"Fort Apache" is a wonderful western ride of suspense and humour, skilfully blended in the hands of John Ford. It's not out on Region 1 DVD, so Ford fans will be tempted with this passable Region 2 DVD.

Until the print is restored, there's not much that can be done to improve this film for DVD. The picture quality suffers mainly from a scratched print and fans will no doubt be used to this, but it's an improvement on previous VHS releases. Naturally, Shirley Temple looks radiant in every scene, no matter what disturbance is afflicting the image.

The sound, as with so many of these old films, is a little thin but it doesn't suffer from major distortion problems during the musical crescendos.

Universal, bless 'em, have attempted to put an extra feature on this disc. It comes in the form of a two page on-screen synopsis and so the only way you can read it is to buy the DVD, in which case you're going to watch the film anyway. The cynical among us may be tempted to suggest that they're taking the piss. Still, the menu design is good.

Chapters: 18
Region: 2
Ratio: 1.33:1
Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 (Mono)
Extra Features: Scene selection, film synopsis, subtitles.