In war times it is often the unsung heroes who tip the balance in favour of their side. So it was with the codebreakers stationed at Bletchley Park in England during World War II. Their efforts in breaking the German coded signals gave the Allies a decided tactical advantage.

"Enigma" is set within this backdrop and is also the name of the German machine used to encrypt and decode all German radio messages. Each day a different setting was used on the machine but thanks to the code breakers these settings were able to be determined and the intercepted messages could then be read on Bletchley Park’s computers. Then all of a sudden the Germans change the code and the British can no longer read their signals. They call in the brilliant code breaker Tom Jericho (Scott) who helped break the code the first time. During his first stay at Bletchley Park he had been involved in a romance with Claire (Burrows) a stunningly beautiful co-worker. When the romance failed so did his mental health. When he returns he finds out she has mysteriously disappeared. He finds some un-decoded transcripts in her room and together with her housemate Hester (Winslet) sets about to find out what happened to her and to find out if her disappearance had anything to do with those codes. Meanwhile 3 conveys of supply ships are crossing the North Atlantic and the German submarines are trying to find them and without the new code no one can help them.

This is quite a slow story, particularly at the beginning when there are a lot of flashback scenes shown. This slows the pace significantly but as it progresses the storylines are developed nicely and begin to converge. It won’t appeal to those who like a fast paced action movie, but it is however a good World War II story that is focussed on the behind the scenes contributions to the war effort. The acting by all the cast is excellent and while Kate Winslet has a rather less glamorous role than usual she puts in a truly believable performance.

VIDEO

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The video is presented as a widescreen anamorphic presentation with an aspect ratio of 1.78:1. This is actually a disappointing feature of this DVD since the original cinema format was 2.35:1. It is unclear why they would change the format for a DVD, and the scenes shown with the end credits are actually presented in the original aspect ratio of 2.35:1. This opens up the picture a great deal and you can appreciate what you have missed out on.

The layer change occurs at 79:50 and is relatively smooth and barely noticeable despite occurring mid-scene.

AUDIO
There are two options available, an English Dolby Digital 5.1 track and a Dolby Digital 2.0 track. Since this is not an action movie the audio is rather subtle but is of an acceptable quality. The surrounds are actually used quite a lot even just to set the atmosphere such as for trains, traffic, birds and even to provide ambience like echoes in the church scene. Only the submarine and ship scenes are more dynamic and the soundtrack is equally supportive.

Dialogue is clear and distinct and there are no issues with the audio synch.

EXTRAS