On the Beach

[MichaelB]

27 July: ON THE BEACH on Blu-ray

Stanley Kramer’s ON THE BEACH (1959) is a haunting post-apocalyptic drama that imagines the final days of humanity after nuclear fallout reaches Australia. Released on Blu-ray, the film boasts a stellar Hollywood cast led by Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire and Anthony Perkins, and is one of classic Hollywood's most deeply affecting films.

[Peacock]

I wonder how this will compare to the Kino?

[domino harvey]

The Imprint edition with copious exclusive extras would be the one to compare against

[TMDaines]

Already has/had a UK release from Signal One with a decent array of extras:

Audio commentary written by On the Beach expert Dr. Philip Davey, read by actor Douglas Hansell
Extras:"Making On the Beach" 1959 rare 8mm amateur footage (9:20)
Donna Anderson Interview (2015) (19:08)
Stanley Kramer's photo album (image gallery, optional descriptive text)
Original lobby cards (image gallery)
Original theatrical trailer (4:46)

[DeprongMori]

With the recent restorations and re-issues in the past few months of Testament, Threads, The War Game, On the Beach, etc., is someone trying to tell us something? (Am I forgetting any?)

[colinr0380]

Amusingly the extras on the Signal One disc 'tactfully' imply that Ava Gardner was not the most popular figure on the set, to the extent that a nuclear apocalypse may have come to be seen as rather a relief for the rest of the cast!

[What A Disgrace]

Already has/had a UK release from Signal One with a decent array of extras:

Audio commentary written by On the Beach expert Dr. Philip Davey, read by actor Douglas Hansell
Extras:"Making On the Beach" 1959 rare 8mm amateur footage (9:20)
Donna Anderson Interview (2015) (19:08)
Stanley Kramer's photo album (image gallery, optional descriptive text)
Original lobby cards (image gallery)
Original theatrical trailer (4:46)

The BFI release's extras seem to match those, plus more TBC and a booklet "featuring new essays by Christina Brennan and Barry Forshaw and a biography of Stanley Kramer by Jennifer Frost".

[MichaelB]

As a very, very minor but nonetheless delicious footnote, the legendary Bill Hunter (aka "that bald bloke who was in every Australian film ever made", as I announced his passing to my wife) made his screen debut in On the Beach as an uncredited swimming double for Gregory Peck, as Hunter had been a champion swimmer as a young man. Watching the stars going through their paces, he concluded that "any mug can do that", retrained as an actor, and the rest is history.

[MichaelB]

Full specs announced:

ON THE BEACH
A film by Stanley Kramer

Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire, Anthony Perkins

Released on BFI BFI-ray on 27 July 2026

First released in 1959, Stanley Kramer’s On the Beach, starring Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire and Anthony Perkins, is widely considered the first important entry in the doomsday genre. On 27 July, the BFI releases it on Blu-ray, with extras including two audio commentaries and rare 8mm footage showing the making of the film.

Based on Nevil Shute’s novel, On the Beach is set in 1964 when almost all life across the globe has been exterminated by the radioactive residue of a nuclear war. Only those survivors now in Australia have been spared – but it seems just a matter of time before they too succumb to the spreading radiation cloud. As they await their fate, people react in wildly different ways. Some embark on a non-stop binge of revelry, while others consider the suicide pills being offered by the government. Against this backdrop, faint radio signals emanating from San Diego appear to offer a ray of hope, and one submarine commander (Gregory Peck) and his men embark on a voyage to discover whether life clings on elsewhere on Earth.

Special features
• Presented in High Definition
• Audio commentary written by Dr Philip Davey, author of When Hollywood Came to Melbourne
• Newly commissioned audio commentary by Scott Harrison
• Making On the Beach (1959, 9 mins): rare 8mm footage shot by amateur filmmaker Richard Goslin
• Interview with Donna Anderson (2015, 19 mins): the actor discusses her time working with the cast and crew of On the Beach
• Kim Newman on Apocalypse Cinema (2022, 22 mins): the film critic deconstructs On the Beach and discusses the socio-political environment in which the film emerged
• Clothes to Die For: The Costumes of Ava Gardner (2022, 16 mins): costume historian Elissa Rose explores Ava Gardner’s impressive wardrobe in the film
• A Tribute to Stanley Kramer (2004, 14 mins): a celebration of Stanley Kramer’s life and career, featuring interviews with screenwriter Abby Mann and Karen Sharpe, Kramer’s widow
• Operation Hurricane (1952, 33 mins): after the first Soviet atomic weapon was detonated in 1949, the British accelerated the development of their own nuclear deterrent. This haunting film documents the first atom bomb test on the Monte Bello Islands
• Original theatrical trailer
• Galleries
• **FIRST PRESSING ONLY** Illustrated booklet featuring new essays by Dr Christina Brennan and Barry Forshaw and a biography of Stanley Kramer by Jennifer Frost. Also includes writing on Operation Hurricane by the BFI’s Vic Pratt, notes on the special features and film credits

Product details
RRP: £19.99/ Cat. no. BFIB1572 / Cert PG
US / 1959 / black and white / 134 mins / English language with optional English subtitles // original aspect ratio 1.66:1 BD50: 1080p, 24fps, LPCM 2.0 mono audio (48kHz/24-bit) and DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio