting odds. Michael Anderson (The Dam Busters, Logan's Run) directs, guiding a huge cast in a film that builds to a spectacular finale, yet never neglects war's unsparing personal costs. As a record of a wartime espionage incursion and as an intrigue-filled thriller, Operation Crossbow is on both counts Operation Accomplished. For thoughts on Operation Crossbow, please check out my thoughts on No Streaming Required: Video Quality Warner Archive presents Operation Crossbow with a sterling 1080p master transfer released in 2019 in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio sourced from a 2K scan of the Interpositive that looks like a dream. Viewers are unlikely to spot the difference between this and a scan from the Original Camera Negative, given the amazing effort from the label. The film exhibits no serious signs of wear and tear or debris. Even momentary softness during optical transitions that cannot be avoided is handled with care. The colors of the environments are striking with memorable touches in the clothing and production design. Each hue is ideally saturated for first-rate accuracy. Black levels are deep with impeccable stability throughout, and highlights similarly hold firm. Detail and clarity are of the highest order with the sumptuous natural film grain intact and resolved consistently. There are no unwanted digital fumbles such as compression artifacts, banding, or any other such issues. Warner Archive showed off with this one. Audio Quality The Blu-Ray comes with a DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track that comes to life quite memorably. There is quite a bit of chatter at the base in German with English subtitles, and the overwhelmingly English dialogue sounds great, as well. Things kick into gear in your speakers as you fully engage with the thrilling finale. The score from Ron Goodwin is used perfectly to transport you into this spy thriller filled with simmering emotions. Even when it is particularly active, it does not step on any important exchanges or background noises. There is no obvious age-related wear and tear to the track such as drop-outs, hissing, or popping. Warner Archive has put forth good work with this audio presentation. Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included for the feature film. Special Features A Look Back At Crossbow: A ten-minute archival featurette that takes a look at the real-life rocket program fictionalized in the feature film. Theatrical Trailer (2:36) Final Thoughts Operation Crossbow is a thrilling espionage movie that brings a personal touch to a very important wartime story. The movie takes some measures to feel authentic with Germans actually speaking in German with subtitles, and the movie establishes some heavy consequences to these heroic efforts. The performances are quite good all around, even if some of the tertiary characters could have been a bit more fully developed. This is definitely worth a watch for fans of wartime dramas. Warner Archive has released Blu-Ray featuring a stellar A/V presentation and a couple of special features. Recommended Operation Crossbow can be purchased directly through MovieZyng or various other online retailers. Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray. Disclaimer: Warner Archive has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.

Ride for Dad: Back on the road in the fight against prostate cancer

Ottawa Citizen

07-06-2025

Automotive
Ottawa Citizen

Ride for Dad: Back on the road in the fight against prostate cancer

More than 1,000 motorcyclists got their motors running Saturday for the 25th annual Ride for Dad in Ottawa, a show of support in the fight against prostate cancer. Article content The national event raises funds for research and public awareness campaign. Article content Riders toured past the General campus of The Ottawa Hospital and CHEO before heading out on a long route that took them eventually to the Canadian Tire Centre, turning heads and sparking conversations about early detection and PSA testing. Article content Michael Anderson, chair of the Ottawa chapter, spoke from his heart about losing his father to prostate cancer in 2021. Article content 'I may not have been able to save my father, but his name carries on through me and all the people that are here,' Anderson said. Article content 'We've raised over $43 million nationally, and we've actually donated over $8 million to that very hospital,' he said, pointing to The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre. Article content 'We're still in the fight together.' Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content

Anderson family sells stake in Avoya Travel to Certares

Travel Weekly

05-06-2025

Business
Travel Weekly

Anderson family sells stake in Avoya Travel to Certares

The Anderson family has sold its stake in Avoya Travel to Certares, the private equity firm that invested in the host agency in 2021. Certares has acquired full ownership of the company. Co-CEOs Jeff Anderson and Michael Anderson will remain with Avoya through mid-June to assist in the transition. Other members of Avoya's executive leadership team -- including chief sales officer Phil Cappelli and CFO Mark Francone -- remain with the host agency. "We're grateful to Jeff Anderson and Michael Anderson, who helped build Avoya into an innovative leader in leisure travel," Avoya said in a statement. The Anderson family had operated Avoya for decades. The late Pal Anderson, Avoya's founder, and his wife, Pat, entered the travel industry with a tour operation in Hawaii in 1964. They would go on to start a retail travel agency that eventually became Avoya. Its hosting operation began alongside the rise of the internet in the early 2000s. Pat and Pal's sons, Brad and Van, ran the company for years before handing over the reins to Jeff and Michael.

First-ever National Mississippi River Day frames the river as 'the great connector'

Yahoo

02-06-2025

General
Yahoo

First-ever National Mississippi River Day frames the river as 'the great connector'

Michael Anderson views the Mississippi River as the country's great connector. It flows through 10 states — both red and blue — weaving its way through major population centers and small towns. Millions of Americans drink from it, and live, work and play on its banks. For that reason, Anderson believes it's high time the river had its day. This year, it will. For the first time, June 2 will be recognized as National Mississippi River Day, a move that Anderson and other advocates hope will bring sorely needed attention to one of the country's most significant waterways as it continues to struggle with pollution, disinvestment and the effects of climate change. The environmental advocacy group One Mississippi, for which Anderson directs outreach and education efforts, launched the day to kick off its annual campaign for the river, River Days of Action. More: 10 important facts about the Mississippi River More: The Mississippi River is central to America's story. Why doesn't it get more love? "In a time where it's almost more immediate to turn our backs on each other, now is the time to turn toward the river and turn toward each other," Anderson said. "This is about having a dedicated day for the people of the river, in these mainstem states and beyond, to turn toward each other. Several river cities and three states, including Wisconsin, have formally recognized the day. Gov. Tony Evers wrote in a proclamation that the river connects Wisconsin to the global economy and that protecting it is paramount as environmental threats continue to grow. In April, the national conservation group American Rivers named the Mississippi the most endangered river in the U.S. because of the Trump administration's plans to scale back spending on natural disasters, including flooding. There's significant room for improvement in federal flood relief programs, advocates said, but they argued federal participation is key to coordinating flooding response because the Mississippi touches so many states. The upper Mississippi River in particular is experiencing higher water flows and more severe, longer-lasting flooding due to climate change and land use changes. These high waters are killing floodplain forests and disrupting fish habitats. On the lower river, drought years have caused barges to run aground. And pollutants from Midwest farm fields and urban centers continues to choke aquatic life at the river's mouth off the coast of Louisiana. More: Mississippi River named most endangered in U.S. Why water quality is not the issue. More: Mississippi River runoff is not just a Gulf problem. It impacts health, recreation upstream. Layoffs and cuts to federal agencies that manage the river are also causing concern among environmental advocates. That's in part what propelled Steve Marking, a river historian and guest performer for American Cruise Lines on its Mississippi River cruises, to organize a June 14 event at Goose Island County Park near La Crosse as a part of One Mississippi's River Days of Action. More: Multiple researchers fired from La Crosse USGS science center, threatening work on invasive species and other Mississippi River issues "Celebrate the Mississippi," hosted by the Upper Mississippi River chapter of the Izaak Walton League, of which Marking is a founding member, will include a paddling trip through the river's backwaters, an outdoor photo contest, a floodplain forest tour and a demonstration of the league's Save Our Streams program, which teaches people how to do their own water quality monitoring. The demonstration is meant to help people realize their own power in taking care of natural resources, Marking said. "Being able to take charge of the data and find out whether your local stream, your local creek or even the mainstem of the Mississippi is healthy or not ... is something we can do," he said. On June 2, One Mississippi will host an online celebration at noon to hear residents' stories from along the river and discuss what's needed to protect it. Anderson said he thinks momentum for National Mississippi River Day will continue to build in years to come, similar to Earth Day. "There's just a really encouraging message of hope — of where we are ... and also of where we can go," he said. Madeline Heim covers health and the environment for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact her at 920-996-7266 or mheim@ This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: First-ever National Mississippi River Day happening June 2

Popular Greerton restaurant catches fire

NZ Herald