Perhaps the most compelling picture ever made about the shattering aftermath of the Vietnam War, Coming Home earned eight Academy Award nominations and won three for Best Actress (Jane Fonda), Actor (Jon Voight), and Original Screenplay. Coming Home is a heartrending and unforgettable examination of a critical period in our nation’s history and an uncompromising, extraordinarily moving film directed by the great Hal Ashby (The Last Detail). When Marine Captain Bob Hyde (Bruce Dern, Black Sunday) leaves for Vietnam, his wife Sally (Jane Fonda, Klute) volunteers at a local hospital. There she meets Luke Martin (Jon Voight, Deliverance), a former sergeant whose war injury has left him a paraplegic. Embittered with rage and filled with frustration, Luke finds new hope and confidence through his growing intimacy with Sally. The relationship transforms Sally’s feeling about life, love and the horrors of war. And when, wounded and disillusioned, Sally’s husband returns home, all three must grapple with the full impact of a brutal distant war that has changed their lives forever. The stellar supporting cast includes Robert Carradine (The Big Red One) and Robert Ginty (The Exterminator).

For thoughts on Coming Home, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:

[youtube https://youtu.be/SKHjJikD7zQ?si=82ZpSpakbu-X7mgW&t=812]

Video Quality

This new Blu-Ray from Kino Classics gives Coming Home an AVC-encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1 that looks nice enough. The film was released on Blu-Ray back in 2014 by the label, although it appears to be out of print. The new disc is derived from the same master, but this release seemingly utilizes a new BD-50 disc instead of the more compressed BD-25 from before. We do not have that disc to compare the two transfers, but we appreciate the effort to differentiate these re-releases in some way with new encodes. We would prefer a new restoration altogether, but this disc is satisfactory.

There are no egregious instances of damage to be found in this presentation, but there is a decent amount of speckling throughout. The natural grain structure retains the filmic look of the picture with it holding back from devolving into digital noise. There is some intentional softness to the photography, but that does not devour the fine detail. The transfer shows off in this aspect when it comes to clothing, production design, and landscapes. The environment allows for a vibrant image with hues capably saturated. Black levels could be slightly stronger, but they provide some welcome depth to the image even with signs of crush present. A new master would have been a pleasure, but Kino Classics has done a fine job here.

Audio Quality

The Blu-Ray comes with a DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track that holds up exactly as it needs to. A few moments show signs of age, but you rarely hear anything that sounds particularly off outside of a pop or two. Setting aside brief moments of age-related wear and tear, dialogue comes through clearly and stays in harmony with the environmental noises and other competing elements. The music maintains strong fidelity and does not overshadow the dialogue or other important information. The audio track is a good option even without refreshing it. There are optional English SDH subtitles included for the feature film.

Special Features

Audio Commentary: Actors Jon Voight and Bruce Dern, and cinematographer Haskell Wexler provide a lively and informative commentary track that has been stitched together in which they discuss the production of the film, their interaction with the real-life military, the background of certain scenes, the look of the feature, the mood of the country at the time, and more that is worth exploring.

Coming Back Home: A 25-minute archival featurette is provided in which the participants from the commentary track discuss the development of the project, the work of Hal Ashby, the themes of the story, how they prepared for the shoot, and more.

Hal Ashby – A Man Out Of Time: A nearly 16-minute archival featurette is provided that delves more into the career of Hal Ashby with the previous participants and filmmaker Norman Jewison (In The Heat of the Night) sharing fantastic stories about the filmmaker.

Trailers: The two-minute trailer for Coming Home is provided here. There are also trailers for The Other Side of the Mountain, The Landlord, Joy House, Runaway Train, and After Dark, My Sweet.

Final Thoughts

Coming Home is a truly incredible drama that thoughtfully examines the fallout of war and the scars that may not necessarily be on the surface. Hal Ashby wields a confident hand over the proceedings in terms of composition, pacing, and tone. The performers are delivering some of their best work, and there are a number of scenes that will knock you sideways. The film is an essential piece of ‘70s cinema. Kino Classics has delivered a Blu-Ray release that shows off a decent A/V presentation and a fine assortment of special features. We would have loved a 4K UHD Blu-Ray upgrade, but this one deserves a spot in your collection no matter what. Recommended

Coming Home (Special Edition) is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Kino Classics 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.