OH! WHAT A LOVELY WAR Movie Musical Gets Blu-ray Release in the UK

Richard Attenborough’s Oh! What a Lovely War, the 1969 anti-war movie musical, will be making its worldwide debut on Blu-ray in the UK, courtesy of Eureka Entertainment. It is available to pre-order now here.

Featuring an all-star cast of some of Britain’s most celebrated actors, the film arrives on 29 June 2026 as part of The Masters of Cinema Series. Limited to 2,000 copies, this special edition is presented in an O-card slipcase and includes an exclusive collector’s booklet.

Having begun his career as an actor celebrated for his performances in the likes of Brighton Rock, The Great Escape and Séance on a Wet Afternoon, Attenborough made his directorial debut in 1969 with Oh! What a Lovely War, a satirical history of World War I, told through the British music hall tradition.

Adapted from Joan Littlewood’s 1963 stage musical of the same name (itself a reworking of Charles Chilton’s 1961 radio play The Long Long Trail), Oh! What a Lovely War restages the events of the Great War. As the film traces the progression of the conflict from the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand in 1914 to the Armistice of November 1918, it intertwines the fortunes of the Smith family with performances of popular wartime music, from the recruitment song “I’ll Make a Man of You” to the airmen’s anthem “The Bells of Hell Go Ting-a-ling-a-ling.”

The cast includes Dirk Bogarde, Michael Redgrave, John Gielgud, Laurence Olivier, and Maggie Smith, among many others. Attenborough’s first film as director earned him a raft of BAFTA nominations and set him on the path to making A Bridge Too Far, Gandhi and Chaplin. 

Limited Edition Blu-ray Details/Special Features:

Limited Edition of 2,000 copies

Limited edition O-card slipcase featuring original poster artwork 

Limited edition booklet featuring new writing on Oh! What a Lovely War by Andy Dougan, author of The Actors’ Director: Richard Attenborough Behind the Camera

1080p HD presentation from a restoration by Paramount Pictures

Original English mono audio

Optional English subtitles (SDH) 

New audio commentary with British cinema scholars Melanie Williams and Lawrence Napper

Archival audio commentary with director Richard Attenborough

Your Country Needs You – new interview with film historian Simon Brown on depictions of World War I in British cinema, from The Battle of the Somme to 1917

Extensive making-of documentary presented in three parts: “Welcome to World War I,” “The Smith Family Album” and “Keep the Home Fires Burning”

Photo Credit: Eureka Entertainment